BUTTE — As temperatures dipped below zero over the weekend in the Mining City, the Butte Rescue Mission kept the doors open to its warming center. The mission is also offering free food, coats, blankets, and sleeping bags to people who might be exposed to the cold temperatures.
"If they didn’t have a place like this here a lot of people would die. That’s the way I look at it," says Steve Buchanan, a guest at the warming center. He is seated at a large table with others as they take refuge from the extreme cold.
Buchanan is from Louisiana. After finding himself stranded in Butte, he has been utilizing services at the rescue mission.
"They help me out a lot and I’m just trying to get through my, I hate to say it, get through my not drinking no more. They're helping me through that," says Buchanan.
He is one of about 100 people who fall into the unhoused population that seeks aid from the Butte Rescue Mission.
"You’ll see a certain percentage that travel through, but there’s a lot of folks from our area that struggle with a place to stay every night. And so that’s our number one goal is to make sure people are safe, and that’s why we have this emergency shelter," says Director Brayton Erickson.
With temperatures hovering around –20 overnight on Jan. 19, Erickson says his team went out to known places where people camp to check on those who live on the streets of Butte.
"It’s kind been coming—people have been talking about it so, yeah, last night was the coldest night this winter," says Erickson.
"You know, and so safety is the number one thing. We’ve had some loss of life in our community and of course a lot of frostbite in the past and so making sure people stay safe is our priority."
