Inside a warehouse in East Durham on Thursday, the chatter of about a dozen volunteers organizing and labeling donations buzzed through the space. Scores of Cheerios boxes overwhelmed the tall bookcases lined against the wall. Black beans, chicken noodle soup, peanut butter and protein bars covered one table, while paper plates, plastic utensils, Hot Hands, diapers and baby wipes filled another.
The scene was the result of a quickly assembled relief effort to help unhoused neighbors weather this weekend’s predicted winter storm.
Three local organizations put the drive together this week, anticipating the severe winter storm that is forecast to hit the area starting Saturday.
The collection effort, which continues today, is led by the city’s Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART), the Durham Community Care Collective (DCCC) and Day One Relief, a local nonprofit. It’s part of a hastily organized, multi-pronged effort to ensure that unhoused people are safe, warm and fed during the storm.
HEART has worked with other groups to establish an emergency shelter in anticipation of the storm. Day One Relief, a disaster assistance organization, is collecting donated food and supplies at its warehouse at 809 Ramseur St. for unhoused people at the emergency shelter and other shelters around the city.
“Whenever there’s a disaster, we activate,” said Jil Christensen, founder, president and CEO of Day One Relief. “So we’re activating for Durham.”
The three organizations previously collaborated in November, when federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents staged raids in the Triangle. The groups mobilized on Wednesday night to disseminate flyers on social media and neighborhood listservs. As a result, Durhamites dropped off hundreds of items on Thursday.
The groups also called for volunteers to help receive donations, bag them and deliver them before the storm begins. As people drove up the gray cobblestone path to drop items off at the warehouse’s entrance, volunteers surged outside to help them carry everything to the intake table.
“There were several people who donated goods and immediately wanted to leave their information because they wanted to know what else could be given, what else was in need,” said Julie Lane, Day One Relief’s executive operations lead. “And so it’s clear to me that those who we saw today and the folks that intend to come tomorrow are invested in serving the people who live here.”
HEART is helping to coordinate the creation of an emergency shelter at 311 Dowd Street. The shelter will have capacity for 52 people and will be open round-the-clock for unhoused Durhamites from Friday at 7 p.m. to the following Thursday at 8 a.m., said Leah Gladlin, the program impact strategist at HEART. Open Table Ministry and Union Baptist Church are working together with HEART to create the emergency shelter, she said.
HEART and Day One Relief are also working together to get backup generators on site at Durham’s homeless shelters.
“We’re anticipating a pretty significant impact to the city and want to be able to plan for it to go through the duration, until things are back to normal operations,” Gladlin said.
Mia Lee, a Durham resident and graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, first volunteered with Durham Public Schools Strong, part of DCCC, during the recent ICE raids. She saw a flyer on Wednesday for the donation and volunteer efforts and decided to contribute her time and resources.
“I’ve been fortunate enough because I’m a student; whenever there’s a call, I’m kind of able to respond in the moment,” said Lee, who donated breakfast bars, paper plates, tupperware and cereal. “It’s been really cool to see the community come out and support each other. Everyone’s all hands on deck.”
Anne Everitt also first worked with the groups in November. She dropped off diapers, canned protein, fruit, Cheerios and other items Thursday. She plans to return on Friday to help with the bagging process.
“You can be at home and be sad and be worried and just go around in circles in your mind,” said Everitt, a personal chef. “But you go to a protest, or you do something to help people, and it takes your mind off that, and you really feel restored in humanity.”
If the weather is not as devastating as expected, organizers will deliver food and supplies to community groups that serve families and individuals in need.
Magan Gonzales-Smith is a coordinator with Durham Public Schools Strong.
“In these moments of emergency that come to our community — whether they be natural disaster related or human caused threats to our safety and our humanity like ICE — we have the resources and the care already in our community to take care of each other, to keep each other safe and to help us collectively create a safer and more just and caring community,” she said.
Donations will be accepted at 809 Ramseur St. on Friday, Jan. 23, between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 24, between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. More information about volunteering with Day One Relief can be found here: https://linktr.ee/dayonerelief
For more information on homeless shelters, call Entry Point Durham at 984-287-8313. The phone line will be open and accepting calls on Friday, Jan. 23, until 9 p.m. and on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. When Entry Point is unavailable, unhoused neighbors can call the city’s non-emergency line at 919-560-4600.
At top: Volunteers sorted diapers, paper towels, cereal and more as donations came pouring in on Thursday ahead of the storm. Photo by Lena Nguyen — The 9th Street Journal
Yaa Bame
