'When it’s negative 12 out, people die'

COEUR d’ALENE — St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho’s warming shelter has been open 24 nights and hosted 367 men and women since November.

That shelter is about to get even busier.

“Negative 12 on Saturday. That’s pretty nasty,” said Larry Riley, the nonprofit’s executive director. 

Riley expects the Post Falls warming shelter to reach its 60-person maximum starting Friday when temperatures are expected to go subzero, with highs in the single digits.

Riley said it costs around $800 a night to operate the warming shelter — $95,000 last year — but the doors must open in such conditions as it can be a life-and-death situation.

 “When it’s negative 12 out, people die,” he told about 100 people at the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber’s Upbeat Breakfast on Tuesday at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Riley outlined St. Vincent’s efforts in a 20-minute talk, “Unhoused in North Idaho.”

He said he doesn’t always agree with Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin, but quoted him as saying, “Civilized societies take care of the less advantaged.”

He said the organization's Help Center on Harrison Avenue is at ground zero in that battle.

St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho has over 5,000 cases a year. It offers dozens of programs, including housing, nutrition, clothing, money management, education and employment.

People come to it with little or nothing, not knowing where they will sleep.

In a video testimonial, a young woman said St. Vincent’s helped her turn her life around. She went from being abused and assaulted to being a student, having a job and having a safe place she and her daughter could call home.

“I wouldn’t be here without them,” she said. 

Kelli Lunceford, housing director, said it’s not uncommon for her to step over people sleeping outside the door of the Help Center when she arrives to work in the morning.

Men, women and children and the elderly find themselves with nowhere to go.

“We want to be sure every single person that walks through our front door leaves with hope, leaves with resources, leaves with maybe not the immediate solution, but we’re working on that solution,” Lunceford said.

She said St. Vincent’s Kathy Reed House in Coeur d'Alene offers 36 units for those 62 and older. Through subsidized housing, residents pay 30% of their annual adjusted gross income.

Most have average monthly income of around $1,000.

“Without HUD housing like this, they would be homeless,” Lunceford said. 

Mike Baker, CEO of Heritage Health, said they work often with St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho “helping catch people when they fall, while they’re falling, or making sure they don’t fall again.”

“If life’s basic needs aren’t being taken care of, a person spirals downhill pretty fast,” he said. "Despair sets in and leads to lot of unplanned outcomes. That’s when things get really complicated.”

Linda Coppess, chamber CEO and president, called on everyone in the room to consider how they can make a difference for those struggling to get by.

She said, with one unfortunate turn, anyone in the room could be going to the Help Center.

 “What is one small action you could take to help this community?” Coppess asked

Riley said St. Vincent de Paul helps people in big and small ways. An easy way the community can help is simply by looking those down on their luck in the eyes.

“They are so used to being viewed as the downcast of society,” Riley said. "Look them in the eyes and treat them with respect.”