NIAGARA FALLS — Nathan Booth, a 45-year-old man from Niagara Falls, froze to death last week in sub-zero temperatures near a Dollar General on Niagara Falls Boulevard.
His death is a tragic reminder of the dangers faced by the homeless during harsh winter conditions.
Albert Foster, who has experienced homelessness himself, described the difficulty of surviving outside in the cold.
"It was like I felt like I was freezing to death," Foster told me.
John Cooper, executive director of Niagara Gospel Mission in Niagara Falls, said those struggling with addiction and mental health are particularly at risk of hypothermia.
"You're not thinking clearly and so they think 'Oh, I'll just kind of sleep here.' And then in their sleep their body just gets so cold that unfortunately, it shuts down," Cooper said.
The Niagara Gospel Mission serves as a Code Blue shelter, offering warmth, food and companionship to those in need. The mission aims to prevent further tragedies by encouraging more people to seek shelter rather than staying in abandoned houses.
Chris Amico, associate director of the Niagara Gospel Mission, said they've had at least two dozen men at their shelter every night this month.
“The men here, having known that somebody had died outside of here, there's just an increased desire to see more men come in and getting the word out to people in the homeless community that if they're living in an abandoned house, they don't have to stay there," said Amico. "They can come somewhere like this and have shelter and heat and food and friendship."
Niagara Falls has two Cold Blue shelters:
Niagara Gospel Mission
1317 Portage Rd, Niagara Falls, NY 14301
(716) 205-8805
https://niagaragospelmission.org/
Community Mission of Niagara Frontier
1570 Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
(716) 285-3403
https://www.communitymissions.org/
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