SafeHouse of Columbus opens for extended time to help homeless during cold weather
With freezing temperatures plaguing the Columbus area over the past few days and through this coming weekend, a Columbus nonprofit organization is helping house those at greatest risk from the weather.
SafeHouse Ministries, 7200 Manor Road, is picking up homeless people and transporting them to its shelters around Columbus.
Neil Richardson, executive director of SafeHouse Ministries, said it’s the third time the shelter has had to open its doors because of the weather.
In the previous instances, it was open as a warming center this year. The first was for one night, and the second was for two nights. Now, the group will open its doors for nine nights in a row because of freezing temperatures, according to Richardson.
Richardson said the first time they tried to pick up people, they were turned down by some who said there was no room in the van for their bikes. Now, a truck follows the van for any bikes or gear, he said.
SafeHouse sends spotters to contact homeless people and ask whether they want a place to take shelter, Richardson said.
The van stops typically run from 3-9 p.m. at a site Richardson referred to as the “water park” (between 15th Street and Talbotton Road), followed by both sides of the pedestrian bridge in downtown Columbus and Phenix City, then on Second Avenue and finally the Columbus Public Library on Macon Road.
The women are taken to Grace House and the men to Freedom House, Richardson said.
Richardson said the women’s shelter has had six adults and two children every night and anywhere from 17 to 20 people at the Freedom House each night.
Two homeless people just released from the hospital were sent to SafeHouse on Monday night, according to Richardson.
“Monday night, Tuesday morning, the hospital sent people over,” he said. “They just put them in a cab and sent them out here at, like, 2 o’clock in the morning.”
When it comes to resources to provide for people during this extended period of opening, Richardson said, “We’re taxed.”
Richardson said SafeHouse could use donations of coffee, sugar, toilet paper and meat. It can be hard for SafeHouse to get a lot of meat, he said.
Some hunters came and donated a good amount of venison to SafeHouse, which used it to make chili, Richardson said.
Donations can be made at the Freedom House at 7200 Manor Road or the Grace House at 4810 Kolb Ave., Richardson said. Although the shelter is open around the clock, he said it would be best to make donations during the day or in the evening.
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 4:23 PM.