Extreme heat is dangerous for homeless people in Macon. What’s being done about it?

Arrell Bradley hasn’t experienced heat like this.

A military veteran who has been homeless on and off throughout his life, he said this summer has been particularly difficult due to the high temperatures, which experts predict will be above average this summer.

“It’s excruciating,” Bradley said.

Anthony Leon Andrews, who is experiencing homelessness for the first time, is struggling too. He isn’t used to being outside during extreme temperatures, and has struggled to stay cool and energized without easy access to water and air conditioning. He compared it to being in prison.

Both men are part of Macon’s unhoused population, which is currently struggling against record-breaking summer temperatures across Middle Georgia. Homeless shelters and charities are already seeing increased demand for water, shelter and cool air, and are anticipating that demand to grow as the summer continues.

The challenges for Macon’s homeless population

Sister Theresa Sullivan, director of Daybreak, said people experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable to dehydration and heat illness due to not having easy access to water, air conditioning and shade.

Sgt. Austin Sturdivant with the Salvation Army of Greater Macon said during the summer, people experiencing homelessness tend to “come out” from campsites, neighborhoods and other areas where they spend most of their time in search of water and shade.

During the warmer months, Daybreak said it sees 80 to 100 people come into the shelter. However, the numbers can be higher. On June 28, the shelter saw 109 people come through. Meanwhile, Sturdivant said the Salvation Army’s cooling center has been crowded. If the Salvation Army opens its emergency overnight shelter, Sturdivant said he anticipates that being packed too.

Bradley and Andrews are among the crowds of people that flock towards the shelters to get out of the heat. They both have been going to Daybreak the last few weeks, and said they found it after following groups of other people experiencing homelessness.

“In the extreme heat and the extreme cold, our numbers go up because people are looking for that shelter from the elements,” Sullivan said.

The health problems of extreme heat

The body has natural ways of cooling itself, such as sweating. But extreme heat can exceed these capacities, causing people to deplete the water in their bodies and putting strain on natural processes.

The heat can present additional dangers for people who have health issues. Extreme heat puts pressure on a person’s heart and kidneys as the body tries to cool itself. Medical problems can cause people to become exhausted and overheated more quickly than healthy people, according to the World Health Organization, and heat can aggravate health issues including diabetes, heart trouble and respiratory conditions.

Sturdivant said the Salvation Army has previously taken people into its emergency shelter during the summer who are in danger of heat illness. If shelter workers can’t cool the person down with water and air conditioning, they call 911. While that hasn’t happened yet this summer, Sturdivant said it’s likely to come, especially as temperatures continue to rise.

How Macon shelters are helping

In addition to the heat, which has already broken 100 degrees a few days this year, homeless shelters see fewer volunteers and donations during the summer.

Sullivan said while many people are concerned about people experiencing homelessness during the winter due to the cold, they often don’t realize that heat can be just as deadly. Daybreak stockpiles donations during the winter in anticipation of the decline in supply, food drives and donations during the summer.

Sturdivant said the Salvation Army experiences similar challenges. He attributes it to media coverage not always emphasizing the dangers heat poses to people experiencing homelessness.

“Because we haven’t really seen a big news story where somebody died because of heat exhaustion or something like that, it’s just not in the forefront of everybody’s mind,” Sturdivant said. “But it’s just as much of a need if not more.”

While stories of people experiencing homelessness dying because of heat haven’t made headlines in Macon, other cities across America have reported heat-related deaths. Los Angeles and Phoenix both reported large numbers of people experiencing homelessness dying due to heat last summer.

In effort to overcome the lack of volunteers and donations, shelters work together through the Macon Homeless Coalition to distribute supplies, coordinate services and communicate with people experiencing homelessness about the resources available.

The coalition includes Daybreak and the Salvation Army, as well as United Way of Central Georgia, Macon Area Habitat for Humanity, Loaves & Fishes, Centenary Community Ministries Inc., the Macon-Bibb County Economic Opportunity Council and others.

One of the most important functions of the coalition is working together during heat emergencies, Sturdivant said.

Some shelters, including the Salvation Army, do not have walk-in overnight shelters. However, when heat reaches an extreme level, the county officially deems it an emergency and works through the coalition to open emergency shelters and communicate with people experiencing homelessness. The coalition’s member organizations also communicate with each other to transport necessary supplies and determine which shelters have space.

While the emergency shelters have not had to open yet, Sturdivant anticipates there will be need for them as the summer goes on.

“When you’re seeing the heat consistently be in the 90 to 100 degree range, that heat wave declaration comes down from the (government),” Sturdivant said. “It’s a matter of time, we are seeing how hot it is.”

Shelters worry extreme heat is getting worse

While shelters already face significant challenges, many of them anticipate things getting worse as summer temperatures soar year after year.

This year will rank among the five hottest years ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA also said there’s a 61% chance 2024 is the hottest year on record.

In Georgia, heat is expected to continue rising throughout July and August. This means shelters will continue seeing crowds, and will need more volunteers and resources to get through.

Sullivan said that while it’s hard to keep precise numbers of how many people are coming into Daybreak, more extreme temperatures drive more people to shelters.

Sturdivant said he’s noticed the number of people steadily increasing over the years he’s worked with the Salvation Army. He attributes this to rising temperatures and more people experiencing homelessness. While rates of homelessness had been trending downward prior to the pandemic, they have increased over the last few years, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

“I’ve been around the Salvation Army pretty much my whole life, and when I was a kid, summers (would) be warm, but you wouldn’t see such a drastic need for people to get out of the heat,” Sturdivant said.

In the meantime, Bradley and Andrews said they plan to continue taking advantage of local shelters’ resources and hope for a respite.

“I’ve never been out here like this,” Andrews said. “You can see the heat, it rose like cartoon smoke off the concrete.”