North Texas Nonprofits Battle Heat, Offer Cooling Options for Residents

The heat is on! Triple-digit temperatures have arrived in North Texas.

Inside the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center in Dallas, anyone is invited to escape the dangerous heat.

“This is our lobby, but for heat relief we use it for people to come and find respite, to get out of the heat because our more vulnerable populations are people more impacted by the heat,” said Christina Cavalier, Senior Director of Communications for the Salvation Army of North Texas.

The Salvation Army of North Texas is offering cooling stations, bottled water and snacks.

The Carr P. Collins Social Service Center serves as a residential shelter and a place to cool off seven days a week.

More relief and resources are on the way.

“Later this month and into July we’ll also begin distributing box fans thanks to a special partnership with Westlake Ace Hardware,” said Cavalier.

Another local shelter, OurCalling, is helping keep people cool by handing out beat the heat kits.

“Included are cold water, sunglasses, sunblock, chapstick. And we’re looking into buying neck cooling wraps and a lot of different things to protect our friends this summer,” said Ali Hendricksen, Development Manager for OurCalling.

OurCalling is offering extended hours, and calling for volunteers and donations.

“We’re hoping to receive as many products as we can as fast as we can so we can start creating more of these kits, and send our search and rescue teams out on the streets with them. We need hundreds,” said Hendricksen.

OurCalling has a list of items it needs for beat the heat kits here: https://www.ourcalling.org/hot/

You can find information and hours on Salvation Army’s cooling centers here: https://salvationarmynorthtexas.org/north-texas/heat-relief