SAN MARCOS — As temperatures soar, cooling centers are becoming a necessity for communities, especially for individuals who may not have reliable access to air conditioned spaces.
The Southside Community Center (SSCC) in San Marcos has opened up its gym to serve as a cooling center during these hot summer days, offering members of the community a chance to cool off indoors with water and a snack.
SSCC provides transitional shelter and food, emergency assistance, housing for low-income and the elderly and neighborhood housing improvement to residents around Hays County. While the cooling center aims to reach unhoused individuals, anyone is welcome to use the facility.
Local organizations like the H.O.M.E. Center have used resources to help the center out so it can continue to serve the community.
The H.O.M.E. Center is a San Marcos based nonprofit that works to address homelessness in Central Texas. Members gathered at SSCC on June 24 to donate multiple cases of water bottles and hand sanitizer to the center, using funds they received from the city of San Marcos Human Services Grant to purchase the items.
The H.O.M.E. Center was awarded $93,500 in grant funds following the city’s human services board recommendations for 2022 funding. The funds H.O.M.E. received are going towards servicing hundreds of unhoused individuals in the area by providing hotel stays, access to the local food pantry, referrals for educational and medical services and more. The center also provides rental and utility deposits to streamline efforts towards finding permanent housing.
H.O.M.E. Center board president Grant Snow said that they often work with SSCC, and felt called to use some of their grant money to help the center out during these hot summer months.
SSCC is open every day of the week as a cooling center. On days that hit triple digits, it will remain open between 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. On days when the temperature are under 100 degrees, they will remain open between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. It is also accepting bottled water and packaged snacks to assist those coming through the center.
Visit www.southsidecommunitycenter.org or call (512) 392-6694 for more information.
