The Durham Rescue Mission is sending out teams to find homeless people wherever they are this holiday season.
The shelter brings vans filled with pastries, coffee and hot chocolate to homeless camps around Durham to offer warm shelter to people living outdoors. The organization will continue its outreach efforts throughout the winter whenever temperatures dip below freezing.
Clients served by the shelter also take part in the efforts because they help drivers find the camps, according to Lynn Holloway, a chaplain in the men's division. Each van has a driver, staff and a few clients who help point the way.
"Sometimes they know Durham better than we do," Holloway said.
During a recent cold snap, the outreach teams drove about a dozen people from homeless camps and sidewalks back to the shelter for a warm meal and overnight stay.
The shelter offers warm clothes, bedding, a hot meal and educational opportunities to anyone in need of their services.
The Durham Rescue Mission serves more than four hundred men, women and children during its peak months.