Shaquille Blackstock
          Staff Writer

The winter time, for those who are fortunate, is a time of brisk joy. Hot chocolate, warm fuzzy coats and hats, snow days and choppy winds usually come to mind. When it snows, people react with an almost frenzied joy, rushing to Walmart to buy all the bread and milk for whatever strange reason.

For those with homes, the season is a happy change from the humidity that North Carolina boasts in the hotter seasons. However, for those who are less fortunate, the season can be a matter of life and death.

Homelessness is a problem that society faces, and one that is becoming more difficult to address because of the ongoing financial issues that the country faces, and also because of lack of funding for opening homeless shelters and feeding those who need it.

In the wintertime, the homeless face a number of issues that their fortunate counterparts don’t have to worry about. One concern is frostbite, superficial and deep. The leading cause of death in the homeless during the colder months is frostbite, which is something that could be prevented by a simple coat and pair of gloves.

This underscores the fact that very little thought goes into donating clothes to the needy to equip them year-round. Mental illness and intoxication are two factors that contribute to frostbite of the hands and feet amongst the homeless, and amputations are not unheard of.

A second risk among the homeless in the winter is illness related to the weather. People generally don’t donate things like medicine to homeless shelters, and often the money that the homeless are fortunate enough to come across goes to things like food or other desires; medicine is far off from someone’s mind who is struggling just to eat. According to hopemission.com, the cold lowers the immune system and thickens the blood, which can lead to things like heart attacks and infection. There’s also the constant threat of the yearly flu, colds, pneumonia and other illnesses.

Hopemission.com also detailed that the third biggest risk to the homeless suffering through the winter is hypothermia, which occurs after prolonged exposure to the cold.

The core temperature at which a human will expire from exposure varies from person to person, but men are more at risk for hypothermia than women; the lean, well-muscled are more likely to die from exposure than those who have more weight on them. The homeless are far more likely to die from hypothermia than the rest of the population.

The fourth risk that should be mentioned is not one of the body, so much as one of mental illness — depression. The weather has a huge effect on how people perceive the world and how the mind works.

Some people have what is known as seasonal affective disorder, in which the seasons correspond with depression. Usually people with this disorder report feeling depressed during the winter.

However, being in a situation of destitution would also contribute to feelings of inadequacy and depression. Loneliness and depression are two things that the less fortunate report feeling, especially during the hard winter months when all they might really want is a hot meal, a blanket and to be close to their loved ones.

To help those less fortunate in Greensboro, there are about three homeless shelters that take donations. Joseph’s House Inc. on East Bessemer Avenue, Mary’s House on Guilford Avenue and The Salvation Army Center of Hope on South Eugene Street, are all places to take donations to.

There is also Campus Ministries, which is right across from the EUC, and always tries to give a helping hand to the community.