Little Rock, Arkansas – For 25 years, Reverend William Holloway has assisted in managing the Compassion Center. He claims that this time of year, more people seek their services.
“It is hot in the evening. It is hot during the day. It is just hot all the time. It is really just too hot for some people to be outside right now,” said Holloway.
The facility is open every day of the year.
“Usually around this time of year, we serve about 140-150 (people) a night. Now, we are serving about 200 people per night. A lot more women, especially, women in the streets and children,” said Holloway.
Although the center has seating for about 300 individuals, Holloway said that servicing 200 people alone can be taxing.
Due to the surge in visitors, Holloway now works 12 hours a day and claims he has had to ask his workers to put in more time, particularly the cooks who prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“We have had to ask our cooks to come in and cook an extra day or two to help out because we are short of people. We are short of employees,” said Holloway.
As the leading cause of weather-related death in the United States, according to the National Weather Service, extreme heat, Holloway said he knows how crucial it is to assist those trying to escape the heat.
“Because the heat is coming so early, we open up our kitchen to let people sit inside of it because it is comfortable and it is cool in there and it usually fills up around 8 o’clock,” said Holloway.