There’s little doubt that Dothan is an exceedingly caring community. Charitable fundraisers usually hit their marks, the homeless community is shepherded by several benevolent organizations, and evacuees from devastating natural disasters are welcomed in our city while our public workers often go to the disaster site to lend assistance.
Likewise, our municipality and some charitable organizations and churches will open warming centers when the weather gets bitter, providing heated space for those whose homes have inadequate heating and those who have no homes.
We do these things because looking after our fellow man is the right thing to do.
However, we’re puzzled by the temperature threshold for the opening of warming centers. Locally, warming centers open when the temperature is expected to reach 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Overnight on Thursday, temperatures were expected to dip to 31 degrees. That’s below freezing but not quite cold enough to trigger warming stations; however, someone out in the elements would be hard-pressed notice a three-degree difference.
Perhaps the threshold should be raised, at least to a forecast of a sustained 33 degrees, giving those in need an opportunity to seek shelter before the temperature drops below freezing.
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