CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Lakisha Johnson waited two hours in the frigid cold Monday for the doors to open at Charlotte's Crisis Assistance Ministry.
"I'm here today because my lights are going to be cut off," she said as she waited to meet with a staff member.
The Crisis Assistance Ministry helps people in need year-round with things like landlord-tenant disputes, clothing and utility payments. The organization has seen a 100 percent increase in the number of people it has helped over the past two years.
"We're doing everything we can to help everybody and get the heat cut back on or make sure they do not get evicted," said David Miller of Crisis Assistance Ministry.
Over at Friendship Trays volunteers did double duty. The group delivers meals to elderly citizens and others who are homebound. During the cold snap, the group also checks to make sure those they visit have heat and everything they need to survive.
Volunteer Meredith Tomascak said, "Some of them keep their stoves open which, as you know, is very unsafe. So we go in and just make sure that they have everything they need."
Residents opened their doors and smiled as Tomascak handed them their meals and asked if they were keeping warm.
"Sometimes we are the only person they see, so that smile or five or 10-minute conversation is all they get," she said.
She then climbed back into her car where more boxes of food still waited to be delivered.
The high temperature Monday was 38 degrees, which is 13 degrees below normal for this time of year. Sunny and very cold weather is expected to continue through the week, with highs barely in the mid to upper 30s and morning lows in the teens.
If you'd like to help Crisis Assistance Ministry, visit http://www.crisisassistance.org/. To help Friendship Trays, visit http://www.friendshiptrays.org/.
