Residents and volunteers press commission for help as city opens RFP and schedules work session on warming center

Dozens of residents and volunteers urged the Springfield City Commission to increase support for people experiencing homelessness and to back a volunteer-run warming center that has operated through recent cold-weather days.

Melanie Stacy, a volunteer, told the commission the warming center run by Barron needs "help, volunteers, money" and said churches and other organizations have not opened additional warming sites. "He needs help. He needs volunteers. He needs money," she said. Barron himself reported the shelter had been open 44 days, had served about 6,200 meals at a cost of roughly $45,000, and that 18 people had left the center to enter rehab. "We're the last rope, guys," Barron said.

Several other speakers described the challenges faced by people staying in encampments, including lack of showers and fears about losing possessions if…