Salem Health nurses present $1,100 donation to Polk County Warming Center; volunteers, shelter usage outlined

Nurses from Salem Health presented a donation and volunteer commitment to Polk County Warming Centers at the Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting on July 23.

Jenna, identified as a nurse manager on an inpatient medical unit at Salem Health, said hospital units select community outreach partners and that this year several hospital units collaborated to make a larger donation to the warming center and to contribute volunteer hours. She said the check was for $1,100, and that nurses also participate in donation drives and meal deliveries.

Matt Smotter, who the record identifies as directing Polk County warming centers, told commissioners the funds are flexible and fund items that government grants often do not cover. He and other warming-center representatives described the program’s operations: warming centers in Polk County opened on 42 nights during the past winter, averaged about seven guests on nights open, and operate a year-round Safe Showers program in Monmouth that offers hygiene services and serves as an outreach hub.

Smotter said the warming centers began in 2018 and are primarily grassroots, coordinated among churches and volunteers with some administrative support from county staff and partner agencies. He reported a recent annual budget that has shifted over time: initial years at about $25,000, then $50,000, and “this last year” a budget of $75,000, funded largely through state funds administered by Community Action Agency of Salem and FCO (Family-Community Organization). He said the program uses funds for overnight staffing (two staff for a 12-hour shift when open), bedding and mattress replacement, supplies, and to offset utilities and wear-and-tear costs at host sites.

Commissioners and other speakers thanked volunteers and underscored the warming centers’ role in the local continuum of care, including connections to additional shelters and services (Gail’s Lodge for veterans, River of Life houses for people exiting jail, Church of the Park shelters in Dallas and Monmouth, and tiny-shelter villages). Smotter gave an example of a warming-center guest who later became the first resident in the Monmouth adult shelter, attributing that outcome to partnerships between warming centers and other local service agencies.

Polk County staff and warming-center representatives agreed to take a photo after the meeting. No formal board action or funding request for the warming centers appears in the meeting record; the presentation was a donation and informational update.