The small homeless population in Butler can count on a home-cooked meal and warm bed when the weather turns frigid.

Bill Halle, founder of the Grace Youth and Family Foundation on Center Avenue, said he is currently seeing six or seven individuals turn up each night to sleep on the relief cots at the winter relief center.

The center is open from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. Those with nowhere to lay their head can get a nutritious, hot meal cooked by volunteers from local churches and a bunked cot to sleep on.

Halle said some clients are involved in drug or alcohol recovery programs, others struggle with mental health issues and some are just down on their luck at the moment.

“We have a guy who got a job and a car, and his car blew up so the job fired him,” Halle said. “He's trying to get back on his feet.”

Now in its seventh year, the winter relief center sees a spike in clients between the end of January and the end of February because sometimes family members or friends will allow someone to sleep on their porch or in their garage over the holidays.

“Then when life gets back to the normal grind, they have no place to be,” Halle said.

The center does not accept anyone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and Halle's 35 years experience in the addiction field serves him well in detecting impairment.

“If someone is struggling with alcoholism and has not been drinking, they can stay,” Halle said. “But if they're wasted, they need to be supervised elsewhere.”

He does know of individuals who don't come to the center because they are impaired and know they won't be accepted, while some try to get in and are taken to the appropriate medical or addiction facility.

“We don't just say 'Hey, you can't come in,'” Halle said.

The center's overnight population is about 65 percent men and 35 percent women. The center is open from Nov. 1 to March 31 each year, Halle said.

He said while most clients are single, kids do make an appearance. Clients are unafraid when bringing their youngsters to the center because they know Children and Youth Services will not be contacted.

“We've not had any this year, but each year we've been open, we have had families,” Halle said. “Last year the youngest person (to sleep in the center) was 4 years old.”

The center also helps clients complete paperwork to get housing, lines up counselors who could remediate the issues that rendered clients homeless, and any other assistance that can reasonably be rendered.

Halle said while the Grapevine Center, Light of Life Ministries and others offer daytime programs for the homeless, there are gaps during the morning and evening when those agencies are not open.

He said those using the winter relief center mostly have plans to escape the freezing temperatures outside of agency hours.

“Most of the time they leave here and head right to the library,” Halle said, “and that's where they'll stay until one of the other programs open.”

Lori Hinterliter, director at the Butler Public Library, said the staff is aware of the situation and unofficially accommodates the group as best they can.

“We have people who stay at the center come spend time here, especially on cold days like this,” Hinterliter said on Tuesday.

She has had no real issues with the group.

“They basically know they are expected to follow the library policies and if they do, they're welcome here,” Hinterliter said.

She said some use the library's computers, some read newspapers or magazines and others have a book they pull out to read.

On occasion, the library staff will set aside a book for an individual from the center so they can read a portion each morning before they move on to the programs at one of the agencies.

This year she has seen no more than 10 people coming in to stay warm after leaving the center, although in years past there have been more.

Halle said the center's clients also struggle to stay warm in the evening when temperatures dip dangerously low.

“The hardest time is after the dinner hour,” he said. “They visit doughnut shops, coffee shops, stores, or anywhere else to stay warm,” he said.

The winter relief center cannot open any earlier than 9 p.m. or remain open to the homeless after 8 a.m. because the space is used by Grace Youth and Family Foundation for other programs.

Halle said Grace Youth and Family Foundation's budget for homeless projects, which includes the winter relief center, is about $65,000.

He said the space used for the center measures 2,500 square feet, and has electric heat.

“So it's like heating a house,” Halle said.

The revenue end of that budget comes mainly from donations from the community and local churches.

“We exist only because the community supports us,” he said.

The people who use the winter relief shelter, Halle said, are especially grateful during a cold spell like the one that has frostbitten Butler County recently.

“They are so appreciative,” he said.

Information on donating to any Grace Youth and Family Foundation program, including the winter relief shelter, is available at www.gyff.org.