How 'Code Orange' could protect unhoused Delawareans from extreme heat

Lawrence Thomas tried to keep to himself. Still shaking off sleep from a shelter wake-up call before 6 a.m., the 58-year-old gripped his small bag and took another step in line. Once a paper cup of coffee met his hands, he slipped through others coming in off the street to get a seat against the wall.

Thomas sat with his tawny leather jacket still zipped, charging a cellphone he’s managed to keep with him. The Wilmington resident of about seven years doesn’t want to do this much longer. He’s faced homelessness since late October, pushed out by a landlord he says also stole from him.

“I’m just trying to find resources to try to rebuild,” he said, hoping for a bus pass when he leaves Friendship House on a May morning for the library. “And to get back to where I was.”

It’s starting to get warmer on the street.

“I never really had to face the elements,” Thomas said when asked about a summer promised to be abnormally stifling. He has friends in Northeast, but family has fallen from the picture. “This might be the first summer I actually have to deal with the elements outside.”

He’s not alone. Housing Alliance Delaware reported over 2,000 people facing homelessness across the state in late 2022, more than doubling in a year, while advocates still caution undercount.

This population — whether living in camps, vying for local shelter beds, couch-surfing to get by — is among the city’s most vulnerable residents. And while “Code Purple” is a well-known safeguard from sub-zero nights, one Delaware organization is trying to get decision-makers to think about another threat.

That is: extreme summer heat.

“On those extreme days in the city of Wilmington, it is hard to have anywhere you’re allowed to go,” said Kim Eppehimer, Friendship House executive director. “If you’re carrying a lot of baggage, you look a certain way; business owners aren’t going to be as gracious to you coming into their space.”

Eppehimer leads one of several groups aimed at serving vulnerable populations in Delaware’s largest county, hers for nearly 40 years. But sitting in her small office kitchen, she described wanting to build a new concept, even if it starts with only her network of churches, empowerment centers and Wilmington partners.

Her team wants to create “Code Orange” — a network of unofficial cooling centers throughout the city to flex during peak hours of heat index, or combined heat and humidity, during an extremely hot day or a string of days.

A heat wave amounts to at least three consecutive days when the outside temperature “feels like” 103 degrees. Multiple such waves came last summer, and there’s more than a 50-50 chance of at least one this year, per First Street research. In 30 years, that likelihood jumps to 77%.

Eppehimer said it feels like a time to take action, whether or not the concept keeps its current title. “I think we are the right organization to at least get something started, to raise the flag and do something. And others are going to follow.”

Heat already leads to more deaths in the United States than any other weather-related cause. It can also lead to dehydration, fatigue, heat stroke or exacerbate many other illnesses, from asthma to kidney disease.

“We’ve had people who have died because they’ve been exposed to heat for so long, they don’t get to the hospital in time, or someone doesn’t find them in time to get into the hospital,” Eppehimer continued.

“And someone dying in a tent or in an apartment alone is very motivating to not let that happen to anybody else.”

University of Delaware and more:Do you feel more summer heat than other Wilmington areas? This mapping study aims to find out

‘For us, it’s a no-brainer’

She’s the chaos coordinator.

Or so reads a sign pinned atop Diane-Louise “D-L” Casson’s packed bulletin board. She helps organize clergy events, coordinates volunteer efforts, touches nearly anything passing through the doors of the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew. If her phone isn’t ringing, Casson’s smartwatch probably just buzzed.

But she didn’t hesitate when she heard of Code Orange.

“For us, it’s a no-brainer,” said the parish administrator, busy unpacking food on tables behind the large worship space. Her church already opens as a site for perilously cold nights in the winter, in the heart of downtown Wilmington.

The First State is vulnerable:Climate change impact is everywhere. Do you know where Delaware’s risk ranks?

Casson has a team of volunteers ready if she’s asked to set up as a cooling center this summer. Primarily a resource for weekends when Friendship House can’t open its Wilmington location a few floors below, the room around her would open with cool air, snacks and more for brief periods of hazardous temperatures.

She hopes it’s enough to save lives. And most heat-related deaths are preventable if people understand the threat.

As temperatures climb, the air can hold more water vapor, delivering more humid days.

Heat becomes hazardous as humidity makes it harder for the body to cool off by sweating. It’s especially dangerous for your kids, pregnant people and older adults, as well as those with respiratory conditions, diabetes and obesity.

Bruce Nisbet underscored the risk for unhoused populations.

“A lot of the shelters are for nighttime, right?” posed the chair of Emergency Medicine at Saint Francis Hospital a few blocks away. Most shelter patrons have to leave by 6 or 7 a.m., regardless of the weather outside.

“So, just like in the severe cold of winter — they are much more susceptible to environment-related illness.”

Many might be less active than outdoor workers, the doctor noted, but often have other health concerns only exacerbated by the heat. And heat isn’t going anywhere.

Three decades ago, the number of days above 90 degrees in Wilmington would have been around 31 days — with maybe five days above 100. This year, nearly 50 days are expected to reach or exceed 90, according to First Street, while 12 are expected to exceed 100.

Look 30 years ahead, and 15 days with a heat index above 103 degrees could be expected in Delaware’s largest city.

Casson is more concerned about today.

“We want people to be safe and healthy. If providing a space can do that, then why wouldn’t you?” Casson said, plopping back down at her desk. “I hope that more places will say, ‘Of course, we will be a Code Orange site,’ that more people will step up and say, ‘Of course, I’ll be one of your volunteers.’”

Word does travel fast. Or at least, that’s the idea.

Fighting the heat? Tell me about your story: kepowers@gannett.com.

More work to come for Wilmington cooling centers

Lawrence Thomas couldn’t say what his strategies for beating the heat will be.

The Philly native remembers how hard it was to get through a winter on the street, but, faced with the question of a broiling summer ahead, his best guess was he’ll drink extra water.

Before long, Thomas filed out like everyone else visiting Friendship House that morning for coffee, eggs and other resources. Cassie Brown sank into her desk beside the now-empty tables.

“It’s like, until it’s happening, until it’s actually hot, or until I actually have to deal with that moment, I’m gonna deal with my crisis or the problem at hand,” said the case worker in the Wilmington empowerment center. “And that might be food or finding out what the next shelter is for the day. So, we just meet them where they are.”

Many of her clients are older, and several have health conditions. Brown’s team watches weather forecasts that they can’t, often offering jackets or umbrellas. And she hopes a Code Orange — or any concept for more cooling centers in Wilmington — gains ground.

Code Purple is already expected, exercised and well-known.

“We’ve worked out a system,” said director Eppehimer. They look to get information out quickly to those who need it most, pulling as many heads as possible to a warm bed, while warnings travel just as fast through unofficial networks and word of mouth.

Code Orange remains partly in the concept phase, though interest is budding.

Eppehimer, as well as community advocate Stacey Henry and the Delaware Resiliency Hub, say they’ve garnered enough faith partners for a “small network” to offer escape from the heat this summer. There’s hope for more to come.

“If the community could see it more, there would be more resources,” Brown said simply. “It would open up the opportunity to help more people.”

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How ‘Code Orange’ could protect unhoused Delawareans from extreme heat

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