When it gets hot, these folks can't just turn up the air conditioner
On hot days, Bill Shaw cools off by fanning himself with a flimsy piece of cardboard.
The double amputee lives in a tent in the woods near Riverside Drive.
How does he survive in this heat?
"Barely," he said.
Macon’s homeless and elderly are most prone to heat-related illness, said Dr. Ed Grimsley, professor of internal medicine and senior associate dean of the Mercer School of Medicine. The elderly face a high risk of ailments like heat stroke.
“Older people have issues with regulating their temperature. They’re unable really to adjust to the heat like, say, a younger person would,” Grimsley said. “And also, a lot of older people may live in un-air-conditioned homes. They can’t escape those homes or can’t leave those homes for various reasons.”
Elderly residents often live alone and either don’t have air conditioning or can’t afford to run it, Grimsley said. He suggested people check in on their elderly neighbors when it gets really hot outside and bring them somewhere with air conditioning if they don’t have it in their own home.
“Because of their age and maybe underlying medical issues, they can gradually get into heat-related problems,” Grimsley said. “If there’s no one there living with them, no one checking on them, you know, that can be a terrible scenario.”
Grimsley said the heat can be most dangerous when the humidity index rises to at least 75 percent because it's more difficult for the body to cool off from sweating. And on days when the temperature doesn't drop below the high 70's or 80's in the evening, people can't even catch a break from the heat by nightfall.
Macon’s homeless are also particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. Homelessness can cause or exacerbate a range of health issues year-round, but the effects of lack of shelter can be especially dire in the summer.
“People always think of the homeless when it’s cold outside, which is wonderful, but when it’s heat, it’s almost — there’s some things that are almost worse,” said Sister Theresa Sullivan, director of Daybreak, a center that provides resources for the homeless.
Daybreak opens its doors to the public from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and anywhere between 75 and 125 people might come through their doors in a given day. But on hot days, Sullivan said, the center is usually more full.
“In the afternoon, sometimes it’ll clear out by one or two. But right now, it’s been so hot, everybody’s here until the last blow of the horn, until we close,” she said.
Clients come seeking Daybreak’s regular resources, like showers, laundry and employment counseling, but, in the summer, they also come for a respite from the outdoors. Sullivan said many of the people who come to Daybreak suffer from severe sunburn, insect bites and athlete’s foot, conditions that can plague anyone in the summertime, but often manifest themselves more severely among the homeless population, due to overexposure to the elements.
About 250 people sleep on the streets of Macon each night, according a count conducted in January 2017. That number could be larger today as the nation's homeless population has been rising. The Salvation Army provides temporary shelter for another 125. But most of the centers that provide resources or housing for the homeless aren't open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sullivan said that on especially hot days, she’ll leave a cooler and empty bottles outside of Daybreak when the center closes for the night, so people can come and get water. It’s a small gesture, but it at least helps to fill the gap when people have nowhere else to turn.
Clarification: This story was edited after its initial publication because parts of Shaw's story could not be verified.
Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member and reports for The Telegraph with support from the News/CoLab at Arizona State University. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/samantha.max.9 and on Twitter @samanthaellimax. Learn more about Report for America at www.reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published July 9, 2018 at 5:15 PM.