SAN ANTONIO – The Salvation Army is opening four cooling centers around town to help people beat the heat.
- The Family Emergency Shelter at 515 West Elmira will be open 24 hours a day.
- The Goslinowski Social Services Center at 910 North Flores will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- The Hope Senior Nutrition Center, also at 910 North Flores, will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- The Dave Coy Shelter at 226 Nolan will be open 24 hours a day.
The Salvation Army says a woman collapsed right in front of the downtown location Monday morning. She’s okay now, but people who visit the cooling centers say it shows how much the facilities are needed.
Yolanda Priego’s one of the lucky seniors who lives in a home with air conditioning.
“I do, but I don’t turn it on every day,” she says. “At home, we’re told to conserve energy. And of course, we’re on a limited income.”
So to save money, she comes to the Salvation Army’s Senior Services Center for free AC, ice-cold water, and arts and crafts.
“I come with my husband,” Yolanda says. “He likes to play guitar.”
“All these people are like my family,” her husband Fernando Priego says while strumming a six-string.
He’s jamming with the band in the next room, enjoying hot beats under the shade of an air vent.
“I think they said 104,” Fernando says. “Very, very hot outside.”
The Salvation Army gets a lot of walk-in traffic from seniors who are overheated.
"Sometimes people may think that first thing in the morning, because it's not too, too warm, that they can't be dehydrated,” Monica Ramos with the Salvation Army says. “But the fact of the matter is, you've been asleep all night, you haven't had any fluids."
The Priegos sometimes stay all day and want more seniors to know about the free activities.
"If they did, there probably would be more people here,” Yolanda says.
