Homeless Along Coyote Creek To Receive Blankets

As temperatures plummet in the Bay Area, volunteers with a San Jose ministry will be out handing blankets tonight to people most vulnerable to the cold.

The Community Homeless Alliance Ministry, based at 949 San Fernando St. in downtown San Jose, will distribute emergency blankets to the homeless at encampments along Coyote Creek, Pastor Scott Wagers said.

Coyote Creek begins in Morgan Hill and stretches through San Jose and Milpitas.

CHAM ministry volunteers will be giving out the blankets starting at 6 p.m. in the area of Happy Hollow Park, Wagers said.

Last year, the volunteers passed out almost 7,000 blankets to the homeless in San Jose and neighboring cities, Wagers said.

Wagers founded the nonprofit in 1997 and has since run shelters for families and single people. CHAM's outreach teams bring food, tarps, toiletries, backpacks and other items for the homeless living in parks, riverbeds and under bridges, Wagers said.

There are more than 7,000 homeless people living in San Jose, Wagers said.

According to the National Weather Service, the cold-weather system will bring temperatures down into the 20s in some inland areas in the San Francisco and Monterey regions over the next few days.

Low temperatures in the San Jose area are projected to be in the low to mid-30s.

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