Irving Blue has been dependent on the homeless shelter in Rockingham for a roof over his head since last year.

He was walking around town, killing time until the shelter opened Thursday afternoon when he explained how rough it is to be homeless when the temperature drops below freezing. Lows today were expected to be around 14 degrees.

“It’s rough, man,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the shelter, I’d be homeless for real. I’d be pitiful. I’d be in bad shape.”

The Richmond County Mental Health Society serves as a homeless shelter for men from October to March, housing up to about 30 people on any given night, especially when it’s cold.

As temperatures dropped into the teens Thursday evening, homeless shelters throughout North Carolina were preparing for an influx of clients.

Amy Hamilton, a spokesperson for FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital, said the facility switched over from using natural gas for heating to fuel oil on Thursday because demand for gas was high.

The 12,000 gallons stored on-site will keep the hospital warm for five days as well as fuel emergency generators.

A night or two outside in subfreezing weather can be deadly for the homeless, according to Amy Sawyer, coordinator of the city of Asheville’s Homeless Initiative.

“Even with the shelters doing overflow, there still will be some people spending the night outdoors,” Sawyer told the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Salvation Army spokeswoman Jill Carter in Asheville said her shelter and others were using mattresses and pallets on floors to accommodate extra people. Carter said blankets would be handed out to people who don’t want to come inside.

“We put people wherever we have floor space,” Carter said. “We’ll even have some in the lobby.”

The Salvation Army recently received a donation of 50 new coats and will hand those out, she said.

Brian Alexander at Homeward Bound, which operates a day shelter for the homeless, said his group would allow people to stay inside longer and hand out hats, gloves and scarves.

Officials at the Durham Rescue Mission are visiting areas where homeless congregate to try to convince them to come to the shelter to stay warm, The Herald-Sun of Durham reported. The mission also will distribute warm clothing.

The mission is planning to serve a warm breakfast Friday morning before officials go out to find more people to invite to the shelter.

The people who run the Rockingham shelter don’t see nearly the volume of people that these shelters do, but they were still holding their breath Thursday, hoping they’d be able to accomodate everyone who showed up.

“We have capacity for 22 beds, and we do have a couple of cots that we can roll out, but the fire department doesn’t want us to be over capacity,” said Richmond County Mental Health Society (RCMHS) Board President John Baker.

He said they haven’t had to put anyone in the street, yet, “but we’re right on the edge.”

“We wish that we were able to accomodate more, but we’re just not able to,” said RCMHS Programs Director Rene Rohleder. “Luckily, in Rockingham we mostly have the same people over and over again, but when the weather really dips, they seem to come out of the woodwork.”

She said that currently every bed and cot is occupied, and the shelter has 30 residents.

“We just don’t know from year to year what our needs will be until we see some really rough weather,” she said. “The more people you cram in there, you always have additional needs.”

Rohleder said that currently the shelter is in need of toiletries, food, blankets, sheets and pillows.

“We feed them breakfast and dinner everyday, so they get a hot meal in the morning and the evening,” she said, adding that volunteers to cook and serve meals in February and March are also identified needs of the shelter.

RCMHS also operates two soup kitchens, one in Rockingham and one in Hamlet.

The one in Rockingham is open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 12 to 1 p.m. The one in Hamlet is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 to 1.

The entire operation of the kitchens and the shelter are dependent on donations from concerned citizens, church groups and local businesses.

She said that anyone who wants to make donations or volunteer to prepare meals can come there, or contact her at (910) 997-2298.

For Blue, his time at the shelter is running up, which causes him anxiety.

“They do real good. It’s a good little spot,” he said. “But I got to find somewhere else to go in March when this one closes. I got nephews, but I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”