Some stories don’t make headlines, but they stay with you.

Like the folks I saw a few decades back, crawling over a guardrail to sleep under a bridge near my home. They slept there because they didn’t want to bother anyone.

Then, there was the young couple who spent a few nights huddled against a cold wind in the entryway of a downtown building. With nowhere for them to stay, social workers gave them bus tickets to the next town with no guarantee of shelter.

And I can’t forget the woman who trudged along the berm of a local highway, pushing a shopping cart and apologizing to drivers stopped at an intersection because she was “taking up space.”

Here in Carbon County, there was the Tent City near Lehighton, or the encampment near Weissport that grew — not out of rebellion, but out of necessity. People built makeshift shelters because they had nowhere else to go. They were trying to survive nights that could kill them. Those places are gone.

This winter, the area’s efforts are better. Not perfect. But definitely better.

Family Promise of Carbon County opened its Cold Weather Shelter on New Year’s Day, and people were already signing up. The Nesquehoning site can take 12 to 15 guests a night, and it’s a good bet given the bone-chilling cold of the holidays, all the slots were filled.

Anyone in need — men, women, couples, children — got a warm bed, a meal, transportation if they needed it, and someone who actually listens. During the day, the building becomes a warming center. No intake. No judgment. Just a place to breathe.

Their year-round family shelter is full again — 31 people, including 17 kids. That number should stop us in our tracks.

Not too far away, Lehighton’s Cold Weather Station is stepping up, too, with a new shelter in Mahoning Township. The building didn’t appear out of thin air. Joe and Debra Kay Bennett leased it for one dollar — utilities included. St. Luke’s donated beds. Pencor — the parent firm of this newspaper — provided internet and cable.

Volunteers transport guests, cook meals, wash blankets and stay overnight to keep people safe. In its first six nights, the shelter served more than 50 overnight stays that kept someone from freezing.

The daytime program in Lehighton has served almost 100 people in just four months with showers, with laundry and lunch. They had a place to sit without being told to move along.

Last winter, the overnight shelter served 53 individuals, with a peak of 22 in one night. These aren’t statistics. They’re neighbors. They’re people who used to have apartments, jobs and families. They still have dignity, even when life has stripped everything else away.

And now, for the first time in a long time, state legislators are talking seriously about a “shelter first” approach — a model that starts with the obvious: get people indoors first. Stabilize them. Then help them rebuild.

It’s not complicated. It’s humane. It matches exactly what local shelters are already trying to do with limited resources and a whole lot of heart.

But heart alone won’t keep the doors open.

Both shelters face the same challenges: transportation, staffing and steady funding. Volunteers are doing heroic work, but they’re stretched thin. The Lehighton shelter needs at least a dozen chaperones each night. Family Promise relies on donated gift cards, food and cleaning supplies just to stay afloat.

And for the shelters to survive, they need a long term plan. They can’t rely on last minute generosity every winter.

They need stable funding from public and private sources. Even a modest county contribution would help cover staffing and transportation. Local businesses could sponsor meals, fuel or case management hours. And both shelters need help pursuing state and federal grants designed for exactly the kind of work they’re doing.

Because here’s the truth: cold weather shelters are not optional.

They’re essential infrastructure. They’re as important as fire stations and ambulances.

Every night they open, someone stays alive. Every morning they close, someone walks out with a little more hope than they had the night before.

The area has already shown what compassion looks like. Now we need to make sure these shelters stay open, stay funded and stay ready during the cold nights ahead.

And those of winters yet-to-come.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 45 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.