(Photo by Evan Bevins) The Gathering church at 1005 14th St., Parkersburg, opened as an overnight warming station Thursday.

PARKERSBURG — A woman’s death in frigid temperatures this week offered a grim reminder of the situation facing the homeless in the Mid-Ohio Valley, particularly during severe weather.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office announced on its Facebook page Wednesday that Danielle Johnson, 37, was found deceased the day before in the wooded area near Lakeview Center in Parkersburg.

First responders were dispatched to the site around 11 a.m. Tuesday after a call from a person the post described as her partner, with whom she shared a tent.

The man said he woke up around 1 a.m. and found Johnson was missing from the tent, the post said. He found her lying in the snow and helped her back inside. The tent had no heat source, but blankets and other items were inside, the post said.

When he awoke in the morning, the man reported finding Johnson unresponsive and called 911, the post said.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) The Gathering Pastor Melody Smith, right, looks over donations made to the church with member Derek Wilson and church mascot Elle on Thursday as volunteers prepared to open the church at 1005 14th St., Parkersburg, as an overnight warming station.

The post said the incident remains under investigation but deputies saw no indication of foul play. The woman’s body was taken to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office. The post noted the man reported he and Johnson “drank a lot of alcohol” the previous night and she was reportedly intoxicated when he found her outside. The post said “it is believed that alcohol and weather temperatures played a role in her death.”

Michelle Rusen, president of the board for the House to Home day shelter, said her reaction to the situation was “extreme sadness and complete horror.”

“People just can’t survive outside in this type of cold,” she said.

The National Weather Service indicates the low temperature that morning was 7.

“I just think we as a community need to face the fact that we have too many people out there without … safe and secure housing,” Rusen said.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) The Gathering Pastor Melody Smith, right, looks over donations made to the church with member Derek Wilson and church mascot Elle on Thursday as volunteers prepared to open the church at 1005 14th St., Parkersburg, as an overnight warming station.

House to Home does not operate overnight, but Rusen noted the shelter in the former Paul’s TV building at 825 Seventh St., Parkersburg, has been opening earlier than its normal 8 a.m. time and staying open beyond the standard 3 p.m. closure lately.

“We’re taking it kind of day by day,” she said.

The main overnight shelters in Parkersburg are the Salvation Army and the Latrobe Street Mission. The mission posted on its Facebook page Wednesday that “our dorms are full” and “our dining room is on overflow.”

Lt. Anthony Rowe, with the Salvation Army of Parkersburg, said their shelter is full but they can accommodate up to 15 people in their warming station, a dining room off their soup kitchen.It’s been averaging six to seven people a night.

Rowe called the woman’s death this week a tragedy.

“We’re praying for her family and whoever else was involved with that,” he said.

Rusen said there are a variety of reasons some people choose not to stay in shelters, including the rules that are imposed. That can often include pets not being allowed, which is the case at both Latrobe and the Salvation Army.

Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard said the woman and her partner had a pet.

“We just can’t do that because of the liability it has,” Rowe said. “There’s not a lot of options for that.”

But some have become available this week.

Rowe said the Salvation Army received an emergency grant from the Sisters Health Foundation to provide vouchers for overnight stays at the Red Roof Inn. From 1-3 p.m. Saturday, people can come to the warming station at the soup kitchen at 534 Fifth St. to apply for a room. Rowe said the hotel is pet friendly. The organization noted on its Facebook page people must have ID to receive a room at the hotel.

The Gathering, a church 1005 14th St. in Parkersburg, opened Thursday as an overnight warming shelter.

“They can stay through the night,” Pastor Melody Smith said. “They just have to show up.”

People can bring pets, but they must be on a leash and remain with them, she said.

“Their dogs are their companions, and they’re not going to surrender their animals,” Smith said.

Smith said the church regularly works with homeless individuals and plans were already being considered before they learned of Johnson’s death.

“We just don’t want to lose any more of the people in (the) community,” she said.

Smith said information about the continued availability of the church as a warming center will be shared on The Gathering – Parkersburg Facebook group and can also be obtained by calling the 211 line.

The church asked for contributions of air mattresses, sleeping bags and other supplies and got a number of donations from the community.

Rusen said House to Home has seen an influx in donations, especially as word spread of Johnson’s passing.

“The donations from people have just been overwhelming since word of this got out,” she said, noting people have contributed coats, clothes, blankets and sleeping bags.

Additional snow was predicted overnight, with the temperature dropping to 22. But lower temperatures aren’t far off in the forecast, with a projected high Sunday of 25 and a low of zero.

A release from the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department said Community Health and Threat Preparedness Director Malcolm Lanham met with county commissioners, the sheriff and representatives of Wood County Homeland Security/Emergency Management to discuss warming centers on Thursday.

The release noted churches and other organizations have opened their doors for use as warming centers and none of the agencies that met Thursday are hearing reports of them being over capacity.

Churches and other organizations that open warming centers were asked to contact Amy Phelps, the department’s public information officer, at 304-588-9697 to provide locations and hours so they can be shared with the public. If warming centers have to turn people away due to overcrowding, they are also asked to contact the Health Department.

If the department is notified warming centers have reached their capacity, the release said, the Threat Preparedness team and volunteers will make arrangements with the commission to open the Judge Black Annex in downtown Parkersburg as a daytime warming center. Animals would not be permitted in warming centers operated by the Health Department unless they are service animals, the release said.