The gurgling and crackling of a coffee pot could be heard as Michelle Augustine busied herself around the kitchen of the San Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Georgetown on a recent Wednesday night.
"Coffee is a sustenance," she said. "It’s a brew for all of us."
Augustine and team of about half a dozen volunteers had spent the past week transforming the church's sanctuary into an emergency overnight warming shelter.
That's because unlike nearby Travis County, Williamson County does not have any government-run overnight shelters for the area’s homeless population — including when it gets cold outside.
That really bothered Augustine, who used to volunteer at Austin area shelters. So, she and a group of other like-minded Georgetown residents decided to take the task upon themselves and create their own.
"I said to my husband, you know, could we ask our church? So I asked, I called our board president Friday morning, and within two hours, we had an answer that we could use the facility," she said.
She said members of other nearby congregations and nonprofits immediately also pitched in.
"You've got the food volunteers. Some folks come and help clean," Augustine said. "And some folks just come and visit, which is very nice."
One of those volunteers this night is Nathaniel Bonner, the mobile coordinator for Helping Hands of Georgetown.
"It's so much more than just a safe place," he said of the church's shelter. "It's warmth, it's hope, it's kindness."
Bonner said he's been working with Georgetown's homeless population for a little over six years now.
Almost every day of the week, he's out by the library passing out sack lunches, pantry bags, clothing and hygiene items.
"Many people look at it as a handout. I see it as a hand up," he said.
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