Fort Worth HOPE team rescues homeless residents during record cold brought by winter storm Fern
Fort Worth, Texas – As winter storm Fern brought record cold and dangerous conditions to Fort Worth, a small but dedicated outreach team stepped into life-saving action, showing how coordinated care and compassion can make the difference between tragedy and survival.
HOPE — which stands for “Home. Outreach. Prevention. Education.” — is a specialized outreach program formed in 2019 through a partnership between the City of Fort Worth Police Department, the Fort Worth Fire Department, and community partners. The team’s mission is simple but critical: connect people experiencing homelessness with housing and services, helping keep them out of jail, emergency rooms, and unsafe situations.
That mission became urgent during the brutal winter storm.
Rescue effort during record cold
On the morning of Sunday, January 25, HOPE team members responded to a large homeless encampment off East Ninth Street, on the east side of downtown Fort Worth. The team had visited the site the day before, offering transportation to warming shelters ahead of the storm. When they returned the next morning, they wanted to check on those who had chosen to remain outside overnight despite the freezing temperatures.
Reaching the encampment was difficult. The camp sat down a roadway, under a bridge, and beyond a steep embankment, made even more dangerous by ice and frozen ground. By the time the team arrived, every person at the site said they were ready to leave and be taken somewhere warm.
The challenges did not end there. The transport bus could not safely reach the encampment, and four people had no shoes, their footwear soaked and frozen solid after hours in the cold. Given the terrain and conditions, HOPE team members made a critical decision: they would physically carry people up the steep hill to ensure no one was injured or left behind.
During one of those carries, the situation turned into a medical emergency.
A man being assisted was clearly exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, and suffering from prolonged cold exposure. A HOPE team member carried him on his back up the icy slope, reassuring him that he was safe and help was close. About halfway up the hill, the man began actively seizing, a condition consistent with severe hypothermia complications.
The team acted immediately. They rushed him to the transport bus, started warming measures, and alerted command to request an ambulance. Although the man briefly stabilized, he went on to experience four additional seizures.
Emergency response and continued outreach
FWFD Engine 1 and an ambulance arrived on scene, providing advanced care. Firefighters and medics stabilized the man and transported him to a local hospital for further treatment.
Once the emergency was under control, the HOPE team returned to its work. Every remaining person at the encampment was safely transported to a shelter, removed from the cold, and placed in a safer environment.
The scale of HOPE’s work during the storm was significant. Team members made more than 300 individual contacts during the storm and its aftermath. They distributed over 300 blankets, gloves, and hand warmers, helped 150 people reach shelters, and assisted 60 others who declined shelter placement by reconnecting them with family or friends who could provide a warm, safe place to stay.
The effort highlighted the importance of proactive outreach, coordination between public safety agencies, and meeting people where they are during crisis conditions.
“This is what we do in Fort Worth: We help one another and carry them through the toughest times.”
