DENHAM SPRINGS - With the nearest homeless shelter in Baton Rouge, the Livingston Parish community took matters into their own hands and opened a temporary warming center for Monday and Tuesday nights.

"It's crazy to think that our parish is so large and there's nothing. No real resources," Shannon Easley, with Christ's Community Church, said.

Monday morning, the church posted on social media asking for donations to put together a makeshift shelter ahead of the cold weather. Easley residents brought an abundance of clothes, pillows, food, mattresses and more supplies to make the project a success.

"People really do want to help. They just don't know how. They don't know where and they want a safe avenue," Easley said.

Five people and four animals stayed overnight Monday. 

Easley is hoping this is a wake up call for the community to make resources more accessible to the less fortunate.

"It just seems like a gaping hole in resources," Easley said.

Christ's Community Church will be open Tuesday night for those in need of shelter at 26574 Juban Road.