Last winter, Shoni Evans made soup for Nome’s overnight emergency shelter almost everyday for seven months. Each morning Evans cooked about 40 cups of muskox stew, caribou soup, or smoked salmon chowder in her Snake River home. And she delivered it to the Nome Emergency Shelter Team at Nome’s Nazarene Church close to every afternoon–come rain, blizzards, -50 degrees or shine.
Sue Steinacher, NEST’s part-time director, says the shelter aims to prevent people from freezing to death in subzero winter temperatures. Steinacher says since 2009, NEST has provided a safe and warm space for people who have had too much drink and have no where to sleep. NEST gives each guest a cot, a storage box, homemade fry bread, and a bowl of Evans’s soup.
Listen to hear more stories from Evans and Steinacher about NEST, soup-making and befriending the shelter’s guests.
