SALISBURY, N.C. — Temperatures in North Carolina continue to rise, and conditions are proving to be difficult for vulnerable groups of people.

More than 400 people visited emergency rooms across the state between July 2 and July 8 for heat-related illnesses, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Most visits occurred in the Piedmont and coastal regions. 

 Homeless populations are some of the most vulernable people when it comes extreme heat conditions. 

Marshall Ellis is living unsheltered in the City of Salisbury. He says for the homeless, people like him become prisoners to the heat during the summer months. 

“You’re hot, you’re sweaty, you’re tired, you’re exhausted. No soft place to lay down at night. It’s either concrete or a hard wooden bench in the city,” Ellis said. 

Ellis became homeless in 2015. He says he lives with spinal stenosis, which made supporting himself difficult, forcing him to the streets. He works one-off landscaping jobs to pass the time, but never making enough to get back on his feet. Ellis roams Salisbury with little to his name. 

“My wallet, some salt tablets for the heat for dehydration and cramps, a bottle of water most of the time. That’s pretty much it,” Ellis says of his belongings. 

He says trying to keep cool is extremely difficult, because he can’t stop and sit just anywhere. 

“You have to be careful where you sit and when you sit, even sleeping at night. Even if you get caught sleeping in a place where you feel safe sleeping where nobody else is at,” Ellis said.

Being homeless, Ellis says he’s constantly keeping a mental note of areas that are public or private. 

“There’s a fine line between catching a break and catching a charge,” Ellis says. 

Last year, Ellis recalls an incident where the heat lead him to the hospital. He wished he would have been more aware of warning signs of heat exhaustion. 

“I wasn’t aware I had stopped sweating, and you know, I wasn’t thirsty. That should’ve been two warning signs of heat exhaustion, and when I came to, I was with Rowan Emergency,” Ellis said. 

Rowan Helping Ministries is one of several shelters across the state that offers outreach services to people living on the streets. The outreach team makes weekly visits to areas of the community where the homeless live.

The goal is to connect them with services and resources in the community in hopes of getting them on a path of future success. 

Ellis utilizes shower opportunities at Rowan Helping Ministries, which offers people on the streets access to daily showers between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. He also says daily meals from the food kitchen make the worst day feel better. 

“Homelessness does cause problems. Some of us want help, some of us try to get help and some of us just need more prayer I guess you could say,” Ellis says.

Counties across the area do offer cooling stations, however, Ellis says the homeless don’t tend to utilize these spaces due to feeling judged or feeling not welcomed. He says the heat can make you feel lethargic and disoriented.

He urges others to offer help to the men and women on the streets, even if it means offering them water.