Cold weather shelters are open across Tampa Bay as temperatures drop this week. Non-profit BASICS United Inc., a homeless outreach organization, is prepared to host dozens of people overnight at Nature Coast Church in Homosassa. It's work that is especially important to the organization's Executive Director, who knows what it's like to be without a home. Kristy Jocelyn and her family of seven lost their home and two dogs to a devastating fire the day after Christmas. "Everybody did a mad scramble. They grabbed what pets they could and ran out of the house. They didn't have shoes on. They didn't have anything," Kristy said. "There's nothing. There's nothing left in there." While the fire remains under investigation, Kristy believes it was started by a flying ember from a nearby burn pit. "One of the first thoughts I'd had after was, 'At least we have the cold weather shelter if we really need to,' not knowing where we were going to go that night." It's a feeling she was all too familiar with. Kristy experienced homelessness throughout her 20s. "We've slept in hotels, in vehicles and in church parking lots," she said. "There was a while back when I was married to someone who was violent, so we had to flee domestic violence a few times." MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/citruscounty/cold-weather-shelter-organizer-loses-everything-in-christmas-fire/67-2cd6a935-f437-4cb1-a75d-861f5e70c158