Overnight shelters will be available in several Rio Grande Valley cities beginning Sunday.

The goal is to make sure no one is cold. They are an option for people who are worried about heating their homes properly or having enough blankets.

One Edcouch mother is doing what she can to keep her and her family safe and warm.

"We don't have a heater, honestly, but we were thinking of buying one, at least to put it in one room, and, we don't have enough blankets, we only have one for each child, but we could huddle together in one room," Maria Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez is worried about the cold front expected to arrive in the Valley.

She plans to do what she can to keep her Edcouch home warm, but the cold air creeps in through the front door.

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"I put towels under the doors where the air comes in to prevent it from entering, I close the windows, I put on them extra blankets," Gonzalez said.

In other parts of the home, water drips through the ceiling. Gonzalez says she's tried to get it repaired, but with the cold front days away, she's doing what she can right now. 

"I put these little trays, I put them there, to catch the water. That's why I have them right here, because I put them up here, so the water drips down into them. I have another pot over there for the water to drip into, because this is the area that gets the wettest," Gonzalez said.

The mother of four says money is limited. She plans to use her oven more the next couple of days to help warm her home.

"We also make cookies here to help keep the house warm, because the house gets a little cold," Gonzalez said.

She shared what her family went through during the 2021 Texas freeze.

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"About three to four years ago, when that happened, we used to do it with candles, for light," Gonzalez said. "We would make a fire and put in coal, and that's how we would sit around it so we wouldn't get cold."

Currently, the forecast for the Valley doesn't show it reaching the same level as 2021.

Weslaco Fire Chief Antonio Lopez warns families should not use coal indoors to heat their homes. He wants to remind them of the consequences this could bring to their homes.

"That's probably one of the most dangerous things they can possibly do. When you have a fire like that in a closed place, carbon monoxide is one of the main components, it's been pushed out by the fire. That's a gas that can't be tasted, smelled and eventually will, can kill somebody," Lopez said.

Lopez wants everyone to stay warm safely. When it comes to space heaters, he suggests only using it while you're awake.

"Warm it up before you go to bed and turn it off before you go to sleep and just add one or two extra blankets overnight, on that, that's the safest way to do it," Lopez said.

Shelters are open across the Valley for families who are looking to get out of the cold.

The Gonzalez family, in the meantime, plans to stay home. They hope others seek help if needed.

"There are many trailers standing alone, belonging to people who need help," Gonzalez said.

If you would like to help out the Gonzalez family, email news@krgv.com.