It was 38 degrees with a relentless, windblown rain.

By 7:30 p.m. Saturday, nine men and a woman, seeking refuge from the chilly drizzle, had found their way to First Step Services, 1017 63rd St.

Some were disabled, some were elderly, and a few had had a drink within the past 24 hours. Others had other active addictions.

What this group has in common is that none have homes of their own, and come Monday morning, they will have nowhere to go. Nowhere to stay on chilly rainy nights.

Sadness, fear, indignation — these were a few of the reactions of those facing the loss of First Step’s basic shelter services.

Monday morning, after a run of 14 years, First Step Services, a nonprofit homeless refuge center, will be closing its doors for good.

For Gary Olson, 36, an itinerant general laborer who moves between Chicago and Milwaukee, First Step has been like home for the past seven years.

“When I come to Kenosha, this is the first place I stop; First Step is ‘homey.’ ” he said.

Two men who stayed there Saturday said they had been coming to First Step since it opened 14 years ago.

“I came here after I got divorced and was the main cook and cleaner,” said Darryl Peddicord, 48.

Over the years, he said he enjoyed helping “newbies” at the center. “First Step helped people move on to jobs and (figure out) government benefits,” he said.

Some clients end up at First Step after being rejected by the Shalom Center, which forbids drug and alcohol use. One was a 68-year-old woman.

“Where is a 68-year-old woman going to go when we close our doors?” asked Tracy Krisor, founder and CEO of First Step Services Inc.

According other longtime clients, First Step has been wrongly blamed for many of the ills of the neighborhood.

Michael Zydzik, 52, said that on numerous occasions he shoveled snow for neighboring homes and picked up trash and drug paraphernalia not caused by First Step clients.

He said he has also caught area people who were not First Step clients urinating in yards nearby.

“There are drug houses next door. The whole neighborhood has problems,” he said. “Because we’re homeless, they blame the homeless.”

First Step client Troy Lustig agreed. “Outsiders think the homeless are drawing people in, making the place a gutter, but now we’ve got no place to go but the gutter.”

What do those who use First Step say is next for them?

“It’s hard to say,” Peddicord said. “Shutting down, that’s gonna be rough for a lot of people.”

“The close-down is catastrophic,” stated Lustig, 45. “(Tonight) my feet are saturated from the rain, and right now this is a dry place.”

An admitted addict who has been in and out of homelessness in four states, Lustig said Kenosha compares poorly to other cities offering services to those with addiction issues.

“I’ve never seen a situation so dire as in this little town,” Lustig said.

“Without this place, we got nowhere to go,” Zydzik agreed.

“Where do you think I’m going to go now?” Zydzik asked rhetorically. “Now I’m going to go to your house, sleep on your porch. At least here you know where I am.”

Operating since 2003Since 2003 First Step Services has offered meals, mail pickup, showers and counseling for those whose addiction or mental health issues make them ineligible for overnight services through the Shalom Center.

In the face of ongoing criticism from neighbors and aldermen, and threat of the revocation of its refuge license, the center voluntarily surrendered its refuge license on April 19.

For most of its history, the shelter offered daytime services year-round and was closed at night from April 1 though Nov. 1.

Over the years, clients at First Step Services were said to have created friction with local residents, with complaints ranging from littering and loitering to drug use.

Not a few residents objected to “sidewalk sleepers” who camped in front of the center during months with the center was closed.

Mounting pressure resulted in a campaign to have the shelter shuttered, championed by Ald. Jan Michalski, who represents District 3, which includes First Step.

In March, Tracy Krisor, founder and CEO of First Step Services Inc., made a last-ditch effort to smooth things over by offering to close the daytime program and hosting a “wet shelter” during evening hours year-round.

When this didn’t work, Krisor voluntarily surrendered the license for the shelter rather than have it revoked by the City Council.

Krisor recently underwent surgery and has been unable to be at First Step Services. Speaking from home Saturday, Krisor said she was working to find a long-term solution for those displaced by the closing of First Step. Until then, she said she would be launching a campaign to support them.

“Monday morning we will start handing out new sleeping bags and continue a street mission to provide blankets, granola bars and razors to people on the street,” she said.

“It’s going to be hard after 14 years of being a safe haven. I worry so much about where they’re going to go and what they’re going to do.”