Homeless shelters often struggle to find beds for everyone who needs one in the best of times. Now, with temperatures falling and COVID-19 infections surging, this perennial problem could potentially be even deadlier this winter.
Many shelters have had to limit capacity as governments impose restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus, yet homeless people are among those most at risk.
"The homeless check off most boxes in terms of being the most susceptible and most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most likely to spread and most likely to die from it," Neli Vazquez Rowland, founder of A Safe Haven Foundation in Chicago, told Kaiser Health News.
"The challenge is going to be extreme this winter," Michael Basford, director of Wisconsin's Department of Administration's Interagency Council on Homelessness, told Wisconsin Public Radio.
The problem also is widespread.
-In Janesville, Wisconsin, GIFTS Men’s Shelter may be able to use only 11 of its 42 beds under the Rock County Public Health Department’s COVID-19 recommendation that businesses and public places limit occupancy to 25% capacity, according to the Janesville Gazette.
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-In St. Joseph, Missouri, Community Action Partnership St. Joseph has shuffled around sleeping arrangements to increase capacity from 42 to 55 after COVID-19 regulations cut into its 72-bed capacity, the St. Joseph News-Press reported.
-The Onslow County homeless shelter in Jacksonville, North Carolina, had to be moved because the old facility didn't have room to allow for social distancing, WITN-TV reported. The new shelter is roomier, but it has already reached capacity. Emergency space may be available, but "our flex space can only be used when we’ve had the consensus of our health department director and our fire marshal," Onslow Community Outreach Chair Don Herring said. "That space is only used for emergencies that are designated by the city, county or the state."
-In Kent County, Delaware, the nonprofit Code Purple needs mattresses. Like many organizations that help the homeless, Code Purple is testing individuals for COVID-19. "If a client has symptoms, we have to toss the bed," Ennio Emmanuel, president of Code Purple, told Delaware State News.
-The Valley Youth House shelter for homeless children in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, cut the number of kids it can house from 12 to eight to allow for social distancing. "We’ve had kids show up on our doorstep in the freezing cold in the middle of the night," Michele Albright, supportive housing program supervisor for the shelter, told the Morning Call. "Ours is the only place for them to go because we’re the only public shelter for children in this area."
-Last week, 26 clients of the Boise, Idaho, Rescue Mission were in quarantine either because of a positive COVID-19 test or they were awaiting a test result, BoiseDev reported.
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-In Ohio, Akron's Peter Maurin Center usually has space for 50 individuals, but this year, because it can't provide proper social distance, it will not open. Dave Churbock, the center's director, told the Akron Beacon Journal it is trying to find another space to house an emergency shelter or it may donate its mats, pillows and blankets to another group that can offer overnight stays.
-In St. Louis, the nonprofit Winter Outreach used to shuttle homeless people to as many as a dozen shelters. This year it has three shelters available, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Also, fewer volunteers are stepping up to drive the vans, which carry fewer people on each trip because of the need to remain socially distanced.
"I’m anxious," said Teka Childress, Winter Outreach's founder. "I’m always afraid someone is going to die during the winter. And it’s the worst thing in the world when it happens. We want to do everything to prevent it. (But) adding to the concern about keeping people safe and alive and housed this winter is trying to protect the people with great hearts keeping them safe. It’s just a daunting challenge."
Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said to Kaiser Health News, "What happens if we're in the midst of a pandemic and a polar vortex happens? We're trying to keep the contagion from spreading and keep people from dealing with hypothermia. Is there the infrastructure in place that can handle that type of dual crisis?"
Across the country, organizations are seeking alternatives to traditional shelters to keep people warm and safe.
As many coastal communities did this summer when hurricanes forced evacuations, officials are increasingly turning to hotel rooms as shelter space. The search for options doesn't stop there, however, as Kaiser Health News reported:
-In St. Paul, Minnesota, Ramsey County officials plan to lease an old hospital to shelter 100 homeless people.
-The New Life Center in Fargo, North Dakota, plans to use an insulated, heated warehouse as a shelter.
-The city of Chicago opened emergency shelters in two unused public school buildings.
The Salvation Army’s William Booth Center in Seattle, which has gone from 190 beds to 90, is allowing clients to alter their sleeping spaces.
"We’re allowing people to do what we call tenting, or putting sheets all around," shelter director Gina Sullivan told the Seattle Times. "That’s something in normal times we don’t allow because we do need to see if people are in their beds."
A man stands near tents set up on a sidewalk in San Francisco, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. Some counties in California are pushing ahead with plans to wind down a program that's housed homeless people in hotel rooms amid the pandemic, despite an emergency cash infusion from the state aimed at preventing those same residents from returning to the streets in cold, rainy weather as the virus surges.Will Towne is the director of housing and operations at Spectrum Youth and Families Services, which provides shelters for young people ages 16 to 24 in Burlington, Vermont. He told Vermont Public Radio the organization is focused on incorporating concerns over the coronavirus into its normal operations.
"We always go into the winter with a certain level of concern. I mean, we talk about safety so much right now in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a huge part of people's safety is having a roof over their head, as well," Towne said. "So we really need to focus on a way to balance those two ideas and integrate our approaches for COVID safety into being able to still provide our services to the youth that we serve."
Spectrum has worked to ensure there is enough space in its congregate living facility for clients to distance themselves physically. Masks are required and staffers wear personal protective equipment. The facility uses air filtration systems, UV-C light filtration systems and HEPA air filters, Towne said. Surfaces are wiped down three times a day and a janitorial service disinfects the facility daily.
The Greater Valley YMCA in Allentown, Pennsylvania, moved its homeless shelter from its basement to the larger gym space.
"We’re much better prepared for the beginning of this winter than we were at the end of last winter, when this thing came flying out of left field," CEO David Fagerstrom told the Morning Call.
The Code Purple agency in Dover, Delaware, is putting plexiglass dividers between beds.
The Briarcliff Ossining Ministerial Association in New York's Westchester County will turn 6-foot-long cafeteria tables on their sides between beds in its shelters, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported. The association will also use curches only in downtown Ossining that are within walking distance so that people won't have to crowd into vans. Instead of rotating among the churches weekly, each church will host a shelter for several weeks to cut down on how often each must carry out COVID-19 protocols.
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At the Onslow County shelter in North Carolina, clients won't be turned away empty-handed if there is no room for them. The shelter will give out cold-weather kits that include blankets, hats, tents and hand-warmers.
"If they have to sleep outdoors, that will help them bear the cold," shelter director Cindy Williams said. "We do the best that we can to help them face the cold if they have to."
Farther north, where temperatures routinely drop below freezing, being outside is not an option.
"I just have a rather substantial concern that ... we're going to need to find ways to get people who are outside, inside over the winter," said Basford, of Wisconsin's homeless council. "But if we fail to have that happen, my biggest fear is that we're going to have people die outside in the cold ... that keeps me up at night."
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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