Shelters at forefront
As weather gets colder, the issue of congregate homeless shelters is heating up./
Concerns over the safety of congregate housing facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic remains high as New York leaders are calling for localities to open homeless shelters ahead of the winter season.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently asked for shelter operators to open their doors as winter approaches, pointing out that if schools, restaurants, bars and other facilities can open, so can shelters.
“A number of local governments closed shelters during COVID. They should open safe shelters," Cuomo said during a coronavirus task force briefing on Sept. 28. "We know how to open schools, restaurants, flexible art space. ... The weather is getting cold. Nobody should be living on the street, especially in the middle of a global health pandemic."
In some regions, particularly heavily populated areas like New York City and Rochester, homeless individuals were sheltered at hotels and motels in order to maintain proper social distancing and hygienic practices. But the latest guidance released by the state seeks to end those practices and return homeless individuals to congregate shelters.
That’s left housing providers downstate concerned, particularly as COVID -19 outbreaks in Orange County and other downstate areas have caused infection rates to rise, and fears remain of a second surge of the virus this fall.
“He is wanting congregate shelters to reopen in the middle of a pandemic, which would put homeless individuals at extreme risk of contracting and spreading the virus,” said Giselle Routhier, policy director for the Coalition for the Homeless. “Regardless, it’s very disturbing and just unnecessarily would put people at risk when we know the virus is definitely not over yet.”
Homeless individuals in New York City were moved from congregate shelters to hotel and motel rooms during the height of the pandemic as shelter operators took steps to reduce density, said Catherine Trapani, executive director for the Homeless Services United.
Trapani said the impact of the program has driven down infection rates, as well as overdoses, among homeless individuals, and should not be dismissed so quickly considering the positive impact it has had for those suffering from chronic homelessness or substance abuse.
“It’s because they are in places where they feel safe,” she said. “The hotel program has had a wonderful benefit to homeless New Yorkers, and to walk away from it when it is still very necessary would be really short-sighted. I think we need to slow down and make sure we’re taking the right steps guided by the right indicators.”
Beyond the potential for housing homeless individuals in hotel rooms to improve their outcomes, shelter operators also will have to alleviate fears that congregate shelters can be safely operated without the risk of a COVID -19 outbreak.
Trapani said she'd like to see guidance for the facilities that includes monitoring infection rates and other thresholds similar to those for schools and colleges.
In New York City, shelter operators have only heard of anecdotal accounts of more New Yorkers living on the streets due to unstable housing and possible evictions. In the Capital Region, the unsheltered homeless population has exploded to the highest numbers it has seen since local nonprofits began doing street outreach, said Kevin O'connor, executive director of Joseph's House and Shelter.
Through the end of August, the Albany Outreach Van has connected with 830 unique individuals daily, nearly double the number of people the van connected with during the same time last year, O'connor said. Housing advocates say people still fear contracting COVID -19 at a shelter, and as winter approaches, overcoming that perception will continue to be a challenge for shelter operators.
When temperatures dip below freezing, a Code Blue is issued, which relaxes typical policies and restrictions and guarantees emergency housing for anyone in need.
In the age of the coronavirus, that means finding larger spaces to accommodate social distancing; upgrading ventilation and filtration systems; and assuring compliance with COVID -19 restrictions like wearing face masks and sanitizing hands, O'connor said.
“We know it’s going to cost more to run these Code Blue shelters,” he said. “They are going to have to be additionally staffed and cleaned, we’re going to have to have more supplies and we’ll have to de-densify.”