Virus forces changes on homeless shelters
DUBUQUE, Iowa — The danger of bringing any illness into Teresa Shelter, a homeless shelter in Dubuque for women and children, has been one of the biggest covid-19 concerns for Heather LuGrain, Opening Doors program coordinator.
“We chose to work with people. You know no matter what, you’re going to be exposed to more,” she said. “Although we’re worried about our health, we’re more worried about theirs. We get to go home to isolate. They don’t.”
Throughout the pandemic, area homeless shelters have had to figure out how to maintain health and safety guidelines while still serving a transient population. According to the most recent estimates available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in a single night in 2019, Iowa had about 2,300 people experiencing homelessness, Wisconsin had about 4,500, and Illinois had about 10,200.
Rick Mihm, executive director of Dubuque Rescue Mission, said the need for the men’s shelter’s services hasn’t changed much during the pandemic, but some homeless individuals might be seeking out alternatives to shelters.
“Some just stay outside,” he told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. “In covid, they don’t want to stay in a space with 15 other people.”
The Guest House, a seasonal homeless shelter for men run by nonprofit Almost Home at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Dubuque, made covid-19 adjustments to nearly every aspect of its shelter space before opening Oct. 1. Brian Baker, who started his job as the shelter’s manager two-and-a-half weeks before opening, kept a running list of ideas and suggestions in a notebook during the preparation period.
“We’ll be fine,” Baker said. “We’ve had a lot of guidance. We’ve had a lot of help from other agencies. We’re not flying blind.”
Almost Home Executive Director Gwen Kirchhof emphasized that officials not only had to think about the health and safety of staff and residents, but also of the public coming into Open Closet, Almost Home’s clothing store, and the St. John’s Lutheran Church congregation.
“We’re a neighborhood hub,” she said.
Limiting capacity is a step that all area shelters have taken in order to keep people in beds spaced out enough to adhere to covid-19 guidelines. However, LuGrain noted the importance of making sure that shelter spaces offer a bit of normalcy and a sense of home.
“Businesses can limit how many people come in. But they live here. There’s only going to be one community room,” said LuGrain. “We’re the only ones (that shelter homeless women and children in Dubuque). There’s nowhere else to go, so we’re doing the best we can.”
The emergency sleeping room in which Teresa Shelter residents first stay is filled with bunk beds. Individuals sleep head to toe to further lessen the chance of passing along germs through their breath while asleep.
LuGrain said officials have been moving people to the apartment-like rooms faster than normal to both give privacy and a better place to social distance alone or with children.
Dubuque Rescue Mission also has rooms that typically house two men each on bunk beds. However, the shelter decided to cut capacity by half to 16 people to allow everyone their own room.
The Guest House planned to keep its usual 12 beds in
use this season. Kirchhof said officials were considering having men sleep head to toe or implementing barriers between beds to keep people safe.
Family Promise of Grant County, Wis., uses a rotation of 11 participating churches to set up homeless shelters for families. However, Program Director Logan Noe said officials decided to stick to St. Clement Church in Lancaster since the pandemic began.
Family Promise has kept the number of families in the shelter to about 10 during that time to decrease the density of people. St. Clement Church used to be a convent, he added, and having the individual rooms was an asset to easily separate families.
Though things are going smoothly now, including a system for delivering groceries and meals to the church, Noe noted it wasn’t a simple transition.
“The first couple of months, we kind of struggled to get our footing,” he said. “There were a lot of people in a confined space, and stress levels were very high.”
East Central Intergovernmental Association provides services to the homeless, including connecting people to food and housing resources and running the homeless hotline in Dubuque and Delaware counties.
Amanda Hohmann, a regional homeless coordinator with the organization, said the need for homeless services has fluctuated throughout the pandemic.
“It’s interesting because I feel like in the beginning and a little bit in the middle, things were kind of eerily kind of slow. People were able to maintain where they were staying,” she said. “… I think we definitely see the individuals who are constantly struggling, but there’s a new group of people who never had to seek out these resources because they’ve always been able to make it.”
Those wanting to stay at Dubuque Rescue Mission are tested for covid-19 upon arrival, Mihm said. They then have to isolate in the basement until test results return, though they can take quick breaks outside.
If they break isolation rules before results return, Mihm said, they would have to start the intake process over again.
Mihm said the Mission has been lucky enough so far to not have any positive cases.
Many of the men who come to the Mission were laid off from food service jobs during the pandemic, he said. While local unemployment has fallen somewhat as of late, people still are worried.
“There’s an emotional burden that sort of hangs there,” Mihm said. “A lot of these men are in vulnerable conditions, and they’re anxious about keeping safe.”
The Family Promise of Grant County program is based around helping children,
and it only houses family units, Noe said. However, he received many calls toward the beginning of the pandemic from individuals — including many college students — who lost their jobs and needed a place to stay.
“The number of families we’ve seen is on par with what we had before,” Noe said. “The number of individuals has gone through the roof.”
The most people that have been living in Teresa Shelter at one time has been 36, LuGrain said. Since covid-19, the shelter has capped its population at 20 and conducts only one intake per night.
LuGrain said they haven’t gotten as many calls as they typically do in a summer. Through different forms of covid-19 aid such as stimulus checks, some people have been able to make ends meet with their families.
“If covid was not a thing, we would be completely swamped,” she said.
Like at Dubuque Rescue Mission, people are tested as they come into Teresa Shelter. Positive tests mean individuals must go to the shelter that the city established for the homeless or those who can’t self-isolate.
The city’s emergency housing, which was set up in hotel rooms and apartments, started in April.
LuGrain said having to be moved yet again to the city’s shelters for isolation could take away from the stability needed by those without homes.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” LuGrain said of the city’s shelter. “But it displaces them even more.”
Kichhof said The Guest House will have to turn away anyone awaiting covid-19 test results. Others coming to stay at the shelter will get their temperatures taken and fill out a symptom form.
The Guest House is open just for winter, when it’s important to have people not living directly in the harsh, cold elements.
Weather and need depending, it will run until sometime in March or April. Typically, the shelter serves 85 to 95 men per year, but Baker said he expects “high demand” this year.
Kirchhof said many people have been living in vehicles throughout the summer, an option not safe during the biting chill of Iowa winters. People started knocking on the shelter’s door as September weather began to cool.
“We’ve been getting calls already about when we open,” she said. “We’re very concerned about the amount of people we’re going to have immediately.”
She also is worried about staying at full strength throughout the winter, given the effects covid-19 has had on the shelter’s funding. After canceling major fundraisers
such as burger nights and a classic rock concert, she said, Almost Home has lost out on $56,000 in funds for the year.
“When you’re a small nonprofit, grants mean a lot,” Kirchhof said. “The thought, especially now hearing how many are homeless, of having to turn them away — that’s what keeps me awake at night.”
Mihm said he also is a little anxious about how the winter months will go. He already started exploring options for more bed spaces, including applying for grants that would allow the rescue mission to house some men in hotel rooms.
“We’re not going to be able to insert more men up there,” Mihm said of the shelter. “We’ve also talked about having people in the dining hall at night and put the beds away before people come in for meals. That’s not ideal by any means, but it’s better than staying outside when it’s cold.”
Almost Home’s clothing store, Open Closet, is located next to its shelter to provide anyone in need of clothing an opportunity to sift through donation items year-round. On average, Kirchhoff said the Open Closet serves 1,000 to 1,400 people per month. This year, there has been an increase in large families needing clothing.
Instead of being open two Saturdays per month, however, the store requires families to make appointments in order to limit the number of shoppers in the space at a time. The store also started “grab and go” bags of clothing of the same size so families can pick things up quickly.
Open Closet Coordinator Ruth Pugh said the store is doing clothing deliveries, as well. One of the most in-need items is underwear for children, which the closet took to schools to give to students.
“Our numbers dropped this summer, but once the schools started, appointments went right up,” she said.
In addition to the shelter and its thrift store, Dubuque Rescue Mission also gives out free meals daily. About 35 people are served at breakfast and 80 to 120 at both lunch and dinner.
Mihm said officials have staggered how many people come in to wait in line, and nearly all meals are takeout. The only people that can eat in the building are the elderly and those who are disabled.
He noted the elimination of seating has been hard, as many people use mealtimes to socialize. Having that personal interaction benefits emotional and mental health, he said.
“That emotional human connection has been the most challenging thing,” Mihm said. “The rules they’ve gotten used to, that they know.”