As cities shut down, homeless are the ones who are hit the hardest

As the Bay Area grapples with an unprecedented shutdown prompted by fears of the spreading coronavirus, the mass closures have made a hard life even harder for the region’s thousands of homeless residents.

The regionwide shelter-inplace order that went into effect Monday exempts businesses and organizations that provide food, shelter and social services to people in need. But even so, many groups have been forced to cancel everything from meal distribution to medical clinics because they don’t have the staff, supply or safety precautions necessary to continue — leaving the region’s most vulnerable residents without key resources during a time of national crisis.

To make matters worse, many public facilities the homeless rely on have been shuttered. Libraries, where homeless patrons use the bathroom, access computers, kill time or even sleep, have stopped service. Restaurants and coffee shops where they could sit or charge their phones have closed, as have the gyms and YMCAs where they used to shower. Even the recycling centers many depended on for a meager income have shut down.

“I think as humans we thrive in systems that are regimented, that we can count on. And I think particularly for homeless folks, this is really upending whatever life they had developed in terms of where they go, where they travel, what they do during the day,” said Josh Selo, executive director of West Valley Community Services, which provides a food bank and other resources to homeless and low-income residents in Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos and parts of San Jose.

As do-gooders stay home, restaurants and caterers close and grocery stores run out of food, getting enough to eat has become a struggle for some of the region’s homeless residents. Usually, food donations flow into the Berkeley homeless camps activist group Where Do We Go Berkeley? serves, said lead organizer Andrea Henson. But now, for

first time, she’s getting requests every day from unhoused people in need of food.

“People are already hungry,” she said.

The East Oakland Collective, which typically serves more than 400 meals a week to homeless residents, was forced to stop when its caterer closed. And the group likely will postpone its Feed the Hood event scheduled for next month, during which volunteers were set to distribute 3,000 lunches and more than 1,000 hygiene kits to the homeless. Instead, the group is picking

up extra food from local restaurants and other community sources and distributing it among the homeless.

Medical services for the homeless also have been disrupted. The volunteerrun Berkeley Free Clinic last week announced it would close until further notice because its team lacks the gear and training to respond to COVID-19.

Local leaders are stepping up to try to help, doing everything from stopping evictions to launching new funds to help struggling residents. Silicon Valley officials and community leaders on Wednesday launched the Silicon Valley Strong program — a website that gathers resources residents need during the

crisis into one landing page, and two funds, one regional and one local, to address the economic impact of COVID-19.

Since the shelter-inplace order came down, 44-year-old Brandon Mercer, who lives in a homeless encampment at Ashby Avenue and Shellmound Street in Emeryville, has worried he’ll run into trouble with the police for being out and about on the streets. (Law enforcement agencies around the Bay Area have said they won’t cite people for violating the shelter-inplace order).

Mercer, who lives in a makeshift tiny home without water or electricity, works part time busing tables in restaurants. But there’s no work right now,

he said. To supplement his income, he recycles cans and bottles. But the recycling center at Second and Gillman streets has suspended its buyback program until further notice.

“If I can’t recycle, then I can’t make money that way,” Mercer said. “And if I can’t make money, then I can’t feed myself.”

Just when people like Mercer need them most, food pantries and meal distribution programs are struggling. West Valley Community Services normally has as many as 28 volunteers each morning who pick up unwanted food from grocery stores, sort donations, distribute food to clients and man the front desk. On Tuesday, it had three.

“We’re running on a skeleton crew of volunteers, which makes it very hard to keep up with the demand for food that we’re experiencing,” Selo said.

Many of the organization’s usual volunteers are over 65 and thus are staying home because they’re particularly vulnerable to experiencing serious symptoms from COVID-19. At the same time, donations are down and grocery stores, which have been all but cleaned out by people panic-buying supplies, have fewer leftover items. For now, West Valley Services has been keeping its pantry full with donations from restaurants — such as The Town Kitchen, with locations in Oakland and Redwood

City — of extra food they couldn’t sell before closing. But that will only last so long, Selo said.

“I’m concerned about what happens next week and beyond,” he said.

Despite the uncertainty, people in the nonprofit sector — while staying busy helping the region’s homeless and low-income residents — also are helping one another. Destination: Home in San Jose, for example, has been sending lunch to other nonprofits.

“The heroics that are happening right now in my sector,” Destination: Home CEO Jennifer Loving said, “it’s not a surprise, but it’s just beautiful.”