Ministries bring vaccine to homeless in S.A.
After outreach workers visited camps to spread the word, about 70 people received Johnson & Johnson doses last week
SAN ANTONIO — Like most mornings at Christian Assistance Ministry downtown, homeless people stood waiting in a long line. Usually, they’re waiting for a sack lunch or clothes, but a makeshift vaccine clinic attracted the crowd last week.
Natalie Flores, 35, walked across the street from the homeless camp she moved into a few days ago under the Interstate 37 overpass. At the clinic, she got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is effective after just one dose.
“I was excited to get it over with,” Flores said, who donned her blue Spongebob mask.
Flores and her fiancé, Marcus Hardaway, were among 70 people inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that morning, according to personnel with the San Antonio Fire Department, which helped administer the shots obtained from Metro Health.
“I feel I’ve been putting this off too long,” Hardaway said, convincing some of his friends who also live under the bridge to get their vaccines.
Outreach workers have been visiting camps all week to spread the word about the vaccine distribution.
Though many people experiencing homelessness were apprehensive at first to receive the vaccine, they started to change their minds the more they learned about it, according to Dawn White-Fosdick, president and CEO of Christian Assistance Ministry.
“You can’t call this population,” White-Fosdick said, while many sheltered San Antonians can utilize the text message alert system whenever vaccines become available.
The organization also used volunteers who work with the homeless frequently to help with paperwork for the vaccine to make them more comfortable Thursday.
“We don’t want to make them nervous,” said Valerie Salas, the director of homeless services for the ministry.
Plus, everyone who got vaccinated received a 30-day VIA bus pass — a “good incentive,” according to Flores.
Flores has been homeless on and off since she was 17, and said the coronavirus pandemic has made life without a home even more difficult.
“It changes the things we do . ... It affects where we go,” she said. “I feel trapped out here. I used to feel free.”
White-Fosdick said it’s paramount to keep people experiencing homelessness healthy, as they walk across the city to get food, a shower, clothes or anything else they need to survive.
“We definitely want this population to be safe,” she said as volunteers scanned vaccine cards into the Homeless Management Information System, making sure “it’s never lost.” Even if someone loses their card, there still will be proof of the vaccine in case they need it in the future to get into shelters or obtain other resources.
Patience Cain, an advanced practice registered nurse volunteering with the Texas Medical Reserve Corps, was the sole vaccine administrator, and nine firefighters with the San Antonio Fire Department figured out paperwork and prepared her vaccines.
“They’re at such risk,” Cain said. She also noticed more hesitancy from the homeless population to get vaccinated, but “they’ve been doing well.”
Some 42 people experiencing homelessness were also able to get vaccinated Tuesday and Wednesday at the San Fernando Gym, which the city and Corazon Ministries use as a resource hub for the homeless, according to Jack Turek, with the city’s Department of Human Services.
Additionally, about 40 were vaccinated at the Catholic Worker House, where people experiencing homelessness can grab meals, get their laundry done and rest in a safe space.
The Fire Department also has administered 4,600 vaccines to residents of San Antonio Housing Authority communities, as well as homebound seniors, according to Chris Edwards, the site manager for mobile vaccines.