Contagion lurks for city’s homeless
Lack of sanitary conditions raises flags for hundreds living on streets
The entire country of Italy was effectively placed on lockdown, the NBA had declared its season over, and Houston area schools were canceling one after the other, but no one had yet told Dwain Galentine to wash his hands.
Not that the instruction would have been much use. Galentine, 49, has slept across from Houston’s downtown Greyhound
station for the past three years, ever since getting out of prison. The service station won’t let him in, and the only real option for a quick hand wash is the McDonald’s.
Galentine — nicknamed Alley Cat on the streets — only learned about the new coronavirus because some of his friends watched TV and told him the news. All he knows is that it’s contagious.
“That (expletive) can wipe these people out real fast,” said Jonathan Chartian, Galentine’s 40-year old nephew and only regular visitor, who stopped by on his way home from work. “They don’t have the
proper care, they don’t have the proper attention that they need.”
Homeless advocates have the same fears. With the rapid spread of coronavirus, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has released guidelines on how service providers can work with the homeless population during the virus: stock up on supplies, plan for staff absences, give out information to clients. But the guidelines say little about the unsheltered population. In 2019, 1,515 people in Harris County were experiencing homelessness in a single night, according to the annual point-in-time count.
“They’re more vulnerable, and their immune systems are more vulnerable, especially the ones that are unsheltered,” said Leslie Bourne, the executive director of Covenant House, which serves homeless youth ages 18-24. “You’ve got a lot of elderly that are homeless, too.”
Bourne started worrying about coronavirus two weeks ago. She drew up an emergency plan — which has
“There’s a whole population out on the street that doesn’t have the resources of the shelters … There’s no plan for them.” Leslie Bourne, executive director of Covenant House
changed three times in the past week — that covers everything from staffing to cleaning. She set aside an isolation room and cut volunteers and street outreach programs. They’ve run through emergency scenarios: What if the whole night staff is out and five kids walk in showing symptoms?
No one has made such contingencies for Galentine.
“There’s a whole population out on the street that doesn’t have the resources of the shelters and what we’ve done to pull together,” Bourne said. “There’s no plan for them.”
The city of Houston said it is working on a coronavirus response for the homeless community.
“Immediate concerns being addressed include acquisition and coordination of needed resources, testing sites accessible to the homeless, and a potential quarantine facility for individuals unable to self-quarantine or isolate if needed,” Marc Eichenbaum, the mayor’s special assistant for homeless initiatives, wrote in an email.
On the street, a group of young men standing by Galentine asked passersby not for money, but for hand sanitizer.
Galentine sat on a blue tarp, swirling red Gatorade around in his mouth and spitting it back into a Styrofoam cup, brushing arms with another seated man who shouted over traffic.
Chartian worries it’s too late to protect people like his uncle from the coronavirus. If he had the money, he would start a program like Covenant House. He doesn’t. He’s just grateful for the support of family who kept him out of jail and off the streets since he got released in December 2016.
“Well, it’s coming right? It’s here. It’s too late to put them anywhere,” he said, surveying his uncle, sitting in a black T-shirt and black do-rag in a line of other men. “It’s too late to try to store these people somewhere.”