Sheltering in safety
Homeless agencies confront pandemic as winter nears
With the coronavirus pandemic raging through its second wave, what happens if outbreaks close Lehigh Valley shelters or warming stations this winter, when the homeless need them the most?
No one providing these services wants to find out the answer. Which is why things are being done much differently at facilities for the homeless now than they were this time last year, whenCOVID-19 was unheard of.
With cases surging dramatically this month — and colder weather just around the corner — masks, body temperature checks, sanitizing, social distancing and visitor restrictions are in practice perhaps even more than whenthe coronavirus first hit the Lehigh Valley in March.
“We’re much better prepared for the beginning of this winter than we were at the end of last winter, when this thing came flying out of left field,” said CEO David Fagerstrom of the Greater
Valley YMCA, which operates a warming station for up to 70 people in Allentown.
Anticipating more people needing a warm place to sleep at night, in part because of a recent closing of an Allentown homeless encampment, the warming station moved from the YMCA’s basement to its larger gym space in October. This allowed the facility to space beds farther apart under coronavirus safety measures, which also involve limiting laundry and shower use to appointments only, Fagerstrom said.
Bob Rapp, executive director of Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering, shudders to think what would happen if enough positive cases forced the shelter to close.
“We’re not a medical facility, so we don’t have medical personnel here to handle an outbreak,” Rapp said. “I’m not exactly sure what emergency management would look like in that case. We’ve talked about it with the city. I guess we’re just hoping
for the best and we’ll cross that bridge if we have to.”
BES normally operates Nov. 15 to April 15, serving up to 70 people at Christ Church United Church of Christ, 75 E. Market St., but closed in March, when the pandemic prompted many facilities for the homeless to close or stop accepting referrals.
“Weprepared our folks,” Rapp said. “We bought a lot of tents and sleeping bags and we had a lot of folks donate a lot of items to get people safely to the camping area. They did really well healthwise because of outdoor social distancing.
“That’s something that may come into play again,” he said. “We can’t be sure. We just do the best we can, follow the protocols that are in place and pray for the best.”
Neither Rapp nor anyone else wants to see any homeless person turned away into the cold because an outbreak forced a warming station to close.
The Y in March converted its warming station temporarily to a code blue shelter open only on nights when outdoor temperatures dropped below freezing. Now its warming station on Seventh Street is open 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.
“We couldn’t have people freezing to death,” Fagerstrom said. “Since then, we’ve had eight months to better prepare for this anticipated second wave, which happens to be just in time for when the population we serve needs facilities like ours the most.”
Unlike the YMCA and BES warming stations, which are seasonal, shelters operated by other agencies are year-round and have been open throughout the pandemic. They, too, feel better prepared to prevent outbreaks and safely shelter the homeless this winter.
“Due to enhanced precautions, we’ve had to suspend some of our services, such as in-person classes and group support sessions, but clients are still working closely with their caseworkers to secure jobs and housing,” said Maj. Ismael Correa of the Salvation Army, which runs the Beall and Linny Fowler Hospitality House for homeless women and children in Allentown.
Correa said that the facility has nine family units that can each house up to five people on North Seventh Street.
Michele Albright, supportive housing program supervisor for the Valley Youth House shelter for homeless children in Bethlehem, said, “We’ve had kids show up on our doorstep in the freezing cold in the middle of the night. Ours is the only place for them to go because we’re the only public shelter for children in this area.”
Still, Valley Youth House reduced the maximum number of children housed at its Eighth Avenue shelter from 12 to eight to allow for more social distancing, Albright said.
New Bethany Ministries created more room for social distancing by expanding the square footage of its Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton shelters, spokeswoman Tina Hasselbusch said. However, its Mollard Hospitality Day Center in Bethlehem has been closed since March to prevent indoor gatherings through which the virus can spread, Hasselbusch said. The center provided showers, laundry facilities, meals, a food pantry, toiletries, personal hygiene items, clothing andanaddressfor receiving personal mail.
Such services being discontinued or scaled back is part of the safety-related changes to which agency staff and clients alike find it challenging to adjust.
“It’s thrown a wrench in everything,” said Executive Director Jeffrey Poch of Safe Harbor, whose volunteers must nowdrop meals off instead of serving them in the agency’s shelter in Easton.
Another challenge is shelters’ significantly reducing their volunteer staff.
After it sent its 10 volunteers home, Ripple Community Inc. added a paid position at its Linden Street day center in Allentown, bringing its staff to three full-time and two part-time employees.
“A year ago, we didn’t need someone stationed at the door, handing out hand sanitizers and masks and taking temperatures, but now we do,” said Executive Director Sherri Binder of Ripple, which partners with other agencies providing services for up to 60 people.
But, as hard as these changes are to adjust to, they’re necessary.
“Not only are these safety measures the moral thing to do, but they’re also the legal requirement for us to stay open and keep operating,” said Skip Smith, CEO of the Allentown Rescue Mission for homeless men on Hamilton Street. “If we have an outbreak here and everyone has to quarantine, how the heck are we supposed to stay open? We have to fight to make sure we stay as clean as possible.”
Their efforts are paying off, according to Allentown city spokesman Mike Moore.
Out of the hundreds of employees and homeless people at facilities in Allentown, “the city’s Health Bureau believes we have had roughly five to 10 sporadic coronavirus cases, but no widespread outbreaks that have had substantial spread,” Moore said.
This determination among agencies benefits people like Thor Lorenz, 65, who arrived Nov. 1 at Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering.
“If it wasn’t for the shelter, I’d still be sleeping in a friend’s garage,” Lorenz said. “Here, I have a warm, safe place with friendly people and good food. And I’m getting proper medical attention for myheart valve issue. It’s great that they’re here.”