The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Homeless shelters face COVID-19 challenges
The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio has released a statement concerning the novel coronavirus and its impact upon the homeless community.
In it, the coalition addresses concerns that may be arising throughout housing and homelessness assistance providers. They state that “COVID-19 is a particular threat to people experiencing homelessness and those who serve them.”
They direct shelter administrations and housing and assistance providers to seek guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies, which they link to on their website. Additionally, they urge providers to open a line of communication with local health departments and to work proactively before potential COVID-19 cases develop within their facilities.
In the coalition’s news release, it also highlights the potential shortage of supplies shelters and care facilities may be experiencing at the moment. They state that they are “working with the Ohio Department of Health to relay these concerns and determine an appropriate response.”
“Because everybody has been a bit panicky we’ve not been able to get our normal shopping done,” said Judy Burr, executive director of Lake County’s homeless shelter, Project Hope for the Homeless in Painesville Township. “I’ve had to go online and order that way because all the supplies locally are off the shelves.
“We’re keeping up with all the information that’s coming our way from the Center for Disease Control,” she added. “They had specific guidelines for homeless shelters. We are stepping up our efforts to sanitize everything with bleach. We do that anyway, but we’re stepping up the amounts of times we do it.”
With a daily intake of people and the close quarters they share within shelters like Project Hope are understandably cautious of potential COVID-19 outbreaks. “We held a meeting with our leadership and went over all the symptoms to look for. If anybody exhibits these symptoms our folks have to be seen within 24 hours.”
The site has no way of administering testing there but Burr stated that those showing symptomatic signs would be taken to local hospitals for testing. With Project Hope not functioning as a 24-hour a day shelter, positive cases among the homeless community pose unique issues in regards to effective isolation while still making sure their needs are met.
“If they were to be diagnosed with it and had to be quarantined we would have to work with the health department on that,” Burr said. “The health department would have to make sure that they have somewhere to (quarantine) for 24 hours a day until they recover so they’re not spreading it among the population.”