Homeless shelters struggle

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is a potential risk for everyone, and those housed in congregate settings like homeless shelters faced increased risks.

Agencies like the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio have taken a leading role in prioritizing the needs of the homeless community, raising necessary funding and public awareness of the issue.

According to the coalition’s statistics, Ohio has about 300 homeless shelters which house more than 10,000 people.

“We need to make sure we limit the impact of the novel coronavirus on the homeless community, as well as (homeless shelter) staff and the broader community,” coalition Development Director Marcus Roth said. “It’s not just an issue that affects the homeless. They come into contact with a lot of other people. If you have these hot spots at homeless shelters, it’s going to also affect the broader community.

“That’s the main focus right now for us,” he added. “Usually we have a wider approach, but right now our singular focus is on making sure the homeless shelters have what they need to try to respond to the virus and implement basic public health guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control.

“We need to make sure we limit the impact of the novel coronavirus on the homeless community, as well as (homeless shelter) staff and the broader community.” — Coalition Development Director Marcus Roth

“Social distancing in congregate facilities like this is impossible.”

Critical shortcomings were highlighted in the coalition’s recent “Double Jeopardy” report which cites a 79 percent of Ohio shelters lacking funding needed to alleviate overcrowding and a 71 percent lack in “sufficient sanitation and hygiene supplies to prevent transmission of the disease.”

The report also states 87 percent of Ohio shelters do not have adequate space to isolate and quarantine those who exhibit symptoms related to COVID-19. To counteract these shortcomings the coalition has created the Pandemic Emergency Fund.

“We set up the pandemic relief fund and have put in half a million dollars of our own rainy day funds into that to start to create the fund,” Roth said. “We are trying to raise $1.5 million by the end this month. We’ve almost doubled the amount we’ve put in. It’s coming along. Thankfully a lot of people are stepping up.

“The first priority is to move the medically vulnerable, seniors, women with babies and those with preexisting health conditions, out of the shelters,” he continued. “A lot of hotels around the state are stepping up and opening up their doors,

but they can’t do it for free. Homeless shelters operate on shoestring budgets to begin with. They certainly don’t have the money to start booking hotel rooms for the next three months. That’s a really big need.”

Roth explained why moving potentially infected homeless members out of shelters is so vital to health of the surrounding community.

“Typically, shelters shut down during the day and the people go out into the community to get their basic needs met,” he said. “If they’re spreading the virus at night at a homeless shelter and then going out into the community during the day, then they’re going to potentially be spreading it the community as well. It’s not the best situation.

“We don’t have places in shelters to isolate or quarantine,” Roth added. “That doesn’t exist. This is not a solution and is counter-productive. If you release someone who tests positive into a shelter and ask them to isolate, which they can’t do, then they’re just going to spread it throughout a congregate setting like wildfire.”

“This plague has shown that homeless shelters are a public health crisis waiting to happen,” added coalition Executive Director Bill Faith. “In fact, they always have been. The lesson here is that we should not just warehouse people who have no decent place to live because mass homelessness is hazardous to everyone’s health.”

The recent push to release low-level offenders from jails and prisons for the same reason is welcomed by Roth, but only when done so responsibly and with a plan.

“When they release someone, we just want to make sure that they are making sure that they first have a place to live and aren’t just kicking them to shelters,” Roth said. “It’s happened in many cases, we’ve heard, where jails will turn them out and basically give them a list of homeless shelters.

“This can’t happen,” he added. “People need to work together and understand there is a serious vulnerability in the system and make sure that people are not just sent to homeless shelters while they could be testing positive.”

Roth also voiced concerns over rent moratoriums and the potential risks inherent in evictions if rental aid is not forthcoming in various relief efforts.

“People have to recognize, that’s not a solution,” he said in regards to a moratorium. “It only delays the inevitable. A solution would be to help people who have been laid off during this crisis to pay the rent. The last thing we all need is a rush of people getting evicted and potentially heading towards homeless shelters.

“Evictions perpetuate poverty. Once you have an eviction on your record it makes it incredibly harder to get a place. The last thing we need is more housing instability in the middle of a pandemic.”