An hour outside of Daytona, Florida, a young married couple from northern California is stranded, far from home in a pandemic. Jobless, broke, and scared of the increasing dangers of the novel coronavirus, they reached out to local homeless shelters in early March, and were repeatedly given a shocking answer: The shelters could ONLY house COVID-19-positive people. For nearly two months now, they’ve lived out of their broken-down car and a tent.
It’s a tragic choice, but given the circumstances, it made sense for shelters at the time, and even now. Many shelters, especially those with open floor plans—think an auditorium with beds—don’t have the ability to separate the infected from the uninfected. Even those shelters with the capacity to segregate populations can’t do so without enough testing. Shelters, like prisons, jails, and detainment camps, can be a breeding ground for any infection; if shelter operators knew their residents had the novel coronavirus, they could, in theory, narrow containment and disinfection efforts. Yet those people without shelter and without COVID-19 are often left with no place to go.
In New York City’s shelters, the problem is reversed: When people in the city’s shelters are found to be infected, they are moved to an isolation facility, then forced back onto the streets. Months after the novel coronavirus first reached our shores, there are still too few tests available; even when facilities can procure them, shelter residents in the know are often hesitant to be tested.
Shelters in the Big Apple and beyond simply don’t have the resources to handle a global pandemic of this scale. While researching my local shelters’ handling of COVID-19 cases, it was very difficult to even find representatives to interview. This might have something to do with nationwide lack of volunteers at homeless shelters right now. Many people are staying home for safety, while others suddenly have to supervise kids who are out of school. Others won’t leave the house because of stay-at-home orders. Volunteer help has “absolutely plummeted” according to Larry Haynes, executive director at Mercy House in Santa Ana, California. “So you need to find paid personnel, which will elevate your (operating) cost.”
Cities, local governments, and shelters have grappled with how to serve and protect this ultra-vulnerable population. In Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer announced a plan to convert two hotels into quarantine facilities for people without housing who have either tested COVID-19 positive, or are awaiting results. In the meantime, the city’s Salvation Army put up a 5,300 square foot temporary outdoor emergency shelter, with enough appropriately-spaced cots to hold up to 50 people. At the Orlando Union Rescue Mission, coronavirus-free residents are forbidden to leave the facility, except for essential work or a doctor’s appointment. CEO Fred Clayton explains that there are just too many risks for a population that already has so many underlying conditions.
John Hearn, president and CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida (CHCF), actually has the capacity to screen new arrivals and isolate the infected residents. Given the unique current conditions, meals are now offered three times a day instead of two, since residents aren’t able to venture out. Hearn’s facility, like others across the nation, have also had to hire a lot more paid staff to fill the gaps left by lack of volunteers, and the lack of help and staff call-outs mean paying overtime. Hearn happily offers room to those who need it; and as of this writing, CHCF still has some space available. However, Hearn also said this new operational approach costs an extra $25,000 per week. Hearn’s organization is desperately trying to fundraise to make up for the added expenses.
All shelters are feeling the pinch, as donations slow to a trickle, since many people with housing are holding onto what they can until the crisis ends. The shelters have limited capabilities to sanitize supplies, and visits by nurses and healthcare workers have dried up due to overwhelming demands at hospitals and the lack of available protective equipment.
So far, the plight of people facing homelessness during this pandemic hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention in the media as it should. There’s still a prevailing attitude that it’s “those people,” and too many people still believe that people must have done something to put themselves in that situation. However, millions now suddenly find themselves out of work with no health insurance and no way to pay rent or mortgage. Food banks that many people never thought they’d use are now overwhelmed, as the U.S. undergoes the largest food crisis since the Great Depression. Just three months ago, many thought their jobs and income were stable, yet today now find themselves on the verge of homelessness or already there. Suddenly, there are a lot more of “those people.”
The novel coronavirus isn’t solely to blame, of course. Even before the pandemic, many families were living paycheck-to-paycheck, and housing prices have far outpaced wages in most metro U.S. markets, including in Orlando. Rural areas have not fared much better: Residents in rural counties across the country are paying more than half of their income toward housing.
In states like Florida, which has the highest concentration of service-sector jobs, there are few, if any, positions with employer-paid healthcare benefits. Now that the pandemic has hit hard, many businesses have closed, and people are being laid off by the tens of millions. As of May 7, 33.5 million workers across the nation have filed for unemployment. Thanks to its large service and tourism industry, Florida has had the highest increase in unemployment in the nation, and most can’t access the system, due to sabotage by former governor Rick Scott and his Republican allies.
Most families without shelter can’t access stimulus funds, even though they are the ones who would most benefit. Why? Because tax returns were used as the method of distribution. Millions of low-income people didn’t file a tax return last year because they didn’t have to. People making under $12,200 are not required to file taxes, and depending on the circumstance, that no-file threshold can increase to $25,700. This includes the millions of people who have to get by on Social Security or disability benefits. The U.S. Treasury was supposed to use Social Security numbers for those who didn’t file tax returns last year; but instead, the IRS initially posted a notice on their website, directing people to file a tax return in order to access their stimulus money. With public libraries and Apple Stores shuttered, how, exactly, was that going to happen? Even the new Non-Filer Tool, which is powered by the company behind Turbo Tax, is unwieldy and inaccessible for anyone without access to a computer.
Republicans, of course, have always held contempt for the unemployed, and even more so for people without homes. The Democrats rejected the first two attempts by the GOP to pass the $2 trillion rescue package because there were few measures to help the low-income earners affected by the pandemic. Republicans originally even included a provision that prevented nonprofits from receiving Small Business Administration funding.
Handouts, apparently, should be reserved for cronies, corporations, and several of Trump’s failing businesses. Republican lawmakers have shown themselves to be impervious to those suffering on the streets, or else downright clueless about it. One Republican lawmaker in Minnesota even equated homelessness with camping; he couldn’t understand why the states locked-down campgrounds couldn’t be reopened, since people without homes were allowed to use their tents.
Many red state governors, like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, have steadfastly refused to even consider temporarily suspending evictions which will only serve to exacerbate the crisis. Homelessness rates are expected to double nationwide, at a time when it couldn’t be worse to be without a home.
What Republicans fail to understand is that their pathological desire to inflict suffering upon those people they view as beneath them ignores one key truth: If every population isn’t quarantined and treated—including and especially those facing homelessness—the virus will continue to spread through communities. There will be continuous spikes in infection rates until a vaccine is created and distributed (which presents its own challenges). Yet because statistics now show that people of color are disproportionately affected by the virus, Republicans are currently under the delusion that this pandemic only affects certain people, certain areas, or even that we can develop herd immunity by just letting the virus “wash over” the country. That dangerous kind of thinking has gotten and will get many people killed.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, there is something simple that can be done right now. There are millions of empty hotel rooms across the country, which people without homes can use for temporary shelter. “The medical professionals are close to unanimous that hotels are the safest way to protect the un-housed and public health,” according to Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents San Francisco’s Mission district, a hotbed for homelessness. Isolating in hotel rooms could be the best chance to stop the spread of the virus. In New York City, there is a bill that will require vacant hotel rooms to be utilized for this purpose. Hotels would be compensated, as billions in grants from the first coronavirus stimulus package can be used as emergency housing for people in need.
Challenges in moving this population to hotels do exist, but this solution has also brought out a lot of old prejudices and a lot of NIMBY resistance. Residents in suburban communities have protested busing in people facing homelessness to the vacant hotels in their area. Some hotels are concerned about damages or turning their hotels into de facto hospitals. One boutique hotel in Orange County, California even terminated its lease rather than host people without homes.
It’s worth noting that cities have given developers hundreds of millions in the form of tax breaks and public subsidies. We absolutely should expect them to give back in an emergency.
In fairness, many other hotels have stepped up for their communities and opened their doors in order to serve as temporary shelters. Notably, one prominent hotel chain won’t help. Despite profiteering off of U.S. taxpayers and foreign officials, and despite the fact that all of his hotels are practically empty, Donald Trump has refused to even consider using his properties to help the nation’s most endangered people during this national crisis. Trump even refused requests from local and state officials to house medical workers who set up field hospitals, because of course he did. Honestly, would you expect him to act any differently?
The California couple remains stranded in unknown territory; despite receiving a shipment of much-needed supplies from a friend back home, they live in constant fear of both the virus and of being forced by police to move camp … and now, the season’s first tropical storm.
If the test for any moral society is how we treat our most vulnerable members, the United States is currently failing on that front. Unfortunately, failing this test in the age of COVID-19 carries deadly consequences not just for those who face the greatest risks, but for all of us.
I urge you to take a moment and donate to the shelter serving those facing homelessness that is nearest you. Google “homeless charity near me” and find a way to help provide funds, food, clothing, and shelter to people in need during this most perilous time. Under Trump’s administration, they are suffering and can’t count on federal help, so it’s up to us to step in.