Shelters Face Winter Demand Strain While Limiting Coronavirus Exposure

Homeless shelters are facing a difficult winter. As temperatures drop, it becomes harder for people experiencing homelessness to stay outdoors safely, and shelters must prepare for greater demand while following restrictions meant to prevent coronavirus outbreaks.

Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said most shelters have had to adapt this year by reducing the number of people allowed inside, which limits virus exposure for guests and staff.

Advocates are concerned about the coming months. Winter and the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium at the end of the year could bring a large wave of people in need of shelter into a system that is already strained. “That influx of people is something we haven’t seen in my lifetime,” Whitehead said. “Right now in the country, there’s not one city that has enough shelter space for all the homeless people in their community.”

According to findings from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 568,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in the United States in 2019.

Whitehead said homelessness has increased in many communities because of the economic downturn created by the pandemic. A study by a Columbia University professor projected that the number of people without permanent housing could climb by 45 percent this year because of mass unemployment.

As the need grows, shelters have changed their spaces to meet Covid-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whitehead said they have reduced capacity, provided personal protective equipment, added places to wash hands or use sanitizer, and frequently checked temperatures. Whitehead also said some states have rented hotel rooms for homeless people to help separate them, in part using funding from the CARES Act. Los Angeles, Denver and the state of Minnesota have started buying hotels for this purpose, he said. He added, “It could be an absolute disaster if there wasn’t that rigid adherence to CDC guidelines.”

Richard Ducatenzeiler, executive director of Franciscan Outreach, the second-largest provider of emergency shelter in Chicago, said, “Our world has really been turned upside down the last several months.” He described this year as “easily the most challenging” in the 20 years he has worked in homelessness services. Early in the pandemic, his organization reduced shelter capacity by 25 percent, which allowed more space between beds and the addition of partitions. It also uses personal protective equipment, provides incentive pay for staff, screens guests with temperature checks and medical questionnaires, and offers on-site rapid coronavirus testing for guests who show symptoms. Recently, the shelter limited guests’ activity and travel to essential work, doctors’ appointments or treatment.

Franciscan Outreach has had two outbreaks: one involving about 20 people in the spring and another involving about 55 people in November. Ducatenzeiler said the majority of people in the November outbreak were asymptomatic. Because the shelter could not initially refer those patients to a medical respite isolation center, it had to isolate people within the facility for the first time. It converted one of the three dormitories where the outbreak occurred into an isolation space, temporarily moved guests into a school sports complex while the space was repurposed, and brought in a deep-cleaning company. The city also provided a separate shower and restroom trailer for people who had the virus.

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