How NC homeless shelters are protecting the people they serve amid coronavirus outbreak
Daniel James was out picking up supplies, even if just to stockpile them.
He got plenty of food and medical supplies, enough to last for months. James is the director of the HADIT Home for Veterans in Raleigh, and with the recent threat of COVD-19, which is caused by the coronavirus, he wanted to make sure that anyone who comes to the home has plenty to eat in case they are stuck inside for months.
The thing is, while the area coronavirus cases have recently increased, no one new has shown up to HADIT, James said.
“The traffic has died down,” James told the N&O over the phone last month.
There were more than 1,500 coronavirus cases in North Carolina as of Tuesday evening. The number of cases in the state has continued to grow, even after Gov. Roy Cooper on March 14 issued an executive order banning mass gatherings of more than 100 people. He also closed public K-12 schools and bars and restaurants with the exception of takeout and delivery services. A statewide stay-at-home order started Monday.
Homeless shelters in the Triangle, however, aren’t in position to close or turn away those in need.
The majority of shelters in the Triangle remain open, but with updated policies. The Raleigh Rescue Mission put a “temporary hold on volunteers and tours” in an effort to keep its clients safe, according to its website.
“We haven’t let too many visitors in,” Steve McCulloch, communications director of the Raleigh Rescue Mission, told the N&O. “The great thing is our clients are long-term. We can’t take anyone because we are at capacity. We don’t really want the risk of someone coming in and having something that might be spread.”
There’s a sign on the door at HADIT Home, which houses veterans, asking people if they’re sick.
“We posted a sign up ‘are you feeling well today?’,” James said. “If yes, you can come in, if not we’re not letting them in if they are not well.”
James usually screens potential clients with an interview over the phone. What’s puzzled him this week as coronavirus cases have increased, is the decrease of healthy clients who have come through the door.
“A couple of the regulars haven’t shown up,” James said. “They just disappeared.”
Modifications to daily operations
Family Promise of Wake County, a homelessness nonprofit and emergency shelter, took action when Cooper declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus on March 10.
The organization restricted access to its Day Center to families, staff and service providers. All board and committee meetings moved online and life skill classes and volunteer groups were canceled.
Each family at Family Promise has a private bathroom at its Day Center and each family is responsible for completing daily chores to keep the center clean and sanitized.
Each family that is taken into the home has to go through a COVID-19 screening process, and executive director Danielle Butler anticipates the families needing shelter will grow as job opportunities shrink due to the closing or limited hours of businesses.
“We only expect to see the number of families needing housing to increase as many of the jobs the parents in our program hold - including food service and hourly retail jobs - disappear or have hours cut drastically,” Butler said in an email to the N&O.
At the Urban Ministries of Durham, director Joe Daly has had to cut some operations to follow the social distancing practice of people staying six feet away from each other to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Urban Ministries is serving all meals from its community cafe to-go and only a few people are allowed in at a time. The organization’s food pantry is serving five people at a time and it has suspended the operations of its clothing closet, which offers clothes to those in need.
“It’s an important function,” Daly told the N&O about the clothing closet, “but at this time it’s deemed non-essential, unless emergency need arises.”
The Urban Ministries currently houses 89 men and 33 women. There is a dormitory-style unit for families. Daly realizes how those numbers can cause a problem with social distancing.
“There’s not a lot we can do about that right now in terms of how close they live together, it’s a dormitory style,” Daly said. “But we’ve stepped up cleaning and we’ve gotten additional help from the county on that front and we are seeking what resources are available through a variety of channels. We are trying to take whatever measures we can to protect the well-being of everyone over there.”
Daly said no one at Urban Ministries has shown coronavirus symptoms.
“So far, so good, but we are mindful, it’s a fast-moving situation,” Daly said. “We’re having meetings every day. Our directors are meeting everyday.”
What if someone shows symptoms?
Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, headache, fatigue and difficulty breathing in severe cases. With so many people in close proximity to each other, what steps can homeless organizations take if a clients shows symptoms?
Family Promises has a plan in place.
“If a member of a family in our emergency shelter shows symptoms of COVID-19, we will shelter that family either in one of our individual transitional housing apartments or another form of private housing,” Butler wrote. “And we will help our families to self-monitor and practice appropriate isolation for a 14-day period. Our social workers will work with anyone who is showing symptoms in any of our four housing programs - emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing and New Lease on Life - to attain appropriate medical care and testing. The staff is doing education with our families on ways to avoid contracting COVID-19 through social distancing, proper cleaning protocols and hand hygiene.”
At the Raleigh Rescue Mission, right now at 120 clients, all new clients get a check up during the intake process. McCulloch didn’t know when the hold on new clients will be lifted, but said the organization is taking it day by day.
“It’s kind of an unknown for everyone,” McCulloch said.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
