MANCHESTER, NH — Homeless shelters across the state are taking steps to keep its staff and one of the state’s most vulnerable populations safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cathy Kuhn, PhD., of the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness and who is Chief Strategy Officer for Families in Transition-New Horizons, said there are about 1,400 homeless people in the state. Each night, the New Horizons shelter at 199 Manchester St., the state’s largest shelter for individuals, provides beds for 138 people.
To practice “social distancing” — maintaining a six-foot distance from others — in a homeless shelter is difficult, if not impossible.
Kuhn said that ideally a second facility is needed to provide that amount of space to ensure their clients’ safety. She also said if resources were available the shelter would like to remove about a dozen people who are the most vulnerable because of significant medical issues.
What also is needed, she said, is to be able to isolate those who are symptomatic and “God forbid” be able to isolate someone who tests positive, whether that be at a hospital or some other location.
The homeless, she explained, are among the most vulnerable population because many have “pretty significant medical challenges,” whether physical or mental.
“Being homeless has consequences for your health and maintaining personal hygiene is really difficult,” she said.
Since Gov. Chris Sununu declared a state of emergency, the shelter has implemented changes under guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control.
No one can enter the facility without first answering questions concerning contact with individuals testing positive for COVID-19, whether they have any respiratory problems, etc. No one from the shelter, thus far, has tested positive for the virus.
Anyone with respiratory problems is given a face mask and referred to Catholic Medical Center’s Healthcare for the Homeless which is housed in the same building.
“We have hand sanitizer dispensers in the shelter, but the supplies are low and we are uncertain if we will be able to get refills,” Kuhn said. “While supplies last, we are giving out as many hand sanitizers as we can and obviously encouraging clients to practice good hand-washing.”
Outreach workers also have distributed hand sanitizers to those in homeless encampments
The number-one priority, she said, is to do everything possible to keep everyone safe.
Kuhn said shelters have never dealt with anything like COVID-19 and things change on a daily basis. “This is on a scale we have never seen before,” she said.
The shelter guarantees a bed for those who had a bed the night before if they check-in during regular check-in hours. To keep numbers down, dinner service is now limited to people who are staying in the shelter.
“Those from the community who are unable to be served dinner will be able to access a box of food at the food pantry,” Kuhn said.
Yesterday (Monday, March 16) the state started a daily call with all the shelters across the state as a way to provide updated information about what is happening, she said.
“That’s a move in the right direction,” she said.
Jake Leon, communications director for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said the state is coordinating with providers, community partners and other stakeholders to provide necessary and updated COVID-19 preparatory and precautionary guidance to protect individuals experiencing homelessness.
The effort is led by towns and community organizations, which are partnering to protect the health of people experiencing homelessness. For example, he said, shelters have brought in nursing supports to monitor the health of shelter residents.
Both the CDC and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued information that we have driven to community partners to help them prepare and respond, Leon said.
The pandemic also is effecting how the Waypoint Youth Resource Center, 326 Lincoln St., is operating. Waypoint, formerly Child and Family Services, is the sole agency in the state specifically addressing homelessness and runaways among youth, ages 12 to 23, from across the state.
The Lincoln Street facility is a drop-in center providing homeless youth with survival services such as a hot lunch, clothing, laundry, internet access and a food pantry. Normally, youth are able to take a hot shower as well but according to Borja Alvarez de Toledo, president and CEO of Waypoint, there is not enough staff to keep the facilities sanitized. So, for now, that service is unavailable.
Watch: ⇑ More about Waypoint’s Youth Services and Resource Center.
The center is limiting its hours of operation while also allowing only 10 youth in the center at any given time. Normally, Alvarez de Toledo said, youth can hang out in the center and watch a movie or socialize with others for several hours.
Now, youth are allowed at the center only for specific reasons — picking up clothing or accessing the food pantry, for instance — and then they must leave.
He said youth are still be connected to therapy, access to hospitals and other services but that is being done without face-to-face interaction.
Waypoint also has stopped all outreach to homeless youth they have not encountered before to protect its staff. Alvarez de Toledo explained that the homeless youth population is extremely vulnerable to the virus because a high percentage “couch surf,” going from home-to-home or if outside, they sleep together in groups.
The COVID-19 emergency also has affected Waypoint’s major fundraiser, SleepOut, where people sleep outdoors to experience homelessness.
It still is taking place Friday, March 20, but as a home-based virtual event conducted online and not in Manchester and Exeter.
Alvarez de Toledo said participants are being asked to stay at home on March 20 and sleep on the floor or in the yard or in some other less than comfortable way, while continuing to conduct their online fundraising campaigns.
“I am going to sleep on my back porch,” he said.
Photos of the sleeping participants will be shared on Waypoint’s social channels as a way to continue raising community consciousness about homelessness in the state.
The annual fundraiser is expected to raise $350,000 for youth services.
These stories are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org. Following the lead of The Washington Post, NHPR and The Valley News, The Granite State News Collaborative has put together this survey to help outlets around the state guide their ongoing coverage of COVID-19.