Advocates rally behind the homeless amid coronavirus outbreak

Lansing’s homeless shelters take precautions amid pandemic

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As the coronavirus spreads, the city of Lansing is bracing for a worst-case scenario. Nowhere are those concerns more exacerbated than with some of the region’s most vulnerable: the homeless.

Dozens of homeless people line up nightly outside the City Rescue Mission on Michigan Avenue. Some are just looking for dinner. Others need a place to stay. And Randy Barton, men’s shelter director, is pooling resources to help manage what he suspects will be an inevitable outbreak of COVID-19 on local streets.

“The homeless community in the downtown area doesn’t usually go outside of a small perimeter, but that’s bittersweet news for us,” Barton said. “They don’t really travel, so the spread is limited, but once that perimeter is breached, this illness will likely spread very quickly and chances are nobody will know about it for 14 days.”

Adequate hygiene is an issue among the homeless, Barton said. Shelters also push guests into close quarters, a challenge for social distancing. Poor nutrition, sleep and extreme stress weaken the immune system. And an inability to access quality health care compounds those concerns.

“Right now, prevention is a huge thing for us,” Barton added. “Everyone has been on board with extra sanitation, but it’s also about education. At this point, we’ve been encouraging as many people as we can to find other places to stay. If these people have friends or family they can stay with instead, that’s a better way to go.”

Homeless shelters in Greater Lansing — like New Hope Community Center and Haven House — have doubled down on keeping their facilities clean in recent weeks. Some have enacted enhanced screening procedures, instead referring some of their symptomatic guests to the Ingham County Health Department.

Local housing advocates have gathered for conference calls to discuss their plans almost daily over the last week.

“To the extent that the homeless population has a number of different illnesses and tends to be composed of an older age group, they definitely would fall into a vulnerable population,” explained Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail. “We’re certainly concerned and making plans as rapidly as we can. This is all happening very fast.”

Local homeless shelters have been close to capacity, officials said. And they’re strongly encouraging their usual guests to find other places to stay. Large congregations of people — even amid ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus — are obviously not advised. Shelters should only be used as a last resort, officials said.

But what about those without another place to stay?

New Hope Community Center has been screening guests for symptoms over the last few days. Those suspected of carrying the virus are denied entry and referred for testing. Two have tested positive for influenza. Officials are still awaiting results for at least two additional, suspected cases that have cropped up within the last few days.

Screening at the City Rescue Mission is a bit more relaxed, but officials there are still exploring the possibility of using a touchless thermometer to check guests for a fever before they can be allowed inside. In the meantime, commonly touched surfaces are being scrubbed several times daily and meal services have been staggered.

New Hope Community Center and the City Rescue Mission are both segmenting dining services throughout the day to keep large gatherings to a minimum, partly to comply with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ban on public gatherings of 50 or more and partly out of caution. Some meals are also available for takeout.

Overnight beds cannot be pushed further apart without reducing overall capacity in each facility, but guests are told to keep their hands clean and keep as much distance as possible. At New Hope, for instance, some beds have been rotated to keep adjacent overnight guests head-to-toe — an effort to help limit face-to-face contact.

The city’s Department of Human Relations and Community Services has also been coordinating with administrators at local shelters to offer assistance, share resources and pull together a contingency plan should the pandemic worsen. New Hope Community Center Director Sharon Dade said collaboration is essential.

“This thing is rapidly changing and people are putting their full energy into this,” Dade said. “Any condition that puts you at a higher risk is overrepresented in the homeless population. Then, you pair that with other types of situations like substance abuse or mental health challenges and it just makes things even more complicated.”

Dade said some organizations in other counties — particularly those in Southeastern Michigan — have reached out to shelters in Lansing to look for extra space. And she’s encouraging local facilities to turn down those requests to help minimize the spread of the virus in Lansing.

“We know our homeless population and we love them. They’re resilient. I think we’re all growing and learning together as this all develops. Right now, we’re just taking this whole thing one day at a time, stocking up on supplies, talking to one another and making sure we’re all prepared and all together for what could come.”

The largest outstanding concern: How do you isolate or quarantine at home when you don’t have a home?

Vail said those without symptoms who have a reason to believe they’ve been exposed to the virus are typically asked to quarantine themselves for at least two weeks. Those with symptoms are asked to isolate themselves until they can be screened and tested. But for many in the homeless population, that simply isn’t a viable option.

“We’re all still in the process of figuring out where we can house folks that are homeless and need to be quarantined or isolated,” Vail said. “We don’t have an immediate solution at the moment, but we’re rapidly addressing these concerns and trying to put those protective measures into place. It takes some collaboration.”

New Hope Community Center has space at its onsite health clinic to keep a limited number of guests isolated. The City Rescue Mission has another small area where officials can shuffle over only a few symptomatic guests. Others simply don’t have a large enough facility to provide the space. It’s a “work in progress,” Dade explained.

“We’re in constant contact with the health department, looking at ways to develop a place to quarantine a large number of people if that needed to happen,” added Susan Cancro, director of Advent House Ministries. “We’re in a big, old church, but we don’t have showers and sinks. We’ve talked about possibilities, but we still haven’t decided on a location. I don’t think it’ll be a problem; We just need to decide where we can put these people.”

Lansing City Councilman Brandon Betz said city officials have discussed the possibility of offering housing vouchers that would allow the homeless to isolate themselves in hotel rooms. Discussions are also underway about reopening Eastern High School in preparation for large scale quarantine or isolation within the city.

“It’s certainly a concern that we’re all keeping an eye on, should this situation become worse,” Betz added.

Meanwhile, Barton and Cancro said the local homeless population remains in good spirits even as the virus continues to shutter businesses and public facilities across Greater Lansing. For most of them, Cancro said, the looming pandemic is just another hardship in a life already filled with adversity and day-to-day challenges.

“I wouldn’t say they aren’t taking it seriously, but these people live with so much stress all the time. This is just one more thing,” Cancro added. “For them, their lives aren’t usually nice and calm. Their lives are tumultuous and they’re in constant flex. While others might be panicking, these folks are used to this sort of environment.”

Despite the enhanced social precautions over the last few weeks and a newfound shortage of volunteers, services for the homeless haven’t diminished much in Lansing, officials said. Shelters plan to remain operational. Meals will continue to be served daily at a variety of different locations. And local advocates will ensure that continues.

Even the city’s former human relations director, Joan Jackson Johnson, has continued to volunteer her time with Advent House Ministries amid a possible federal investigation into her actitivies, Cancro said. The collaborative goal: Ensure the local homeless population remains educated, well fed and prepared for more difficult days to come.

“Thank God we have a community that takes care of people so we have shelters that can still function,” Cancro said. “I know we have a group that will step up to take care of business. They don’t sit back. They take action.”

Recent event cancellations have led to a recent surge in donations to the Greater Lansing Food Bank, officials said, but supplies are again at risk of running low. Cancro said donations of food and cleaning products — including hand sanitizer and toilet paper — are welcomed and can be dropped off at Advent House Ministries.

Some volunteer opportunities have been cut short as local shelters lean more heavily on their paid staff, but those wishing to volunteer their time can still help out at both Advent House and the City Rescue Mission.

Additionally, city officials said the mobile food pantry this Saturday, March 21, will continue to operate with precautions. Rather than guests congregating inside a church, those seeking meals can have them loaded into their vehicles at the Tabernacle of David on Holmes Road from 9-11 a.m.

“Regardless of what happens, we need to continue to provide these services for our guests,” added City Rescue Mission spokeswoman Laura Grimwood. “They can’t go home. They can’t take a break. This place can literally become everything for them, and whatever happens, we just cannot afford to have these services be stopped.”

— KYLE KAMINSKI

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