The search is on in Southwest Washington for emergency shelter to protect people experiencing homelessness from the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Churches, hotels, motels and other facilities could be temporarily turned into places for quarantining and isolating homeless people, who advocates say are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
“We need willing places to be available,” said Vanessa Gaston, director of Clark County’s Community Services department. “Some place for people to lay down.”
The search started this week, after the Washington Department of Commerce dispersed $30 million across the state for counties to quickly prop up quarantine and isolation housing for the homeless. The department said it wants beds online by the beginning of April.
Clark County is set to receive $1.1 million. Cowlitz County will receive about $700,000.
With the search just starting, officials involved say there are still a lot of unknowns. It’s not yet clear how many beds are needed or how many people they will be able to find for staffing.
“The hardest part is, where are we going to find the staff to support the people in these spaces?” said Kate Budd, executive director for Council for the Homeless in Clark County.
Meanwhile, they will need a facility that can meet stringent social distancing guidelines.
“The motels would be used for the quarantine because they cannot be around anybody else,” said Gaston. “Every (agency) is using the same strategy. They say start with hotels and motels because nobody’s using them right now.”
The move echoes those of King County, the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak. Earlier this month, the county converted a former hotel in Kent into prevent overcrowding hospitals.
Gaston said all searching right now is “completely virtual.” Like many public employees, her and her staff are working entirely by phone and email.
The county has already found space for 12 beds at the Center for Community Health, a county-owned building near downtown Vancouver.
In SW Washington, churches, hotels, motels and other facilities could be temporarily turned into places for quarantining and isolating homeless people.
Ted S. Warren
Still, there are close to 500 unsheltered people in Clark County, according to the latest data.
If a homeless person gets infected with COVID-19, advocates say they’re not only more vulnerable because of weakened immune systems, they also lack access to sanitary handwashing and showering facilities, and they often group together.
“They are so vulnerable that once it hits that population, it’s going to go through all of them, because they’re also a community, as well,” said Diane McWithey, executive director of the nonprofit Share.
“It’s going to be devastating to that population, I believe, if it hits them,” she said.
Homeless populations in both Clark and Cowlitz counties also face uncertainty.
The city of Vancouver on Wednesday shuttered its day center to prevent a potential outbreak. More than 100 people per day used the center to shower, do laundry and spend the day.
“In a time like this — with a virus that is so connected to precautionary actions that are, of course, related to showering, washing hands, doing laundry — it’s a really tough time for it to close,” said Budd.
Meanwhile, in Cowlitz County, dozens of homeless people are living on a designated campsite within the city of Longview. By Friday, the city had not changed plans to evict the camp March 30.
“Certainly the encampment is where the biggest concern is for the infection growing rapidly. They’re living in close quarters and sanitation is not the best,” said Cowlitz County Commissioner Dennis Weber.
“The plan is going to be to ensure we do what we can to keep those folks safe. A lot of that has to do with sanitation, a lot of that has to do with getting soap and water and those basic essentials.”