How Do You Stay at Home When You Live on the Street?
Shirley, 67, sat on a park bench across from the Parkway Central Library in central Philadelphia, her roller suitcase parked beside her. People like Shirley who don’t have permanent shelter tend to gather here, and volunteers often show up to distribute hot meals.
“This virus got everybody tripping, scared to look at each other,” she said. “It’s weird not to see people running around with children on a nice day like this. It’s like walking into a ghost town.”
Nearly 200,000 people in the U.S. are living on the street — in parks, under bridges, in abandoned homes or tent encampments. That number may now be higher as some outreach workers advise that — due to the COVID-19 pandemic — it can be safer to sleep on the street than in emergency shelters. Monica Medina McCurdy is vice president of health care services at Project HOME, a Philadelphia nonprofit that assists people experiencing homelessness. I reached out to her to learn how the group is meeting people’s basic needs during this crisis.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
How does social distancing work for people who are homeless, and organizations like yours that are trying to help them?
The requirement for everyone to physically distance themselves and/or work from home for an indefinite amount of time has completely upended how we have to operate in order to meet peoples' basic needs.
We operate the Hub of Hope engagement center in a commuter train station underground for people now experiencing street homelessness. On a regular day, the Hub would have 300 or so people pass through. To adhere to physical distance in that setting is difficult to say the least.
We also provide supportive housing for people who are incredibly vulnerable to begin with, and those sites have to be open 24/7. Additionally, we operate a few primary health care sites, including one at the Hub, which we are keeping open during regular hours so that we can maintain some type of continuity of care for our 5,000 registered patients and help reduce the overall burden on hospitals.
What unexpected challenges has the pandemic created for your organization?
Our staff who operate safe havens, where several people sleep in one large room, have had to become public health experts practically overnight — most without prior experience or training. [They’ve had to learn] everything from how to don personal protective equipment to how to ask residents about symptoms and educate residents about preventing transmission.
How are residents and patients reacting to this?
Some residents have been taking it very seriously and are readily following the instructions of public health officials. Others are still somewhat incredulous that it really needs to come to this, that we have to stop going to stores that aren't "essential" and that we should think twice before boarding that bus. Their reactions are really no different than those I've spoken to who are not experiencing homelessness.
What can we do to help unsheltered people and organizations like yours during this time?
We have elderly/medically frail people living in Project HOME's apartments who will have a very hard time shopping for basic essentials in crowded stores, so shopping volunteers are also welcome. Our safe havens and recovery residences provide three meals per day to folks who are experiencing homelessness, so delivery of pre-prepared meals is a critical need as well.
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