We’ve avoided a COVID-10 catastrophe so far with KC’s homeless — but winter is coming
COVID-19 was supposed to hit the homeless particularly hard. Around the country, widespread predictions said that this vulnerable population would be the first victims of the pandemic.
The Kansas City metropolitan area was no exception. Media suggested that the homeless population would suffer a disaster. A Kansas City Star story on March 30 quoted University of Kansas professor Ken McClure as saying, “It’s going to be a mess. Shelters are woefully lacking in resources. How are they suddenly going to be able to staff up and find the resources to clean their facilities and separate folks spatially? I see no chance.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas chimed in: “I am terrified if we get community spread in our homeless community. Nothing terrifies me more. It would be devastating to people’s lives.”
But that didn’t happen. In fact, nothing like that happened. What prevented disaster? Both government and homeless services providers took decisive action early.
At Shelter KC, we locked down, providing a way for our homeless guests to shelter in place. We limited the number of people we served while also instituting a stringent cleaning protocol. We provided masks and everyone used them. We monitored temperatures. We practiced appropriate social distancing. And we prayed.
It worked. So far, no one in the shelter has contracted COVID-19. No one registered positive in tests we administered from May to August. And we intend to carry on with our cleaning and monitoring protocols, as well as continuing to test to prevent infection.
We never like to limit the number of beds available to the homeless at Shelter KC. But thankfully, the weather has been pretty good so far during the pandemic. In the end, our actions didn’t put the homeless at risk from exposure on the streets. And those actions seem to have kept people safe.
Scrambling to institute prevention protocols and plans quickly was quite the task. We had very little warning time. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We coped, but it was challenging. Like everyone during this pandemic, we have learned how to be prepared for whatever the future holds.
Now, as we head into fall, a couple of factors are still troubling. What will happen when the weather turns cold? What happens once government moratoriums on evictions are removed?
Bitterly cold weather is potentially deadly for those living on the streets. Under normal conditions, Shelter KC can set up warm sleeping spaces in every area of our building. We won’t be able to do that this winter. We have to make changes in order to maintain safe distances. At this point, we just don’t have the room to accommodate more people safely.
We pray that these worst-case scenarios don’t materialize. But until the virus is contained and the economy rebounds, we need to be planning for the worst. We must seek innovative ideas now while we have the time to implement workable solutions.
Shelter KC is not waiting to better equip itself to serve the needs of the homeless in the area. We were all blindsided by the coronavirus, but now we can anticipate tough issues looming on the horizon. This is definitely the time to come to the aid of those who are forgotten.
Eric Burger is executive director of Shelter KC: A Kansas City Rescue Mission, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "We’ve avoided a COVID-10 catastrophe so far with KC’s homeless — but winter is coming."