How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the homeless and are there any solutions?

Think of the ways the pandemic has affected you over the past year. In some way or another it has impacted everyone- especially the homeless. They are at a great risk of catching coronavirus. And, it sucks that numbers of homeless infected and dead due to COVID are not being accurately counted for. Clearly, the homeless have been hit hard by the pandemic and the government needs to do something to help them.


My personal experience with a homeless family

(Figure 1- LA Scandal)

Several years ago, pre-pandemic, I was in New York City with my dad. As we were driving home, we saw a woman standing on the side of the city street with her husband and two year old daughter. They had an old, rusty tent and few belongings behind them.

We pulled over and talked to them. The woman explained their situation: “He- my my husband got laid off of his job for no reason -I was a stay at home mom,” she mumbled in a gloomy attitude while looking down at her feet.

We bought them lunch for that day, snacks for the child, water and nonperishable food to last them a week.

Our help seemed to bring them back to life. The joy on their faces was unreal. The woman acted as if she received a million dollars. She cried joyful tears while looking down at everything in disbelief. The little girl pranced, galloped and played as she talked to her new toy. The man, who showed little emotion at first, had tears flooding his eyes.

WOW. This was a life changing situation for me. I never realized the situations that could cause people to be homeless.

Causes

Homelessness has been around for forever. But this pandemic has sure made it worse. So what caused them to be homeless in the first place? Some people would say it’s all their fault. Who is going to tell them most times it's not? Sometimes they get caught up in the wrong things and don't have anyone to help them.

The National Law Center On Homeless and Poverty states “Insufficient income and lack of affordable housing are the leading causes of homelessness.”

Other causes include unemployment and poverty. Also, sometimes people have a mental illness or abuse substances and lack the resources to help them so they end up homeless. Most of the time they do not want an easier life by being without a home. It was out of their control or they lacked adequate resources to help them.

How the homeless have been affected

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless website, “Homeless New Yorkers have nowhere to self-quarantine, cannot practice social distancing, and those on the streets lack even regular access to a sink with running water and soap to wash their hands.”

The homeless populations living on the streets have been hit very hard. The places they normally go to wash up, use the bathroom or even sleep might have even been closed due to the pandemic. This affects their everyday life as well as increases their risk of being infected. In homeless shelters, people are often tightly packed so the virus can easily be spread around there too. To add, many homeless people already have physical and mental problems that put them at an even greater risk. And they often lack affordable and reliable health care, so if they do get infected it makes it harder for them.

Homeless people have a high risk of catching the virus and don’t have many resources to help them if they do get infected. CLEARLY something needs to be done about this.

(Figure 2- Josh Edelson)

So what should be done about it?

More shelters should open up and have social distancing guidelines. Some things are already being done. So far, local governments have been doing more to try to help the homeless. An article that analyzes how local governments are caring for homeless during the pandemic states, “Las Vegas is housing the homeless in makeshift shelters in parking lots. Los Angeles County is using recreational vehicles (RVs), trailers, and other means to house homeless individuals that have contracted COVID19” Other cities have even been renting out hotel rooms and dorms for the homeless to stay in. This is a big step and they have only started doing this within the past year.

For the people who continue to live on the streets, the Coalition For the Homeless has been doing alot to help by: increasing soup kitchen meal production, giving homeless people surgical masks and handing out prepaid cash cards.

Yet there still remain homeless people who are struggling. Shelter capacities have been reduced, so alot of people still remain on the streets. More housing still needs to be created. And, access to health services and hospitals should be made easier for them to get.

You may be thinking what else is there to do. Try to end homelessness. Some may say homelessness will never end. What we can do is keep taking steps to mitigate homelessness and get closer to stopping it. We can prevent more people from becoming homeless by mitigating the original causes of it. Relating to the pandemic, this will keep spaces open in shelters for the homeless already out there.

Affordable housing is critical because for many it could be a life or death factor. Financial aid is important as many people are losing their jobs due to the pandemic. Also, resources should be readily available to help with anything ranging from financials to mental and physical health.

So what can you do?

It can be a small acts like giving a homeless person a few of your extra pocket dollars. Even being friendly or just talk to them will make their day a whole lot brighter. If you have some extra money, you can donate money to organizations such as National Alliance to End Homelessness or Feeding America. Anything can make a difference.

What has been done for the homeless so far is good, but let’s make more of an impact by helping them as much as possible. We should also try to bring homelessness rates down overall! Help the homeless!!

(Figure 3- John Minchillo)