The COVID-19 Pandemic has severely impacted the homeless

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS SEVERELY IMPACTED THE HOMELESS

(Figure 1- Walter Harwood)

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Seventeen out of every 10,000 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2019...These 567,715 people represent a cross-section of America.” Thousands and thousands of people are homeless at any given time. In the past year with the pandemic, most people have gone through some kind of obstacle. The homeless have particularly been hit hard by the pandemic and the government needs to do something to help them.

Homelessness has existed for long before the pandemic, but more people are becoming homeless due to it. There are many reasons that cause people to be homeless in the first place. Some people will say it’s their own fault. But, most times it is not. 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.

One day several years ago, before the 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. I could not stop thinking about this situation for weeks. It was life changing. I never realized the different types of situations that cause homelessness.

In the past year living on the streets has been tough because of the pandemic according to the Coalition for the Homeless, “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 places they normally go to wash up, use the bathroom or even sleep might have been closed due to the pandemic. This affects their everyday life as well as increases their risk of being infected.

Homeless shelters have also been impacted. Marybeth Shinn, professor and chair of human, organizational and community development at Vanderbilt states “People experiencing homelessness are at enormous risk of exposure to the coronavirus, due to inability to self-isolate, as evidenced by outbreaks in congregate shelters.” 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. 

In order to help the homeless more shelters should open up with social distancing guidelines. Some may say the government has to help everyone who is struggling, such as the elderly or people with disabilities, not just focus on the homeless. This is true, everyone deserves assistance, particularly the homeless have been quite overlooked for a long time. 

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 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. Although they are being assisted, many are still struggling. Shelter capacities have been reduced so many people still remain on the streets. More housing still needs to be created and access to health services and hospitals should be made easier.

Another thing to do is prevent more people from becoming homeless by mitigating the original causes of it. Affordable housing is very important because for many it could be a life or death factor. Resources should be readily available to help with anything ranging from financials to mental and physical health. 

Everyone, including you, can make a difference with small acts such as giving a homeless person a few of your extra dollars. If you do not have money just talk to them and it will make their day a whole lot brighter.

More can always be done to help the homeless which need help especially in difficult times like these. What has been done so far is good, but let’s make more of an impact by helping the homeless as much as possible. We just have to be hopeful that their lives can be improved very soon.

(Figure 2- Josh Edelson)