Phoenix hotel turned homeless shelter is seeing success

PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) organizations are tackling the growing crisis of elder homelessness by expanding beyond traditional medical services to secure housing. These Medicaid and Medicare-funded organizations are partnering with senior housing providers, leasing apartment wings, and even developing their own housing projects to ensure their 83,000+ participants nationwide have stable places to live.

Prompted by the threat of COVID-19, Seattle and King County have rapidly taken steps to protect people experiencing homelessness with responses that activists have long sought. By moving hundreds of people out of crowded shelters into hotels, installing hygiene stations, and suspending the removal of encampments, officials scrambled to prevent the spread of the virus in ways that advocates hope will remain the policy after the crisis has passed. But the crisis has also gutted government budgets, and so permanent solutions may still be elusive.

In an economy where even employed individuals are unable to find affordable housing, a few initiatives - such as Habitat for Humanity in Maine - are creatively responding to this challenge. Tiny homes offer a dignified, affordable, and accessible solution to housing for individuals and families that would otherwise not be able to find affordable housing.

The Ali Forney Center is the largest of several organizations across the country serving LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness. It has seventeen sites and serves about 2,000 young people a year, nearly half of whom come from out of state. In addition to setting people up with stable housing, the drop-in center serves daily meals and offers showers and laundry. Advocacy programs and case managers help the youth find permanent jobs, further their education, or put funds aside to secure stable long-term housing. They also offer counseling services, support groups, and temporary employment for many young people.

The state of Vermont has been able to keep COVID-19 cases to a minimal, at least in part by focusing on offering preventive protections for the most at-risk and vulnerable – such as the unhoused. The state's response has included "state-supported housing for the homeless, hazard pay, meal deliveries, and free, pop-up testing in at-risk communities," all of which prioritize high-risk populations rather than those who can easily self-isolate at home.

Health officials and Cleveland homeless shelters are working together to prevent a coronavirus outbreak among those who are experiencing homelessness. Mass testing, separate areas for the already tested and those yet to be, and a focus on more equitably disseminating information have been key to helping the caseload stay low, although the shelters are facing limitations such as a slow turnaround time for test results.

Britain's response to curbing the spread of coronavirus included the "Bring everyone in" operation which brought people experiencing homelessness off the streets and into accommodation - typically empty hotel rooms. Temporary shelter proved effective with only 16 deaths among those who were brought indoors. People were also given services that could lead to a life off the streets. The success demonstrated the ability of the government to quickly house people when political will and money were put toward solving the problem.

West Virginians from Clarksburg mobilized to tackle the issue of homelessness once the pandemic highlighted the vulnerability faced by the homeless who could not shelter in place. Advocates came together to get people off the streets and into motel rooms paid for by nonprofits and organized by local government. The city looked 40 miles away, to the achievements of Morgantown, which was able to bring together different sectors to keep people off the streets. Immediate goals of keeping people safe from the virus are part of a long-term plan to create housing and provide mental and physical health services.

Homelessness is a serious issue in any state, but outlined in this article are 3 unique approaches in 3 different states that have proven successful. Albuquerque, New Mexico, Orlando, Florida, and Detroit, Michigan have all figured out effective plans to get people off the streets. Solutions range from actually giving homeless people permanent housing to designing a 90 day action plan with them to get them back on their feet to offering a quick and easy way to make some money for food or a night at a hotel.

San Francisco officials converted an abandoned school on the Mission’s skid row into a special kind of shelter with the means to take chronically homeless adults from the street and entire encampment communities, then navigate them into housing, without the traditional, degrading rules and regulations of other shelters. It’s become one of the most closely watched homeless-related projects in the country, and Seattle is one of the cities looking to potentially replicate their model to help address the homelessness crisis.