More homeless, fewer resources. How Tarrant’s shelters are adjusting amid COVID-19
Temperatures dipping below 40 have long triggered the opening of cold weather shelters for the homeless. But COVID-19 and the economy have complicated the situation.
In 2020, there was a 6% increase in the number of people who experienced homelessness, compared to 2019, according to Lauren King, the executive director of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. The nonprofit and its partners have served 11,439 people, up from 10,645 in 2019.
“We saw this huge increase, but then we also saw a decrease in the number of outreach teams we had, so we had fewer resources,” King said.
The eight shelters that partner with the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition have reduced their bed capacity by 40% to be inline with social distancing requirements.
However, the pandemic has also contributed to an increase in the homeless population because of the economic downturn and spike in unemployment.
Unemployment was the leading cause for homelessness in 2018, according to the homeless coalition. That year, the jobless rate peaked at 3.8%; by April of 2020, the rate climbed to 13.4, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When the Vickery station overflow site closed at the end of September, 100 people were left unsheltered.
“Many shelters are still not offering programming or emergency shelter services due to capacity limitations and other COVID-19 related reasons,” said Lezlee Kinney, volunteer coordinator at Union Gospel Mission Tarrant County.
In years past, King said, shelters crowded people into dining halls and other warm spaces when faced with an overflow. This winter, homeless people are bused to cold weather shelter location sites, including Vickery station, and Sycamore and Riverside community centers.
To combat the reduced capacity in shelters, long-term homeless advocates are looking to use additional money through the CARES Act to help people find permanent homes.
The homeless coalition has a new initiative called the “Housing 500 Challenge.” The goal was to house 500 people before the end of 2020. It successfully housed 465 people by the end of the year. It will continue the effort into 2021, aiming to house 50 people a week, according to King.
“The whole point of this challenge is to figure out how we need to get our system up and running again,” said King. “In addition to that, we’re also trying to get as many people out of congregate settings as we can because we don’t want to have a significant outbreak.”
Before the extra funding from the CARES Act, the coalition’s outreach team was a group of 11 people who were tasked with serving all of Tarrant County. Now, outreach teams will have about 50 people, according to King.
“That should make a significant difference in how we’re able to serve people who are unsheltered,” King said.
Coming in from the cold
Cold weather shelters officially opened Nov. 1.
In Fort Worth, shelters open when the weather is below 40 degrees in wet conditions, below 35 degrees in dry conditions or if the wind chill is below 32 degrees for three or more hours. Arlington’s trigger is a temperature below 39 degrees for more than four hours.
Coalition officials text alerts to homeless people who subscribe to their cold weather updates. Everyone is screened for COVID-19 before being allowed in a shelter. If shelters are full, they get a wristband indicating they have been screened and are bused to a cold weather station.
The shelters assign people to socially distant cots to make contact tracing easier. Families receive motel vouchers to spend the night in a single room.
“I don’t think we’ve had the demand we thought we would have,” said King. Even though safety protocols are followed and everyone is socially distanced, King said the coalition has heard from some people that they’re worried about being inside with a group of people due to COVID-19.
“Demand seems to have dropped,” said King. Typically, by this point in time, cold weather shelters would be reaching capacity every night, but capacity has not been met so far, she said.
The eight shelters partnered with the coalition take extra cleaning precautions, perform regular temperature checks and space out dining times.
“We still have not seen a significant outbreak,” said King. “We’ve had a couple of clusters of cases, but, other than that, our shelters are doing a great job at keeping people safe.”