Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, city directors have been moving faster than ever before to protect residents experiencing homelessness, by converted vacant hotels, unused recreation centers, and empty convention halls into shelter locations fit for social distancing. Cities such as Los Angeles and London have committed, in ways that would have seemed unimaginable just two months ago, to bring defenseless people living on the street inside in some way. Others are stepping up their outreach to those living on the street by giving facemasks, giving meals and handwashing stations, and supporting “safe camping.”
Cities acted fast because homeless are among the most vulnerable populations when it comes to COVID-19, and are at high risk of not only contracting it themselves but also spreading it to others.
Now, it’s time for city leaders to make these emergency measures into long-term strategies and make a giant leap forward in how we handle homelessness in the United States. To do that, cities will need to be creative about how they use federal recovery dollars, and seek silver-lining opportunities in the decline of the hotel industry to create new permanent supportive housing. And above all, they’ll need to keep up the surge of innovative thinking that has powered the first two months of response.
For more information visit: https://www.bloomberg.org/program/public-health/cities-addressing-homelessness-during-covid-19/#overview
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