Despite fears of the spread of the Coronavirus, local homeless shelters have ensured that they won’t close their doors to one of the most vulnerable populations.
“The homeless have always been stigmatized for not having proper hygiene or being able to care for themselves. We know that this virus is hygienic,” said Harry Pedigo, executive director at St. Benedict’s Homeless Shelter. “A big part of preventing it is hygienic. A big part of getting it is poor hygiene.”
Pedigo said this is the reason why the shelters must remain open — to allow the homeless access to washing facilities, adding that people have to help the poor in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
“We’re not going to close,” he said. “We’re not planning to close.”
Michele Ison, executive director at Crossroads Women’s Shelter, echoed the same message.
“We won’t close,” Ison said. “If we run short on volunteers, I will cover the shifts and other volunteers will pick up more hours. Our volunteers are amazing and are so committed.”
St. Benedict’s, however, have asked all their volunteers, which consists mainly of people who are above the 50 to 60 age range, to stop volunteering for the time being. Pedigo said they have turned to staff to keep the shelter open.
The shelters have taken steps to keep both its guests and volunteers safe. They’ve changed some of their procedures to minimize contact such as having volunteers sign-in for guests. Meal providers drop off food at the doorsteps instead of coming inside the shelter.
The Daniel Pitino Shelter is screening all volunteers, staff, and guests for symptoms including fever before they are allowed to enter. If people run a fever, they are referred to a walk-in clinic or the emergency room for clearance before returning to the shelter.
Ison said while other organizations can shut down or are forced to close by state officials, the essential businesses like the homeless shelter cannot.
“I’m not sure how they could ask shelters to close unless they were going to open government-run ones,” Ison said. “People would be on the street.”
Daviess County Emergency Management Agency posted Tuesday that all the homeless shelters and recovery organizations in town were taking extra steps such as limiting outsiders in their facilities, extra cleaning and canceling large gatherings to combat COVID-19.
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