Helping the homeless in Bradenton could worsen outbreak

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Agencies that serve the homeless in Manatee County are doing everything in their power to help stop the spread of the coronavirus and protect a vulnerable population that could potentially be devastated by an outbreak.

Unfortunately, not everyone who helps the homeless is doing the same, nor are some of the homeless helping themselves during this coronavirus pandemic. Should an outbreak occur, it could continue to prolong the spread of infection.

Some are now saying good intentions could have disastrous results.

For example, consider Manatee County Area Transit allowing free bus rides during this financially challenging time. The action was meant for low-income people to get to essential locations without having to pay an additional cost and to limit contact between drivers and passengers.

But that’s not all that’s happening.

“Unfortunately, what’s happening is the homeless are taking advantage of that and are crowding onto those buses,” said Laura Licoski, founder of Facing Homelessness, Bradenton. “And they aren’t getting off at various locations like they normally would. They are just riding the bus all day because it’s something to do and it’s air-conditioned.”

A similar problem exists at locations where the homeless can get food. Groups claim they are practicing social distancing, but their social media posts show large groups side by side and elderly volunteers hugging the homeless.

It’s thoughtful. It’s well meaning, “and it’s dangerous,” Licoski said.

The shared food drives sponsored by local volunteers aren’t necessary, said Steve Brown, who has been homeless for the past couple of years.

“Ain’t nobody going hungry in this town,” Brown said. “There are plenty of places to get food. It’s not necessary right now for anyone to be gathering in these kind of groups.”

Licoski, who focuses on essential needs such as helping the homeless find jobs and helping them get identification to find a job, said, “It’s going to be a problem for this community. Even posts on my Facebook page are people saying, ‘It’s not that big of a deal. It’s a flu.’ People aren’t realizing that this is worldwide.”

Licoski said the homeless are telling her that if they live through hurricanes, they can live through this virus so why should they care.

“This is a major, major worldwide disaster,” she said. “That message clearly isn’t getting through to a lot of people.”

TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY DURING PANDEMIC

Brown is known in the homeless community as a straight shooter kind of guy. He says it like he means it, even when it comes to himself.

“I got myself out here through my own fault and I’ll get myself off the streets, too,” he said. “I don’t ask nobody for help and I don’t steal from anyone even though they steal from me.”

Brown is frustrated with how the homeless community is handling the crisis.

“A lot of them have the knowledge, but a lot of them just don’t care,” he said. “They think they are invulnerable or that this pertains to someone else. And especially the junkies don’t care. They have this jailhouse or prison mentality and don’t want to listen to anybody. A lot of them are at the point, ‘Well, we’ll worry about if it we catch it, whatever.’ Pretty much their attitude.”

Brown said not everyone has that attitude.

“You got a lot of people being very careful,” he said. “Especially if they got kids or whatever. The young ones, they ain’t taking it too seriously, but the older people are.”

Kelly Teel, 62, falls into that older group. He has been on the streets for 21 years and is currently sick.

He doesn’t know if it’s COVID-19, but he is finding it difficult to find help because he’s too afraid to be around anyone else and potentially pass it on.

“People on the street are scared,” Teel said.

Teel used to live a normal life. He had a wife and the proverbial white, picket fence around his home. His wife turned to drugs and began to sleep with other men, “And my fairy tale ended,” he said. “It’s kind of like being scared and upset at the same time. There’s no work, no money and the end result of this is that people are going to start hurting each other out here.”

Teel volunteers at food banks, but he says he won’t go while he is sick. He confirmed, however, that the local food shares are drawing a couple of hundred people into close quarters and wishes people would be more responsible.

“I’m trying not to see anyone because I’m sick,” Teel said. “I’m trying not to spread it, if I have it. I was told to go to the ER, but I don’t want to make the first responders sick.”

HOMELESS LOSE THEIR USUAL RESOURCES

One of the reasons the homeless are taking advantage of the free bus rides is due to the necessary closure of the area libraries amid the pandemic. The libraries are a crucial source for the homeless to stay connected to the world.

Teel said it’s been tough to get information without the libraries and it’s also a place where they can get their cellphones charged. So the homeless, he said, are taking advantage of wherever they can get online, and a temporary WiFi hot spot just happens to be at the Riverwalk splash pad.

“They don’t want to go there,” Brown said. “They know people don’t want to see them around their kids, but they’ll go where they can. That hot spot wasn’t there before. I think it’s there now because Spectrum opened some areas during this pandemic. But what you are going to see now is needles showing up where those kids play.”

The splash pad is shut down during the pandemic, but Riverwalk is not.

Brown said the homeless community is very much aware of the coronavirus and if behaviors in their own community don’t change, “I don’t think they can handle it. The conversations are that they are more worried about a lock down. They ain’t worried too much about the virus.”

When it’s all said and done, Licoski said there will be some good that comes from the pandemic and the community will rally behind one another to recover.

“But for right now, I think anybody that’s meaning well just going down to a food share and not really listening to anybody in the medical field, which is who they really should be listening to, they are going to end up hurting the community more than helping,” she said.

SO WHO SHOULD HELP?

Turning Points and the Salvation Army are on the front lines of trying to not only keep the homeless population safe from the virus, but in preventing the homeless from keeping the pandemic going.

Kelly French, Salvation Army communications director, said there is no doubt in her mind that information on the coronavirus and best practices to avoid being infected are getting out to the homeless community.

French said every person entering the shelter is verbally screened with the standard questions and if they are exhibiting any signs of an illness are immediately referred to the health department’s hotline for help.

“All of these things are posted all over our facility,” French said. “But some are doing their own social distancing and we have meetings every single day and are in communication with the EOC or our division headquarters in Tampa about best practices. Anything we can learn to help control the spread of this is what we are doing.”

The Salvation Army already changed their daily meal process. Instead of dining inside, meals are being handed out in take-out containers. The agency also received hand washing stations so the homeless can keep their hands clean. They have also closed their playground temporarily.

“They were a lot closer in the dinner line before, but they do still sit down in little clusters,” French said. “We are also keeping our families isolated to their rooms and asking them to be smart and only go out for essential reasons. We are trying to explain the less they go out, the better.”

Beginning Monday, the Salvation Army is suspending use of its overnight shelter. French said anyone in a Salvation Army program still has access to shelter but for public health reasons, they are closing it off to everyone else. They also have initiated a shelter in place order for their program members and limiting leaving the facility to essential needs only.

French said the number of homeless people staying overnight has dropped dramatically anyway, so there shouldn’t be an impact.

As far as any fear of the coronavirus goes, French calls it a mixed reaction.

“Some of them are rugged individuals, but others are concerned especially those with children or those with health issues,” she said. “I think it’s like any other section of society right now.”

GETTING IT UNDER CONTROL

Adell Erozer, executive director of Turning Points, is not only verbally screening any client who enters the One Stop Center, but taking temperatures to ensure as many precautions are being taken as possible. Our Daily Bread, next to Turning Points, has also closed the dining area and meals are being handed out in packages.

Erozer believes they have an internal handle on things, but what the clients do after that is not possible to control.

“It’s been a tough week,” Erozer said. “It’s getting better and we are getting better organized in how we are reacting to a lot of different situations. It’s impacted our volunteer force the most. We are asking volunteers who are vulnerable not to come in because most of them are in that group of over 65, so it definitely impacts what we can do, but we are trying to maintain some essential services.”

Those services include the bathrooms, showers, clothing room, veterans programs, computer access, medical and dental.

Erozer shares the concerns of others that, “If this gets into this population, it will spread like wildfire. We try to get them to stand 6 feet apart when they are outside the facility, but we don’t have the volunteers to enforce that and some of them don’t have the mental capacity to follow along with what’s going on.”

Like the Salvation Army, Turning Points can point anyone in the homeless population who is ill in the right direction, but that doesn’t mean they’ll take the help.

“I hope, at some point, they will start testing here,” she said. “We can write the prescription, but there isn’t enough test kits and then there is the problem of how and if they will go to the test site. But they all know what’s going on. They are aware that something is going on. They definitely know about the virus and what recommendations they should be following.”

Erozer said the challenge has grown exponentially due to the closing of the public buildings like libraries. Everyone is trying to come to Turning Points to use the restroom or get on a computer.

“I think for those reasons, though, that they are realizing this is serious because this hasn’t happened to them before,” she said. “They know it’s something they need to pay attention to and most I’ve talked to are taking it serious because probably more than half our clients have underlying health issues.”

Erozer said emergency management officials are planning meetings to address the homeless specifically. It’s something she has been asking for, for a long time, “So I’m happy to see that. It’s finally getting some attention to the problem.”

Erozer and French have both heard of the downtown food shares that are continuing. They both stated they were concerned but declined to say much more. Erozer said she just hopes everyone is practicing safety standards and keeping their hands washed.

“But it’s not just the homeless,” Erozer said. “I was on Riverwalk and there were probably two or three hundred people out playing volleyball or walking around and the skate park was jammed packed. No one I saw was practicing social distancing.”