Recommendations:
“Before a COVID-19 outbreak occurs in your community: Plan
Although it is not possible to know the course of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States, preparing now is the best way to protect people experiencing homelessness, homeless service provider staff, and volunteers from this disease. An outbreak of COVID-19 in your community could cause illness among people experiencing homelessness, contribute to an increase in emergency shelter usage, and/or lead to illness and absenteeism among homeless service provider staff.” * (CDC 3/2020)
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has guidelines about what every community and service provider should be doing to address homelessness in this public health crisis. Housing First Umpqua supports these recommendations for our community.
This includes the recommendation about planning and setting up collaboration before an outbreak, which is now.
Although community members can help with some of the recommendations, others must be done by professionals and our local public officials at a county and city level, as well as our public health officer. Given the CDC understands the unique vulnerability and needs of this population and has made some clear guidelines for communities to follow, it would seem fool hardy if not outright irresponsible if our leaders did not do so.
These recommendations range from the call for collaboration among large segments of the community, which
How you can help:
Stay informed about what we are doing in our community.
HFU can help keep you updated here or on Facebook.
A good way to stay informed about COVID 19 and Homeless Response is to connect with the National Low Income Housing Coalition: https://nlihc.org/coronavirus-and-housing-homelessness
If you have about an hour to learn more from the experts about what we should be doing, check out this webinar from the National Alliance to End Homelessness: COVID-19 Webinar Series: Serving & Supporting Unsheltered People During COVID-19
Spread the Facts; Not the Virus
Friends, Family, Co-workers, Neighbors…
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
includes homeless advocates and those who are currently homeless, to specifics about how cities and the county can address specific problems only faced by those living outside. They also emphasize the importance of communication among emergency services, health care, public health, as well as homeless services providers to make sure that every community is doing what we need to in order to not only protect people who are homeless, but the community at large. The CDC recommendations make a clear framework for best practices in this pandemic.
Homeless: When Staying Home is Not an Option!
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers people who are homeless in the high risk category when it comes to catching, spreading and being harmed by COVID 19.
If you are homeless, you can protect yourself and others by spreading the facts and not the virus. We don’t have many cases in Douglas County and we all want to keep it that way.
There is no evidence that people who are homeless have the COVID 19 virus. However, we don’t really know. What we do know is if we take precautions, like the ones from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you can protect yourself and help prevent community spread.
Homeless Are An At Risk Population!
How does COVID-19 spread?
What is known right now, COVID-19 is spread when people touch or breathe in droplets made from someone who is ill. This can happen when an ill person coughs, sneezes or talks and is too
touching their own mouth, nose or eyes, but scientists say it is uncommon because coronaviruses do not usually survive long on surfaces. However it is best to be safe than sorry.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, nowhere is safe for homeless people”
The CDC recognizes that being homeless puts you in harm's way. A recent headline claims:
This may really be true. The only real solution for staying safe in a pandemic is for everyone to be able to have a home to stay in. So like most issues related to homelessness, housing is the solution. However, even without housing, there are some things you can do to keep yourself safe. Here are some of the recommendations made by the CDC:
Click to read more!
Social Distancing or Physical Distancing
close to you (within 6 feet). You do not have to be able to see these droplets to breathe them in.
It is possible to catch COVID-19 by touching a surface that a person with the infection coughed or sneezed on, and then
Check Out Your Symptoms
Coronavirus Self-Checker
Find out about symptoms, testing and use the CDC self-checker to “help you make decisions about seeking appropriate medical care.” According to the CDC “This system is not intended for the diagnosis or treatment of disease or other conditions, including COVID-19. This system is intended only for people who are currently located in the United States.”
If You Have Symptoms
In Douglas County:
✔︎ Call your health care provider for advice about what to do.
✔ ︎Call the Douglas County COVID 19 Hotline: (541) 464-6550
✔ ︎Medical Emergency Call: 911
Community transmission or spread of COVID-19 is happening in our community. Community transmission or spread means that we have cases that we don’t know where they came from originally.
This makes it difficult to say exactly who is at risk. Many people may be carriers, without symptoms, or have mild symptoms and don’t take precautions.
The hotline is staffed seven days a week, 8 am to 5 pm. They have health care professionals who can answer questions.
If you want to help people who are homeless in our current emergency, you can also sign up with them. They will help plug you into the right place. You can also donate goods. They can make sure it ends up in the right place.
Economic Impact Payment (Stimulus $$$)
If you are homeless, even if you do not have an income, you are eligible for the government stimulus check that everyone is going to get. However you might need to submit a form (you can do it online) with the IRS to get your money.
You can get free help to get this money from Legal Aid.
Information You will Need to Provide to the IRS
✴︎Your Full name
✴︎Current mailing address.*
✴︎Date of birth
✴︎Valid Social Security number
✴︎Bank account number, type and routing number, if you have one
✴︎If you don’t have a bank account, you can get your check mailed to you
✴︎HFU is looking into whether Prepaid debit cards can be used
✴︎If you have them:
Identity Protection Personal Identification Number
Driver’s license or state-issued ID
*If you don’t have a reliable mailing address you can:
Have your mail sent to UCAN’s Mill Street office (you need to contact them first).
General Delivery at the Post office (you will need ID to get your mail).
Here’s where to file
You can file for this on your own or someone you know can help you. If you can’t, Legal Aid or Housing First Umpqua can help you.
The local Legal Aid office is open for extended services and they have useful information about your rights during COVID 19.
To get help from Legal Aid call:
541-673-1181 or 541-673-1182
NOTE: Remember, if you receive Social Security Disability or Retirement, or are an adult who gets SSI, you don’t need to do anything to get the money. It will be sent to you automatically. If you get direct deposit, you will get it that way. If you have a debit card, you will get it there.
