The impact of COVID19 on people experiencing homelessness

People have been asking what the impact of Coronavirus is on those experiencing a transitionary period of homelessness. It is a really good and valid question and the answers may not be what you expect.

If you think about it from a point of view of the government advice, we are being told to practice social distancing. This involves distancing ourselves from others so as to slow down as much as possible the spread of the virus. The less people you come into contact with the less chance you have of contracting the virus.

Our friends who are transitioning through homelessness are already very much socially isolated. We are being told not to go to Pubs, Restaurants, Social Gatherings, not to shop when there are lots of other people around and many other things. None of our guests at our church shelter are doing any of these things. They do not have that kind of privilege. They lead fairly solitary isolated lives finding community where they can but in very different places to the rest of us.

The reality is that our guests are more at risk from our staff/volunteers passing Corona Virus TO them rather than it being the other way round. And also another massive danger to our friends who are experiencing homelessness right now is the closing of essential services due to self-isolation, social distancing and fear. They are much more at risk from being forced back into rough sleeping because a shelter has closed than if they contract coronavirus.

We have already found that Coronavirus is placing undue strain on essential services. Night shelters rely on volunteers, many of whom are retired and of an age that makes them vulnerable to the impact of the virus. The reality is that retired people have a greater capacity to volunteer than those of us who have day time jobs and families to look after. As the numbers of volunteers available drops, the risk of the service having to close due to not having enough people present to look after the guests grows exponentially.

At the same time, it also fair to say that in these unprecedented times there is also significant opportunity and potentially a pool of volunteers not previously available. Those who work in pubs, restaurants, cinemas and other businesses that are having to close, may be in a position to volunteer some of their time when previously this would not have been possible. As providers we have a responsibility to ensure that the information is available and that people realise that we have a specific need at this time that they might be able to fulfil and they may not have thought about it.

It is also a reality that there are people who may need contexts within which they can work on their own mental health. I have had people commenting to me that they are scared so to speak of the impact that months of social distancing will have on their own mental health. This is particularly true though not exclusively, of extroverts. Extroverts like me are individuals who recharge their batteries by spending time in the presence of others. They find social distancing absolutely draining and need the company of others to survive. It is well known that volunteering in and of itself has a positive impact on the volunteer’s mental well-being. This would be doubly the case where the volunteering in and of itself is providing a context for community that the volunteer would not be able to get elsewhere as a result of social distancing.

Coronavirus is going to have a massive impact on us all from all backgrounds, circumstances and situations. We are going to be forced to do things differently and rally as a community around the vulnerable around us. Building community solidarity right now ironically involves social distancing as we care for the vulnerable among us by not spreading the virus unnecessarily. But it also involves all of us that are healthy, looking out for our neighbours and those who live down our streets who are vulnerable, lonely and isolated. And we also need people to volunteer for essential services like Night shelters, food banks and other organisations that are taking care of people under circumstances where lives are being saved.

Matthieu Lambert is the CEO of Enterprise Homes Group in Wolverhampton, an organisation that in partnership with others is seeking to #makehomelessnesshistory