People sleep on mats at a warming shelter at First Presbyterian Church during a cold snap. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter)
As cold weather arrives, social service agencies are pressed with limited warming shelter space on top of complying with pandemic-related health requirements.
Lindsay Dent, a program manager that oversees sheltering services for The ARCHES Project, said the capacity for warming sites decreased by 40% because of the Covid precautions they have to take this year.
To make up for lost space, there will be two additional duration warming sites this season and Dent said they’re removing the hospitality areas to increase capacity and make sure people aren’t congregating.
Duration sites are available each night in the winter versus temperature-activated sites which open when the thermometer reaches 32 degrees or below.
There were about 255 beds in the network last year, and this year local homeless service providers, nonprofits and the city have collaborated to provide just under 250 beds in Salem, Dent said.
Dent said the greatest need is for volunteers before the season starts on Dec. 1. To volunteer, visit arches.volunteerhub.com
The need is so pronounced, the city gave ARCHES a $5,000 grant to market to volunteers.
“My concern is that given the pandemic not as many people are going to comfortable volunteering,” said Gretchen Bennett, Salem’s homeless liaison.
Bennett said the city is funding the warming network this season with $100,000 from the general fund.
She said she’s still on the lookout for additional warming sites because the need will outpace the availability.
“We see ourselves as a part of a collaboration keenly concerned about this need,” she said. “The city has been looking actively for land and partnerships.”
One of the new sites is a building on Portland Road that used to house nonprofit Merit. Now, it will open nightly for individuals with chronic health conditions starting in December. People will have to be vetted and enrolled into a program that allows them to stay at the site for 30 nights.
Everyone has to wear a mask and there will be clear, plastic dividers in between the sleeping areas.
“We were able to compensate that loss by adding sites and increasing square footage,” Dent said.
Guests will have their temperatures taken nightly when they arrive. If someone exhibits symptoms, they’ll be immediately isolated and transported to a motel.
Dent said her group is working with Marion County and Alluvium to provide wraparound support for basic needs until their Covid test comes back negative.
ARCHES has budgeted $100,000 for hotel stays during the winter.
DJ Vincent, pastor at Church of the Park and deputy director of the nonprofit Salem Leadership Foundation, said Church at the Park had to find an alternate location for warming this season because the building is being used to hand out meals and clothes. With Covid precautions, he said there would only be space for less than 20 people.
“The site is so active and therefore the space inside is being used so much for food and clothing that there’s not as much space as there was,” Vincent said.
He said he looked for places every week since July and was able to partner with Family Building Blocks for a temporary space on State Street.
The old doctor’s office will be used for up to 20 women and children in a duration warming setting similar to the Portland Road site. Women staying there will be pulled from a coordinated entry system and given a space for 30 days.
Inside the building, there are separate rooms which used to be used for doctor’s visits, so spacing people out will be easier.
“It’s like built for Covid,” Vincent said.
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