COVID’s Invisible Victims

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: COVID-19 Is A ‘Crisis Within A Crisis’ For Homeless People
Nearly 200 tents stand inches apart on the scorching gravel lots, many covered in blankets for an extra layer of relief from the desert sun. Outside, their occupants sit on hot ground or in folding chairs, nearby palm trees providing no shade. Despite 12-foot-square sections painted in the gravel, there is little social distancing for Phoenix’s homeless population. Created by local officials in late April as a temporary solution for some of the estimated 3,700 unsheltered homeless, the fenced-in lots on the edge of downtown promised round-the-clock security, social distancing and access to water and toilets. But residents complain that hygiene supplies have become scarce, and measures meant to contain the spread of COVID-19 are not enforced. (Bohannon, Surma, Fast, Abdaladze, Lupo, Fields and Garg, 8/24)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: Homeless In 43 Counties Most Vulnerable To COVID-19
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism developed a vulnerability index to understand which counties' homeless populations might struggle the most in a COVID-19 outbreak. The index was based on an analysis of homeless and poverty rates, as well as numbers of doctors and shelter beds in a given area. (Fast, 8/24)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: Voices Of The Homeless
Homeless people across the U.S. talk about their struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Audio has been edited for length and clarity. (Abdaladze, Lupo, Fields, Bohannon and Garg, 8/24)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: Months Later, Communities Still Await Federal Homeless Aid
Four months after Congress rushed $4 billion to help the nation’s homeless population cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of those funds still have not made their way to local communities, the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found, and even those with access to the money have yet to receive federal guidelines on how it can be spent. The head of one homeless nonprofit in Florida, a state with one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates, said the delay means that some people are living on the street when they could have been housed. (Surma, 8/25)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: COVID’s Impact On The Homeless Is Largely Unknown
No one knows how many homeless people have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, not even the nation’s homelessness czar. One man in New York City describes his pandemic plight. (Fast, 8/25)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: Homeless Workers Face Heightened Risks In The Pandemic
At the beginning of the pandemic, Tiffany Cordaway’s biggest struggle was finding a place to shower. She worked two jobs in Northern California, disinfecting medical equipment during the day and caring for an elderly couple overnight. When she finally clocked out, she just wanted to clean up. But she had nowhere to do that. Cordaway, 47, was homeless, sleeping in a friend’s car between her two eight-hour shifts. Unlike her co-workers, who talked about showering when they got home, she worried about finding hot water and a place to clean up where no one could see her. Some nights, she just washed from a 2-liter bottle of water. (Lupo, Abdaladze, Bohannon, Garg, Fields and Surma, 8/26)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: Homeless People In Rural America Struggle To Find Help
Allie Smith was three months shy of high school graduation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and students were sent home to finish the year remotely. The problem is, Smith doesn’t really have a home. The 18-year-old is one of an estimated 1.5 million students classified by the U.S. Department of Education as homeless because of unstable living situations. Smith grew up in New Castle, a rural town of almost 22,000 in western Pennsylvania, bouncing from group homes to foster care in between stints living with her mom, dad and other family members. (Fields and Surma, 8/27)

Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University: COVID-19 Homeless Work-Arounds Turn Into Silver Linings
When the Downtown Emergency Service Center in Seattle moved its homeless residents from crowded shelters into hotels, staff worried about how to keep them connected to services. They decided to buy cellphones, tablets and laptops, and now their clients at the Red Lion Hotel can virtually attend medical appointments and meet with mental health specialists with greater flexibility than before the pandemic. In San Francisco, homeless workers are providing small amounts of alcohol and nicotine to homeless people with addictions to encourage them to remain in quarantine. And throughout the country, shelter operators are seeing new life in people who have been relocated to hotels and motels that have been empty because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Garg and Fields, 8/28)