LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local agencies are mobilizing to create emergency housing options for Lake County residents who are experiencing homelessness and, as a result, are more vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace confirmed to Lake County News on Wednesday that there are still no positive cases of COVID-19 in Lake County.
The county has been under a shelter in place order issued by Pace that went into effect last Thursday, the same day that Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay at home order.
The Lake County order exempted the homeless because, officials said, they couldn’t require sheltering in place for individuals who don’t have housing options.
The latest “point-in-time” count of homeless individuals, conducted on Jan. 27, found 572 people experiencing homelessness in Lake County.
However, health care industry numbers presented to the Clearlake City Council in January from the leadership of the Hope Center project suggested that from January to November 2019 there were 3,370 unique patients who identified as homeless in Lake County.
Pace told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that he’s concerned about homeless individuals and the particular challenges they face with avoiding the virus, noting they’re among the most vulnerable to the illness.
He pointed to the problems that could result if the virus gets into the homeless community, where there is no social distancing and less opportunity for handwashing, one of the key practices people are being told to follow to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVId-19.
Pace told the board that a “fair amount of energy” is now going into planning to protect the homeless population.
On Wednesday, Pace told Lake County News that several teams are working on how to address the homeless situation in the county during the COVID outbreak.
“While we continue to have no confirmed COVID cases in Lake at this point, the potential of an infection getting into the homeless camps is concerning,” he said.
Pastor Shannon Kimbell-Auth, Adventist Health’s manager for community integration, a committee member for the Lake County Continuum of Care and chair of the board for Hope Harbor Warming Center in Lakeport, echoed those concerns.
People keep asking about those experiencing homelessness and if they’re concerned about getting the virus, she said.
“The answer is, of course they’re concerned about getting the virus, but they have absolutely nowhere to obey the shelter in place rule,” Kimbell-Auth said.
However, that is changing.
Earlier this week, the state announced it was awarding $100 million in grants to counties, continuums of care and the state's 13 largest cities to help protect the health and safety of people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Lake County News has reported.
The Lake County Continuum of Care will receive $79,511.74, while the county of Lake has been awarded $73,152.92.
Pace said there are discussions underway about how best to direct those funds. “Other funding sources are also being actively explored, given the governor’s assurances that state monies will be coming to help with this issue.”
He added, “Some progress is being made, though, in that we are looking to locate some sites to be able to house folks without homes, should they become positive.”
Crystal Markytan, director of Lake County Social Services, said Wednesday that she didn’t yet have any retail details about the $73,000 awarded to the county of Lake, explaining, “many questions remain at the state level.”
Kimbell-Auth told Lake County News that the Continuum of Care held a meeting with Behavioral Health, Public Health and Social Services on Wednesday.
The immediate plan for the Continuum of Care is to expand the Hope Harbor warming center’s hours from nights during the week to around-the-clock, seven-day-a-week operation in order to allow homeless individuals to take refuge there during the shelter in place order, she said.
The $75,911 the Continuum of Care received in this first round of emergency funding is expected to cover the warming center’s operations until the first week of May, Kimbell-Auth said.
She said they anticipate having the warming center ready to convert to 24/7 operations by Monday. Once those around-the-clock operations start, they will stop offering bus tickets to clients in order to keep them there.
The center started out its season at New Hope Fellowship Church in Lakeport but has now moved to the former Record-Bee building at 2150 S. Main St.
There, Kimbell-Auth said they will be able to increase their numbers moderately.
Currently, the center has had 24 clients a night, 16 people in the building and eight others in their vehicles, she said.
Now, they will be increasing it to having 24 individuals inside – including three rooms set aside for families – and safe parking outside. Altogether, she said capacity will expand to 30 clients.
She said the warming center has been working with Public Health to implement strict social distancing protocol.
Kimbell-Auth said the warming center is going to be hiring staff to cover its expanded operations. She said they are looking for people already experienced and trained in providing services to the homeless, and are reaching out to agencies that have had to lay off staff due to the current crisis.
“That’s who we want to hire,” she said, explaining that they won’t have time to do all of the training that they’ve done in the past while they’re mobilizing.
She said she expects more emergency money from the state to be available. “This is changing every day.”
Hope Harbor was used for sheltering in place because it’s the only warming center currently set up and could help immediately, Kimbell-Auth said.
She said if more funds become available, that money would be used to set up a shelter in Clearlake.
Kimbell-Auth said there are also other agencies working on different outreach and projects to assist the homeless, including efforts by North Coast Opportunities and Adventist Health to make outreach to the homeless encampments in Clearlake, where they want to locate handwashing stations as a basic preventive measure.
Kimbell-Auth encouraged people who need shelter at the warming center to call first to ensure there is space.
The Hope Harbor Warming Center can be reached at 707-533-0522.
For more information visit the Hope Harbor Facebook page or its website, where donations also can be made online.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Efforts underway to shelter and protect Lake County’s homeless during COVID-19 pandemic
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On