A message from our Executive Director: Pacific House and COVID-19
We hope this message finds you and your family healthy and safe during this trying time.
We are all adjusting to what needs to be our new normal for the short-term: meetings via teleconference, more phone calls, working from home, and all doing our part to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Work continues for Pacific House, just in a modified way over the next several weeks. During this crisis, we continue to collaborate with the city, state, and federal government (when applicable) as well as our partners such as Opening Doors Fairfield County and Continuum of Care.
For the homeless, staying home during coronavirus outbreak is not an option, which made social distancing a problem for us initially.
However, we at Pacific House are following every best practice and measure recommended by the DOH, CDC, the City of Stamford and the State of Connecticut to ensure the safety of our staff and guests at the shelter and in our housing properties, and this is our main priority.
The Problems:
People experiencing homelessness are at critical risk of contracting coronavirus.
We are running out of supplies and are in need of help.
Providing enough meals has become an issue due to guests being spread out for their safety through three different locations.
Keeping our emergency shelter clean with a high population of guests.
We need to provide for the newly homeless as well as take steps to prevent evictions and foreclosures through our rapid re-housing and diversion initiatives.
Hiring new staff is now essential to manage the care needed for the additional workload we are facing.
The Solutions:
We have collaborated with organizations like Catholic Charities to provide some of the food for guests, as we are now serving three meals per day. In lieu of volunteers serving meals, we are asking for donations to help us during this crucial time to help feed our homeless population.
To proactively provide immediate social distancing for guests of Pacific House shelter we will be undergoing immediate re-location to additional sites.
We have already housed 14 of our most vulnerable guests in hotels, and we are working on a plan to house more guests with compromised conditions in hotels in order to ensure their safety.
We continue to provide aid through teleconferencing to our guests at the shelter and residents in our affordable housing properties.
As this global health crisis is now beginning to affect all of our lives, it is beginning to disturb our ability to fund our emergency shelter and all of the programs that we offer. Challenges to our ability to provide services can be overwhelming for homeless individuals that we assist.
Funding to get us through this time would be a tremendous aid and would help us to continue to do what we need to do in this national emergency. It is crucial now more than ever to provide care for our most vulnerable populations.
Please consider helping some of the neediest in our community by making a donation today: DONATE HERE
As always, we appreciate your continued help and support! All of us here at Pacific House hope that you are well and stay healthy!
With warm regards,
