A Monterey County hotel is housing the most vulnerable homeless
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) The homeless are possibly the most vulnerable group of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many in Monterey County live in tents grouped closely with others.
On Friday, some of the most vulnerable homeless agreed to move into a hotel during the shelter-in-place.
“Of course I said yes," David Cuellar who's lived in a tent at Salinas's Chinatown for the last five years said. "We literally live on top of each other there, so any type of these pandemics it's liable to spread like wildfire.”
KION was exclusively given a look at the hotel that, right now, has a total of about 90 people housed. The effort was launched by the Coalition of Homeless Services, Dorothy's Place and Monterey County. For the privacy of those living at the hotel, we are not identifying its name or location.
Everyone living at the hotel receives three meals a day and other help.
“Hygiene products, towels, and all the way up to they need medical transportation, doctors appointments and things like that,” Dorothy's Place program director Martin Alvarez said.
Those staying at the hotel are over the age of 65 or have underlying health conditions, especially having to do with their lungs or heart. Dorothy's Place keeps track of about 1,000 homeless in Monterey County.
“In the database, one of those recordings is do they have chronic health conditions,” Coalition of Homeless Services president Jill Allen said.
“The number of seniors in the [homeless] population is growing, and that’s the most vulnerable. You also have people with a number of health issues that stem from the tough life of living on streets,” Coalition of Homeless Services spokesman Elliott Robinson said.
Maria Morales has been homeless since last September and also jumped at the offer to stay at the hotel.
“It's awesome. Three square meals a day. You can take a shower, coffee and tea," Morales said. "It's nice. We’re in a clean environment.”
Most of the funding to house the homeless in the hotel comes from the state. Homeless advocates hope this will lead to better preparation for this vulnerable population in future crises.
“We know that eventually we’re going to get hit again like this, so the question is why wouldn’t we make the social changes to solve the problem now?” Allen said.
The homeless coalition said the funding from the state will likely be enough to house these individuals for a month.
