LAFH staff come together to continue housing people during the COVID-19 crisis
Mayor Garcetti’s “Safer at Home” order has resulted in a lot of Angelenos working from home to practice social distancing and help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. LA Family Housing is considered “essential”; the work we provide is life-saving and critical to those experiencing homelessness. However, at least 55% of LAFH staff are now working remotely to support efforts to flatten the curve.
Like other service providers, LA Family Housing is facing a new challenge – how do we continue to provide critical services, while maintaining the health and safety of our staff and those we serve?
Homelessness will not wait for the COVID-19 crisis to end. We know that this virus is more dangerous for those with compromised immune systems, and life outdoors makes individuals more vulnerable. This why our work cannot stop. In some ways, it becomes even more critical. Much LAFH staff have been able to shift to working remotely, include our Housing Navigators, Employment Team, and Housing Stabilizers, although not without challenges.
Dan Parziale, Sr. Director of Housing Navigation explains how his teams are coping with the change. “We don’t want to do anything in person if we can avoid it. We’re being creative with technology to make sure we’re still moving participants into housing. Our housing locators are conducting site visits over video call, and our navigators are conducting check-ins through Skype and FaceTime.”
The efforts, while not always ideal, seem to be working. This past week, LA Family Housing moved three participants into new homes, and more are scheduled in the upcoming weeks.
Noe Valenzuela, Associate Director of Employment Services had a hopeful tone when talking about how this was affecting his team’s work. “The biggest impact is the lack of hiring – aside from grocery stores people have been halting there hiring. But we’ve been ready for [working remotely].” His team has shifted their focus to reaching out to participants and helping them assess their employment plan for the next two months. The staff can still help participants fine tune their resumes and complete applications remotely. They’re also assessing additional needs that could impact a participant’s ability to work, such as child support and food insecurity.
Food insecurity is another big concern for the people we serve. Many participants were food insecure prior to the COVID-19 crisis, while others have lost their jobs or had their hours cut and can no longer afford food. Angel Martin, Housing Stabilizer, said that LA Family Housing is providing gift cards to grocery stores to help meet this need, finding creative ways to maintain the 6-foot distance rule while distributing the cards.
Some staff, like our outreach workers and interim housing staff simply can’t continue their work remotely.
Their work requires being on site or face-to-face interaction. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking safety precautions.
Outreach teams are educating participants on the importance of social distancing and where they can find hand washing stations.
Our outreach team is providing CDC guidance resources and access to hand washing stations, while continuing to connect people to interim housing and permanent housing. “Our efforts have turned into ‘educate, prevent, and wellness.’ Together as a team we have discussed ways to minimize exposure and support participants in understanding what is going on.” Elyssa Rosen, Director of Engagement, explains.
At The Irmas Family Campus, we’ve set up one access point with a pop-up tent for participants to be screened prior to entering our building near the FSC. Intake staff are using mirroring technology to review forms with participants while still 6 ft apart. Even at a distance, the assessment team was able to place 6 families safely in crisis housing with the support of our Interim Housing team.
At each interim housing site, we are also screening for symptoms, such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath every day. Our Participant Coordinators are educating participants about social distancing, hand washing, hand sanitizing, and the need to stay home. We are also cleaning and disinfecting the sites hourly, and at our S. Mark Taper Bridge Housing have installed additional hand washing stations at the lobby, outside the front doors, and outside the cafeteria. We’ve also created a second dining hall because we can allow only 10 people in the dining hall at a time.
Staff at our S. Mark Taper Bridge Housing are practicing social distancing, teaching residents about how to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and disinfecting the property hourly.
“It’s hard for us to social distance from participants, so education is just very key, and making clear schedules, providing games, and ways to keep people occupied,” explains Kelsey Madigan, Director of Interim Housing. “With the kids out of school we are working hard to get Wi-Fi access at all sites so they can complete their schoolwork online.”
While the challenges that our staff are facing are clear, there is a resounding theme connecting each conversation – that LA Family Housing’s staff is rising to the challenge with strength, passion, and dignity. Kelsey Madigan put it best: “What has been amazing is that our teams have been unified around this crisis. We all have the same goal and we are trying to figure out how we can keep not only our participants safe but also the entire community.”
Guide to LA Family Housing Teams and Terms
Housing Navigation – LAFH’s Housing Navigation team works with participants who are unsheltered or living in interim housing, to help them find a permanent place to call home.
Housing Stabilization – LAFH’s Housing Stabilization team works with participants who have moved into a permanent home, to make sure they are able to achieve housing stability and prevent them from falling back into homelessness.
Employment Team – LAFH’s Employment Team works with participants who are unsheltered, in interim housing, or have been housed, to gain employment or increase income in order to achieve housing stability.
Outreach – LAFH’s Outreach Team meets people where they are – by going to the streets, washes, and basins – to connect people the resources they need to move home.
Interim Housing – Interim Housing is a temporary living solution that provides participants with a safe place to sleep as well as wrap-around services and resources to help them on their journey home.