Sonoma County slow to deploy solutions for homeless residents amid coronavirus emergency

Nearly a month ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $150 million, state-sponsored cash infusion for local governments to speed services for homeless people in the face of the coronavirus pandemic bearing down on the state.

A week later, Sonoma County officials were readying plans to use the county’s portion - about $1 million - to provide up to 450 hotel rooms for the most vulnerable local homeless residents, including any of those people who test positive for the new coronavirus.

But amid an unprecedented increase in homeless people seeking aid, Sonoma County has provided shelter for just 20 of those people since the county’s isolation order took effect March 18. And instead of securing hotel rooms, officials have opted to funnel the $1 million into portable restrooms and handwashing stations for outdoor campsites, as well as general outreach efforts.

Meanwhile, trailers the county received Feb. 27 from the state to shelter homeless people sit idle and empty. And it may take another week before newly acquired Sonoma State University dorm rooms are ready to accommodate coronavirus patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms and others awaiting test results or those deemed to medically vulnerable, including homeless individuals.

Homeless advocates say the county’s slow pace and pivot on shelter space risks exposing an already vulnerable population to the deadly illness coursing through the region.

“There’s no way to … flatten the curve without addressing this population first and foremost,” said local advocate Miles Sarvis, with Mask Sonoma, which has worked to get protective gear to homeless individuals. “Until these people have access to ongoing sanitation, shelter, food - the basic necessities of life - I don’t think we can adequately confront the pandemic.”

Sonoma County health officials say the $1 million from the state has already been put to good use, covering the cost of portable restrooms and handwashing stations installed at more than two dozen locations in Santa Rosa and Petaluma in the past couple of weeks, as well as outreach efforts to educate and encourage social distancing at small encampments.

Work is happening to ready the state trailers, they said, which have been parked at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. With a new, lower estimate of at-risk homeless residents, officials believe the trailers and the bed spaces that will soon come online at SSU will meet the need.

“I think our goal is to make sure we’re bringing vulnerable individuals - individuals over 65 - we want them to come into the system and be housed, to protect them for their own well being,” said Barbie Robinson, the county’s health services director, who is also the interim head of the county’s Community Development Commission, the lead homelessness agency.

To date, no homeless residents have tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. But the county’s testing among homeless residents started only at the beginning of April, and advocates say they would be shocked if a population lacking access to basic hygiene, as well as up-to-date information, hasn’t already seen infections.

“It’s unbelievable that it hasn’t ripped through that population,” said Gail Simon, 73, a retired nurse and volunteer with the advocacy group Homeless Action. “I’m just waiting. I’m afraid that it will happen.”

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin said she expects staff in the coming days to introduce a plan to protect homeless residents and their neighbors who have witnessed a new crop of unsanctioned camps spring up amid the coronavirus emergency. Gorin stressed the need for patience as those camps stack up beneath overpasses and in neighborhood cul de sacs, stirring echoes of the historic Joe Rodota Trail encampment in west Santa Rosa that was only disbanded in late January. The county declared an emergency and authorized spending up to $12 million on a package of shelter and housing options that have accommodated about 60% of the camp’s peak population of 250.

“I can appreciate the perception of the lack of urgency,” Gorin said. “Everyone needs to remember we’re working on orders and safety guidelines for 500,000 people. It’s not just the homeless population.”

Newsom’s pledge of $150 million in emergency funding came two days before the governor issued a statewide shelter-in-place order, and it served as an acknowledgment of a population at great risk in the pandemic.

Already, those living on the streets can expect to die 25 years sooner than their counterparts with stable housing, according to Sonoma County’s 2019 homeless count. Just under a quarter of the county’s homeless population have chronic health problems, and the countywide shutdown has exacerbated the problems those residents have with access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

The closer quarters they share in shelters and lack of regular medical checkups can compound underlying health factors in a pandemic, said Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s health officer.

“They are medically vulnerable and socially vulnerable,” Mase said Monday.

Last month, local officials estimated that 450 of the county’s roughly 3,000 homeless individuals were most at risk from the coronavirus and would be funneled into emergency shelter in motel rooms covered by the state money.

But Robinson on Monday said that number has been revised downward to about 200 people in need of services.

Of that group, 150 are age 65 or older, and 50 suffer from some underlying medical condition. Robinson said the county will use the trailers and pending space at SSU to house those residents, but officials can’t say when either option will be available.

Homeless service providers, meanwhile, say they’re facing an unprecedented spike in demand for shelter services.

“We are seeing a volume of inquiry like we’ve never seen before. Even after the Tubbs fire, the Kincade fire, all of the emergencies we’ve been through as a community,” said Jennielynn Holmes, chief program officer of Catholic Charities, which runs the Samuel L. Jones homeless shelter, as well as the county’s coordinated system for placing individuals into housing. The agency’s call volume is up 60% and email requests are up 40%, Holmes said, acknowledging it had led to a backlog in response times.

“We were not staffed for this level of need,” Holmes said, adding that they’ve recently hired two more employees. “We’re having to ramp up pretty quickly.”

The need comes amid efforts to downsize shelter capacities, including those at Sam Jones, which in late March partnered with the city of Santa Rosa to move 45 of its residents into the Sandman Motel.

Another overflow group served by Catholic Charities moved Monday into the Astro Motel in downtown Santa Rosa, according to three sources outside of county government.

Robinson said she was “not at liberty to disclose” the name of the motel, though the county is covering the cost. Department of Health Services spokesman Rohish Lal said “privacy rules” prohibited the county from identifying the motel.

The motel is a stopgap, as those 20 people await transfer to SSU, Lal confirmed in a follow-up text message.

Sarvis said without more decisive government action, it would again be up to volunteers like Simon to safeguard homeless individuals amid the outbreak.

“There are lots of volunteers working hard, even in the middle of a pandemic,” Sarvis said. “I know people who deliver 100-plus meals every night. What would the situation look like if there weren’t volunteers?”

You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com.