Tahoe Homeless Coalition adjusts to COVID-19: Operations now 24 hours/day

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Due to the rapidly changing health crisis brought by coronavirus and COVID-10, the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) has a new
coordinated COVID-19 response and will be open 24-hours-a-day through April.

In preparation for increased utilization and operational capacity surging expected for the next several months, TCH has made the changes to their sheltering and support service programs. They have seen a 30 percent increase in nightly shelter requests and anticipate that number will increase significantly over the coming weeks.

Their decision to move to a 24-hour emergency shelter access is through at least the end of April. Funding availability and changing conditions will be assessed on an ongoing basis.

Another change came with a dwindling volunteer group. They have decided to hire two shelter clerks to provide coverage support to their existing professional shelter team.

TCJ will continue to monitor official public health channels, update our operational protocols, and communicate quickly with stakeholder groups to meet these changing needs.

The South Lake Tahoe community has truly stepped up and has provided an outpouring of assistance, according to TCH Executive Director Cheyenne Purrington. There are still some ongoing needs:

● Access to space: Entire motels, apartments, houses, buildings, etc. If able to help, contact Cheyenne at cheyenne@tahoehomeless.org
● In-kind donations: Only of very specific food, cleaning, and hygiene items. Contact Catherine (Cat) Seitzler, Supply Coordinator, catherine@tahoehomeless.org
● Financial donations: Unrestricted donations are preferred. Donors can make tax-deductible donations directly to us at: https://ssl.charityweb.net/tahoehomeless/

The following is the TCH action plan during these untested times:

● We’re currently reassessing all shelter guests based on vulnerability and support needs, and relocating some individuals to motel rooms while coordinating necessary services.
● We’re actively engaged in contingency planning to identify possible alternative shelter locations (such as motels, schools, and other civic infrastructure) in the event that we reach capacity in our current location or experience other operational challenges.
● We’re developing infrastructure for a client ‘telehealth’ nook so they can easily access health services from other providers via telephone and videoconferencing technology.
● We’re exploring the option to have existing volunteer support clients with basic systems navigation via telephone, which will alleviate capacity of our existing case management staff.
● We’re exploring the option to provide hygiene stations to homeless people throughout the South Shore area, in order to support compliance with official health recommendations.
● We’re participating in El Dorado County’s crisis response team focused on homelessness.
● We’re providing technical assistance to organizations on El Dorado County’s Western Slope to develop a similar outreach, sheltering, and relocation model for immediate implementation.
● We’re seeking access to leased space and need landlords, motel owners, and other agency leaders who can offer rooms, housing units, and other spaces for possible use.
● We’re urging local elected officials and agency leaders to cut bureaucratic red tape and provide speedy, streamlined assistance to support our increased capacity surge.
● We’re identifying possible government funding sources to support continued capacity surging.