Local nonprofit sees decline in clients during pandemic, shelter’s numbers hold steady

In times before the coronavirus pandemic, Ken Brown, the executive director of The Fellowship Cup, a Henry County nonprofit, would encounter clients dealing with homelessness on a daily basis. But since mid-March, numbers for all services with the nonprofit have been down across the board.

'Now, we're only seeing one or two cases a week. I can't explain why. It baffles me,” Brown said.

While the mention of homelessness usually conjures up images of tent cities and sleeping bags on pavement, in southeast Iowa, the issue takes a different form. Brown said most of the people who come to The Fellowship Cup for assistance are not 'permanently homeless” but rather those who may be bouncing from house to house.

'My only guess is that they're staying longer at temporary houses,” Brown said, 'I can't explain why we're not seeing them.”

The executive director pointed to a number of factors, including the delivery of stimulus checks, which may contribute to the lowered numbers his organization is seeing.

'I know as far as our pantry numbers, initially in the beginning of April, they received a larger load on food stamp cards, which they can use to buy from the grocery stores,” he added.

While there are transitional homes in Wayland and Olds, Henry County does not have any readily available homeless shelters, which means assistance may come as one paid evening at a local motel or a bus ticket to a place an individual may have family and a network of support.

Recently, the nonprofit helped a man get to Cedar Rapids in Linn County, which has a high number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

'We're willing to pay for people to go where they need to go,” Brown said.

Darren Brown, director of operations at the Washington County Outreach Center, a 25-bed emergency shelter, said the facility has held steady in numbers through the pandemic. Currently, 18 beds are occupied.

'I don't think there was really an increase. I think everything was pretty much the same, even with COVID,” he said.

The director noted the shelter did have one confirmed positive case of the virus. The individual was quarantined in a separate room in the upstairs part of the building. Seven other individuals from the shelter were also tested but had negative results.

'It would have been about a month ago. She was on quarantine but has been off it for a good week,” he explained.

Despite having a case within their facility, the shelter director said there doesn't seem to be any fear among the shelter's residents.

'The most nerve-wracking part for them is probably having to be in quarantine. They like to go places and get away and do whatever they want to do,” he said.

The shelter director added for as many homeless people his shelter helps, the virus is no more of a concern than dangers they would face normally.

'Many people that are homeless deal with life controlling substance addictions. All of those addictions come with their own inherent risks. That's our clientele, some of them don't mind being at risk for health concerns,” he added.

Like many other shelters and facilities, the Washington County Outreach Center has implemented a stay-in-place policy and is doing screenings for anyone entering their building.

'At our shelter, we put this in place and said everyone is staying here. They're not leaving unless it's essential business,” he said.

Usually Brown encourages residents to go out during the day and try to seek employment and make productive use of their time. With everyone staying in, the director has had to hire additional staff to work the day shift as well.

'I don't know if the homeless are any more at risk than others,” he added, 'Anyone who leaves their home is at risk.”