GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Scientists say one person infected with COVID-19 could unknowingly spread the disease to dozens more. That's why social distancing has been so important. But, what happens when that message is not received?
"When this happened this outbreak happened, we started understanding that we had some significant issues within the homeless population and potential spread of COVID-19 in that population," says Chief John Lehman with the Grand Rapids Fire Department. "We tell people to shelter at home, constant hand washing and wear masks and all that kind of stuff. It's not necessarily as easy when you don't have the facilities to wash your hands. So we decided that we would start this team immediately."
Members of the Grand Rapids Fire and Police Departments have created a Homeless Outreach Task Force to help educate the homeless and take other steps to help mitigate the spread of the disease.
"When we go out it is often 3 of us. One officer, a representative from the fire department and then sometimes a commander will be out there as well," says Officer Jenny Rood, a community specialist and member of the city's H.O.T. team. "We are out there on foot. All day long, interacting, whether it's outside the missions or the park. We're trying to keep everyone healthy and everyone distance from one another. It's great to be out there. We're not doing it from our cruisers or our fire trucks. We are out there on the street, using PPE gear and and just reminding them how important this is."
Members of this team are able to effectively reach the homeless population because of their familiarity with members of the community.
"I know where they congregate. I know where people hang out. I stopped at the park several times during the day. I stop in the food lines and talk to them and interact," said Lt. Mike Waldron with the Grand Rapids Fire Department. "I've been stationed downtown for about five years. So I've built a lot of relationships with these people. Because we have these relationships established, we can get respect from the people that know us and they share that when we're talking to people that don't know us."
Officer Rood agrees that having a familiar face helps.
"I know many of the members of that community throughout the Heartside area. I interact with them daily. I am a familiar face and there is mutual respect between us. So, I think they take the advice and education more to heart. They're more open to listening to us and take the info we're providing them versus being intimidated or concerned," she said.
The task force members are offering much more than information. Each day they make contact with hundreds of the homeless both educating them and assisting in a multitude of ways.
"Safer habits is the big thing. That pandemic doesn't stop at sidewalks. It doesn't stop at bus stops, the places where we all cross each other. Those are spots where, potentially, someone could have been and been infected. So, our intent is to teach them of the things they can do to help flatten that curve, " says Waldron. "A lot of it is reminders of keeping hands clean, keeping them away from faces. Stuff that everybody needs to know."
"It also gives us the opportunity to speak one-on-one with individuals and provide them with hand sanitizer. Or see if they need a mask or water and just educating them on how to keep doing social distancing and covering their mouths," says Rood. "So daily we're out there communicating with or interacting with those in the city and offering whatever assistance we can give them."
"It's everything that has come down from the CDC, except for, we're not dealing with people that usually see the news or hear the news every day. So we're kind of translating that message from the media to the community," added Waldron.
Chief Lehman says while their focus is on members of the homeless population, the goal is to keep the entire Grand Rapids community safe.
"I think that it's just goes without saying that you know just one person can be a very, very large spreader of this disease when we are allowed to mingle freely among everybody. And that's our weak point right now. You can't isolate somewhere when you don't necessarily have a home to isolate to," he said. "But, I have seen firsthand our ability to have that boots on the ground and effect immediate action needed to prevent the spread. That is that we're going to possibly see within our homeless population."
Members of both departments believe they are able to offer unique ideas and perspectives to this partnership and believe it will continue to grow even after the COVID-19 crisis.
"This is really a work in progress and I think we're going to identify many other areas where we are going to be able to assist on that we never really even thought about before," says Lehman. "These are people that have direct line of communication with decision-makers, to be able to affect immediate kind of change and impact. For example, public bathrooms are closed right now because the parks have the bathrooms closed, but we need hand wash stations. Let's get that done. So, that's in process right now, to be able to provide those hand washing stations at locations that are necessary. It's this team identifies where those locations are and where they need to be put. That's just one example. It's a unique position in person that would volunteer for this job, and so I really respect the fact that we've had those people step up to the plate. This is a small crew that we've started out with. We really look forward to seeing how we can change things for the better."
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