HAMILTON COUTY, Ohio — While many of us are getting our stimulus money, county governments are getting it too. County leaders in the Cincinnati area just approved a plan to put part of its stimulus money into homelessness.
- $1.1M paying to help homeless during pandemic; part of the money is federal stimulus money.
- Money will be used to move homeless families and those at risk for the virus into motel rooms
- It will fund 330 motel rooms for 45 days
More than $1M — part of it stimulus money — is going to homelessness in the Cincinnati area. That money will buy motel rooms for homeless families and homeless people at risk for the coronavirus. It's something one woman knows all too well.
“That’s how I found myself homeless too, because I lost my job Jan. 31st,” said Catherlene Knight.
Ever since then she says she’s been struggling to find a place to stay.
“Every night by 7 o’clock I would have to wait in line to get a bed, every night…so it’s been hard,” said Knight.
Something made even more difficult in the middle of the pandemic.
“Someone came in that was sick and they thought they had the virus and her room was right next to mine,” said Knight.
It's part of the reason she’s now staying in a motel room while she tries to get back on her feet.
Hamilton County is now helping to pay for rooms like hers. County leaders are using stimulus money to foot the bill for 330 motel rooms for the homeless. It’ll allow them to stay for 45 days.
“This will reduce the population and allow for safe distancing in the shelters,” said Hamilton County Presiding Commissioner Denise Driehaus.
Homeless shelters have been moving people out of the crowded areas and into those single motel rooms for the last few weeks.
The group Strategies to End Homelessness will get the funds to continue to do that.
The people they started sending first — homeless families.
“There really wouldn’t be a way to achieve appropriate social distancing in a family shelter setting where you have kids running around and that sort of thing, so what the family shelters decided what was best for them to do is empty their congregate facilities and provide each family with a motel room,” said Kevin Finn, Executive Director of Strategies to End Homelessness.
Homeless people most at risk are next on the list to move from a shelter to a motel room.
“They’ve been very strategic in targeting people who are elderly sick and could become severely ill if they contracted the virus and those are the people who they’ve determined will move out of the shelter,” said Finn.
A makeshift quarantine area has also been set up at a rec center for anyone showing symptoms with no place to go.
“It has two sections, one where people can be isolated who are waiting on their test results, another section where people can go if they then test positive for the virus,” said Finn.
He says with more than 750 homeless people in Hamilton County on any given day, they’re still working on finding more ways to help, while some are trying to find ways to stay off the street.
“I don’t wanna have to stay outside on the street cause I’m concerned it’s even more dangerous,” said Knight.
Advocates are still trying to figure out what to do about people still living on the street, and how they’ll have access to sanitation supplies so they don’t get sick or spread the virus.