Emergency shelter workers say it’s been chaotic and stressful during the pandemic and day-to-day operations are still changing.
Crystal Scott, the emergency shelter director of the Coverdale Center for Women, said she’s still working with vulnerable women but many things have changed.
“We’ve had to change our location in order to give the women that distance between them, so we didn’t have enough room at the emergency shelter to have the compliance for that social distancing,” she said.
“We were very crowded at the emergency shelter, so we’re now here at a school on the east side,” she said.
“We have cots that are set up, that were sent to us from the Red Cross, and we’re just trying to settle in.”
Scott said trying to move an entire office from one place to another, as well as moving 10 women in a very quick manner, was difficult but it was done.
Scott said they’ve asked the women not to leave and to stay on the property and they’ve been respectful, but boredom does set in. She said the women have a community living in the uptown area and those people are their family but it’s harder to keep in contact with them right now.
She said the staff are sacrificing a lot by stepping up and continuing to work while physical distancing from their families.
“We don’t have everything set up so that you’re completely isolated from one another and the staff is not isolated from the clients as they come in,” she said.
“We’re just trying to practice the hand washing and figuring out ways to have communication with the women without causing any more trauma.”
Community members can help out by dropping off plastic utensils and disposable plates and bowls as well as disinfectant wipes and face masks. It would also be helpful to the women if the community could drop off treats or items such as DVDs for entertainment.
