When COVID 19 upended the country, forcing office workers to become remote workers, students into virtual learners, and the retailers who could into pickup and delivery services, some sectors of society had to keep the doors open: the health care industry and organizations that serve the homeless.

In the Baltimore-metropolitan area, COVID created a crisis-within-a-crisis at area shelters that serve the unhoused and those on the brink of homelessness. Service providers and advocates had to quickly devise plans that would encourage social distancing and find other ways to separate residents and clients, many of whom have pre-existing conditions that put them in the eye of the coronavirus storm.

“Shelters are dense with bunks next to each other, and they house people who are medically fragile,” said Stuart Campbell, director of community services and programs for the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Campbell said his agency held weekly calls with other agencies and organizations caring for the state’s vulnerable citizens to ensure they had the resources they needed.

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