Facilities to be Used for Homeless During COVID-19

St. Louis County has finalized the contract for several hotels in the region to temporarily house Northlanders who need to be quarantined but do not have a safe place to go.

DULUTH, Minn. – St. Louis County has finalized the contract for several hotels in the region to temporarily house Northlanders who need to be quarantined but do not have a safe place to go.

The hotels being offered up in the region will be for homeless people impacted by the coronavirus to use, including those who have tested positive for COVID-19, and also those who have been around anyone with the virus.

The locations of these sites are not being released at his hour to ensure privacy. St. Louis County is expecting to contract four hotels for a total of about 90 rooms. Those staying there would also be given meals, laundry, security, transportation and supervision for issues such as mental health problems, substance use disorder, and prescription management.

That’s where local groups like CHUM will be involved. Helping to organize one hotel in the area to fulfill these needs.

“Why is this really important?” said Lee Stuart, Executive Director at CHUM. “It’s because people who live in congregate shelters or are in congregate living situations are very vulnerable to the spread of infectious disease.”

The contracts currently call for services through May 15th. Though that date could be extended. The county says total costs are expected to be in the range of $450,000 to $500,000 for all the sites. Depending on how many people ultimately need to be quarantined. Many of these costs are expected to be reimbursable through federal and state emergency funds.

“We know that COVID-19 is also really wrecked a lot of people’s employment right now and so we can look at this as a bridge,” said Stuart. “It’s a hopefully a short-term temporary position. We need to get through the COVID curve but we definitely would not have been doing this if we didn’t have a pandemic to react to.”

For more information about how to apply for the jobs for CHUM, visit CHUM’s website and click on employment.