Coronavirus Emergency, How to Help Homeless People an Interview with Ryan Bilodeau
It’s okay to stay home, but how do you protect those who don’t have a home? This is what many associations that deal with helping homeless people like The Gift Card Project are asking, which has necessarily had to suspend clothing collections and is looking for ways to provide assistance while also respecting the security measures for Coronavirus.
The Gift Card Project founder Ryan Bilodeau is recruiting ambassadors from around the country to assist the homeless. “I pray that the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on society is soon over. When it is, one of the main questions we need to ask ourselves is how to help those who are most vulnerable and in need of help. Our safety net must be bigger for the homeless who during this time have been greatly exposed to COVID-19,” said Ryan Bilodeau of The Gift Card Project
In California, the homeless have been hit especially hard by the virus. Caltrans Public Affairs official Matt Roccohas been dealing with the issue lately, saying, “Due to concerns over COVID-19 and to limit its potential spread among the homeless population, Caltrans is temporarily suspending encampment cleanups unless there is an immediate safety concern, but will continue to work with local partners to move individuals into safer situations as available.”
In what were some harsh words, one governor recently called the problem with increasing numbers of homeless people crowding New York City subways “disgusting” and “disrespectful” to essential workers who have to ride those trains to get to work. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that essential workers “deserve better, they will have better”
The coronavirus pandemic continues to challenge our thoughts about the homeless in what remains a difficult situation for elected officials and citizens alike.
There are structures that could be used – explains the founder of Gift Card Project – I speak of the housing and social condominium projects that will be used in future projects financed with funds. We must immediately activate, without waiting, those apartments so that at least some people have a place with separate rooms where they can go if needed, with the presence of health and social workers. We must create alternative houses to guarantee this isolation for those who have no home.
The emergency must lead continues Ryan Bilodeau, to review reviewing the reception system, rethinking the role of the centers and giving due value to the extreme responsibility they take on in supporting people who do not have other forms of support, such as the family. We need to rethink investments in housing, the importance of smaller centers, less tied to large numbers, dialogue with the authorities, which in many places is already extremely profitable. The emergency is changing our life we hope that this change will lead to a new vision that does not exclude even more those who live on the margins .