For years, the Harbor House shelter had a routine for feeding and sheltering the hundreds of homeless people in Thousand Oaks, California, many of them elderly. Each evening, one of a dozen local churches, temples and mosques would host a dinner, and afterward, lay out beds for their guests to have a safe place to sleep.
COVID-19 has turned that routine upside down.
The host places of worship were worried about safety, especially since many of their volunteers also are elderly. All the houses of worship shuttered entirely, and with that, the dinner and bed routine was over. It wasn’t safe for either the volunteers or the guests, said Denise Cortes, Harbor House’s executive director.
“It’s a scary and devastating experience,” Cortes said. “We’re already dealing with people living on the fringes of life. And now they’re hanging by a thread.”
Like Harbor House, other homeless shelters around the country are being pushed to the brink by the pandemic. Even in the best of times, some 568,000 people live in shelters, on the streets or in a car. And now, shelters in at least 17 states plus Washington, D.C., have been forced to close, suspend services or otherwise limit their operations, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
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5 comments:
This virus is Gods way of cleaning up our cities, we need to let the homeless die out. Their lives are so useless and the contribute nothing to society it is time to let them go to a Better Place.
9:22 is right this really is more humane their lives do look horrible and it would be better just to let them go to the arms of Jesus. And don't give that crap about giving to the poor, these people have been givin to over and over yet they continue to be poor, it is time to just let them go.
I don't think you will going to a better place with an attitude like that. Are you second guessing God?
11:00 why would you say that? If you see someone or something suffering it is a duty to stop its pain, this is really a very good idea. Put them out of their misery and let them go to Heaven.
Second guessing God would be intervening in his plan for them, he wants them home and is going to take them his way. This Virus could be his very plan to clean up our cities of these people and also to teach the survivors to pull together.
I can only hope it cleans you up and takes you to a better place, or at least another place. One of those homeless people could be Jesus testing you to see how you treat someone in need.
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