The Struggles

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The Issues

During COVID-19

COVID-19 has had such a large global impact. It has made people loose jobs, have financial issues, and health/safety issues. It has made it harder for people who were already struggling to get the help the need.

The Homeless

The pandemic has hurt the homeless comminuty on a large scale. More and more people are needing to take shelter at the Micah House and MOHMS place. COVID has created a much larger need for the food pantries. Because of the many restrictions put into place to keep people safe, it has gotten harder for people in Council Bluffs to get the relief that they need.

The Solutions

Like all programs during the pandemic, the shelters and organizations have had to find ways to work around restrictions. The Micah House has dealt with the situation a couple different ways. For example, they have completely stopped having volunteers. They have also been forced to limit the number of people they help at the shelter. The beds in both the Micah House and MOHMS Place are becoming full and a large number of people have had to use the overflow area.
The shelters have had to make precautions for people who get COVID, but still need a place to stay. The Micah House has four beds in the woman's shelter reserved for anyone who needs to quarentine. Even though they are keeping their doors open for people who need help, they have limited the number people allowed in the shelter to help with social distancing.

Both MOHMS Place and the Micah House have had to follow the mask mandates. Everyone who is walking around and in the conference room must have a mask on. They have also staggered the meal times during the day. The Micah House has even given sections of the staff COVID vaccines. To even further protect people from exposure, MOHMS place has limited the number of people staying overnight in the shelter. Before COVID, the shelter housed 150 people and now they have decreased that number to 90 people.
To keep the people at MOHMS Place safe, they screen people before entering the shelter for COVID symptoms. If anyone does have symptoms, the shelter sends them somewhere they can quarentine. MOHMS Place works closely with the All Care Health Center- The Test Iowa Site- to make sure everyone in the shelter is staying safe and healthy.
To further prevent overcrowding and exposure to COVID, the shelter have been working even harder to keep people in housing. They have been trying to find more ways to avoid eviction. MOHMS Place is getting a large amount of help from the CARES Act and The Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless.

The Struggles

The Issues

During COVID-19

The Homeless

The Shelter Workers

The Solutions