Las Vegas shelters need water, hand sanitizer, hygiene products

As the economic repercussions from the coronavirus outbreak ripple through the Las Vegas Valley, nonprofits and social services are seeing a decline in donations amid a growing demand for services.

For example, the Salvation Army on West Owens Avenue had no bottled water and was waiting on orders of hand sanitizer and other hygiene products late this week, said Juan Salinas, the nonprofit’s director of social services.

“Donations have slowed down, and there’s no water at all. We have the water fountain,” Salinas said. “We’re just doing what we can … and we’re taking extra measures to disinfect.”

The Shade Tree women’s domestic violence shelter launched a “Love Us From a Distance” campaign Thursday to encourage the community to continue donating.

“Because our programs and services heavily rely on the monetary donations and donations of basic items, we want to remind the community that we’re here and that every dollar helps us to help the women, children and pets who turn to us in their greatest time of need,” CEO Linda Perez said.

“Gov. Steve Sisolak has asked everyone to ‘Stay Home for Nevada,’ and for our clients, The Shade Tree is their home,” Perez said. “For our clients who are experiencing homelessness, often complicated with the ravages of domestic violence, the global pandemic is yet another stressor that makes their lives even more chaotic and uncertain.”

The most-needed items at The Shade Tree are hygiene products, including wipes and hand sanitizer, paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, gloves, feminine hygiene products, sheets and canned and boxed foods.

96 at shelter

Perez said that 96 women and children are currently in the shelter. Anyone who is set to exit the program will be allowed to stay during the ongoing outbreak. The nonprofit also started temperature checks and has trailers available to isolate any residents who show symptoms.

To mitigate the spread of the virus, the shelter is also accepting only at-risk women with children, domestic violence victims, human trafficking victims and those referred by police or other nonprofits.

Deacon Tom Roberts, CEO of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, told the Review-Journal that its men’s shelter was buying sanitation supplies and water in bulk, but financial donations are most needed to provide flexibility in serving the growing demand.

The shelter sleeps more than 500 men a night and the nonprofit’s food pantry is seeing around 40 new families each day, with more than 5,00 relying on the pantry and serving 2,1000 homebound seniors through Meals On Wheels. Roberts said that nearly 700 people received a hot meal in a to-go container Friday, which is more than on the average day.

“More people are struggling, we know that than ever so we continue to operate as creatively and sustainably as we can … we are the first responders for the people that we serve,” Roberts said.

“The big need frankly is donations, because we will get to a point eventually where wer’re not going to be able to service all the demand.”

The shelter is working with the city of Las Vegas on a new safety protocol for clients who may show symptoms of COVID-19, as well as creating contingency plans for scaling back operations if the outbreak gets bad enough.

A Catholic Charities employee has tested positive for the virus, and other employees have been placed on self-quarantine, the nonprofit said Wednesday. The Southern Nevada Health District has not recommended closing the shelter, according to the nonprofit.

Clean hands, outside dining

Roberts said he wants to mitigate the chance of spreading the virus. To accomplish that, the shelter is increasing the availability of hand sanitizer on the property, simplifying meals and using paper plates and disposable instruments. Guests are also now eating outside the dining hall to create social distancing. Those at the pantry are picking up pre-packaged boxes of food. Volunteers will not have contact with guests at the shelter for the time being, and other clients are connecting with their counselors digitally.

The homeless, many of whom have pre-existing medical conditions that place them at higher risk from what is usually a relatively mild illness, are among the most vulnerable populations. Lack of access to hand-washing and the cramped living spaces in shelters and on the streets add to that peril.

At a meeting last week, Dr. Chad Kingsley, the regional trauma coordinator at the health district, said a plan to protect the homeless would be drafted by next week.

Despite coronavirus concerns among the homeless, the shelters remain full most nights.

According to the city’s website, most of the county’s 2,000 emergency shelter beds were full this week.

Friday night, there were only 11 sleeping mats available at the city of Las Vegas’ Courtyard Homeless Resource Center on Foremaster Lane, which can sleep around 400. The city has said it has increased sanitation procedures there.

City spokesman Jace Radke said that the center was continuing with frequent cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, making hand-washing stations available and providing alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

The center is also implementing social distancing to comply with the 6-foot recommendation provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It expects to begin taking guests’ temperatures as they enter the facility soon.

“This is obviously a fluid situation that keeps changing,” Radke said.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.