Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) members Julia Kohler and Rachel Larson spent the last year volunteering at Health Care for the Homeless as part of our Engagement and Communications Departments respectively. As they wrap up their time in Baltimore, including five months teleworking from the LVC house in Hampden, we asked them to reflect on the service year.
What happens after testing?
05.20.20
Since the first days of our COVID-19 response, many of you have asked, “Where can people who have no home go to safely quarantine or self-isolate?”
Universal testing in city shelters moves forward with 400 newly available isolation rooms
Last week, the 400-room Lord Baltimore Hotel became Baltimore City’s new Triage, Respite and Isolation (TRI) center. It's a place where immigrants, people experiencing homelessness, front-line workers and others who cannot self-isolate can now safely quarantine.
This new capacity for isolation opens the door for the widespread testing at shelters needed to slow the spread.
- On Friday, our staff joined the Johns Hopkins field unit and the Baltimore City Health Department to test 130 residents of the Greenspring shelter (at the former KIPP Academy).
"The process can be stressful, and the testing can feel intrusive—especially for people with traumatic experiences related to homelessness. We're there so people feel seen, heard and connected as they get through this challenge."
Deirdre Hoey, Behavioral Health Therapist
What happens after testing?
Our care doesn't stop. Once shelter residents are isolated at a hotel:
- We continue to coordinate closely with University of Maryland and the Baltimore City Health Department who are providing on-site medical care.
- Our doctors, therapists and case managers conduct telehealth visits by phone for clients and anyone experiencing homelessness.
- We launched a new 24/7 support line for clients who are feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed by COVID.
Our medical respite staff, including a community health worker, nurses, medical provider and therapist, are on-site to meet the needs of especially vulnerable clients as they recover from hospital stays.
We're in this together
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For more updates and a comprehensive look at our agency response to this public health crisis, visit our COVID-19 page.
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