one green planet
one green planet

The pandemic we are facing puts everyone’s life in danger, but some people are much more at risk than others. For instance, something as simple as “staying home” and “sheltering in place,” which many are tired of and complain about is actually a privilege. There are people who cannot stay home. Essential workers must still report to work and on the other end of the spectrum, there are people who do not even have a place to call home.

Shirley Raines, founder of Beauty 2 the Streetz who generously donated hand sanitizer and other essential supplies to the homeless people of Skid Row says: “Social distance is a luxury that the homeless can’t afford.”

There are already reports of homeless shelter residents testing positive for COVID-19. People who live in these shelters are already either unemployed or not making sufficient income to afford a place to live, which means they have little to no access to healthcare since it is tied to employment in this country.

There are cities who are taking action to protect the homeless populations from this pandemic. For instance, San Diego’s Convention Center opened its doors to the homeless community, and the city has been placing higher risk homeless individuals, or those exhibiting symptoms, in hotel and motel rooms paid for by the county. San Francisco also announced that the city is entering into contracts with hotels in order to temporarily use them for homeless individuals.

But Las Vegas, a popular city for tourism with an abundance of hotels and empty places like casinos is handling this in a disgraceful way. In response to people testing positive, they shut down a 500-person shelter. Instead of finding a place for them to stay, they painted lines six feet apart on the cold concrete of a parking lot for the homeless people to sleep.

This is a terrible way to treat the most vulnerable during this difficult time. Sign this petition to demand states fund emergency housing for homeless people during this crisis!

Please sign these other petitions to help other people during the pandemic:

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