This West Oakland organization is helping the homeless community during the coronavirus pandemic
“This is a survival program,” says Delency Parham, cofounder of PBO. “When you are dealing with black folks, elderly black folks, black LBGTQ folks, black disabled people, a generally marginalized demographic … If they were already forgotten about before, this pandemic is not going to do anything but exacerbate things.”
PBO decided to step up its efforts in response to what staff were hearing from the homeless community. “The shelters in the area, their hours have been reduced and we’re not sure if they’re able to serve everybody,” says Yemi Belachew, one of the core 10 who help handle logistics for PBO. “We heard from folks that they hadn’t had access to food for a couple days. That was a call to action to us… that was what made us want to step it up.
Dr. Margot Kushel, a professor and director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, said shelters and food programs have become difficult to operate during this time for various reasons. “These programs operate on a shoestring budget and have to deal with challenges like the volunteer base drying up, funding being cut short, workers unable to come to work,” Kushel says. “Shelters are trying to enact social distancing too, so that has also made it hard for them to take new people in.
To ensure safe practices, PBO partnered with Freedom Clinic, a group of medical professionals based in San Francisco, to get advice on how to continue its work safely. The advice they received included reducing its staff to the bare minimum, giving away pre-packaged food, wearing masks and gloves when preparing and giving out the food, and self-quarantining.
PBO has also created a guide on how to prepare and distribute meals for the homeless community in other cities: has been operating with donations from individuals. It’s a pretty frugal group, spending $325 on 100 “COVID” meals — which are mostly pre-packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, oranges and granola bars — and $350 for 100 hygiene packs. The group is looking for more
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