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Officials Lobby State To Open COVID-19 Site For Homeless In Western Massachusetts

Christina "Smiles" Remmes is a Northampton, Massachusetts, resident experiencing homelessness.
Carol Lollis
/
Daily Hampshire Gazette / gazettenet.com
Christina "Smiles" Remmes is a Northampton, Massachusetts, resident experiencing homelessness.

When someone gets diagnosed with COVID-19, they must separate from others — maybe hole up in a room, or the basement — in order to not spread the virus to others. But for folks without homes in western Massachusetts, that's nothing like what they may have to go through this winter.

Reporter Greta Jochem, along with Scott Merzbach, has been covering this story for the Daily Hampshire Gazette

Jochem said city and town leaders in the region are "sounding the alarm" about a looming inequity.

Greta Jochem, Daily Hampshire Gazette: Currently the only isolation and quarantine site for people experiencing homelessness, if they test positive ... is in Everett, which is outside of Boston — a pretty long trek for anyone in western Mass. And so that seems to be the only option, at least from what the state is offering for those people right now.

So the mayor of Northampton and Springfield and Holyoke, and a number of other city and town leaders, are trying to push the state to reopen an isolation and quarantine hotel, perhaps in Northampton. The mayor said he'd be happy for it to be anywhere in the western part of the state.

Carrie Healy, NEPM: There have been quarantine sites in western Mass. previously during this pandemic, right?

Yeah, there was one at the Quality Inn in Northampton, right off [Interstate] 91. It was there, I think, until maybe the end of the summer or so, and then it stopped being an isolation and quarantine site. So I think they're hoping for it perhaps to be in that building again.

As things get more complicated, with folks trying to move into shelters to just stay warm — and not having a space and being turned away.

Yeah, absolutely. In Northampton specifically, there's two shelters and they're both open, but at half-capacity. So they're looking for more space to accommodate more people. They usually increase their capacity during the winter when it gets cold. But they haven't announced their plan or where that space will be yet. They're working on it.

Last year they were able to have that space in the high school, in Northampton High School, because school wasn't in session. But there are people in the school now, so that's not an option.

So what are the barriers to simply relocating something back into western Massachusetts for these people if they get sick?

I'm not really sure exactly what the barriers are in terms of the state perspective or why they haven't done it. But the town manager in Amherst seemed to think that the site may have not gotten a lot of use in Northampton when it was open. So it's perhaps a financial consideration, but I'm not totally sure.

You talked to a homeless person in Northampton, Christina "Smiles" Remmes, who said, "You don't displace an already displaced person." How does she see this situation?

Yeah, so she actually she didn't know that if she or one of the other people in her community tested positive, they'd have to have to go to go to Everett — if they didn't have some other option here, like a friend or family member or something that would be willing to take them in.

She didn't actually know that, but she said generally she would never be interested in really leaving Northampton or going far to go find any kind of shelter. I think she sees Northampton as her home and her community. So going to Everett would be extremely far and out of the question.

So the coalition of leadership across western Massachusetts signed onto this letter that was sent on to the state advocating for a facility or facilities in western Massachusetts. What will be known and when do we expect to hear back if there's going to be some movement on moving that facility closer by?

That's a really good question. I don't know the answer to that. I hope that the Health and Human Services Department of the state will get back to me, but I'm not totally sure. I know that all the city and town leaders hope that it's soon, especially going into the colder months, and what is a rise in COVID-19 in the state and across the country.

Carrie Healy hosts the local broadcast of "Morning Edition" at NEPM. She also hosts the station’s weekly government and politics segment “Beacon Hill In 5” for broadcast radio and podcast syndication.