Starting this week, Alliance staff and other experts will be discussing various tools, guidance, and strategies relating to how providers and homelessness system leaders can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Please use #COVIDwebinar during the webinars if joining the conversation on Twitter. View descriptions and register for webinars at the links below: 

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Understanding & Planning for Federal Funding
Wednesday, April 1 – 3:00 pm ET
Steve Berg (Vice President for Programs and Policy)
Kristi Schulenberg (Director, Center for Capacity Building)
  This webinar will provide an overview of the federal stimulus funding to address the novel corona virus pandemic among people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The webinar will also provide a framework for how communities and homeless system leaders can plan and strategize to ensure efficient and effective implementation of local, state, and federal funds to achieve maximum benefit to reduce infection, negative health outcomes, and homelessness.

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Protocols for Addressing Sheltered and Unsheltered Homelessness
Thursday, April 2 – 3:30 pm ET
Cynthia Nagendra, Executive Director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
Margot Kushel, MD, Director, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations
Vivian Wan, Abode Services, San Francisco

Homeless system providers and health systems are developing local COVID-19 approaches for people experiencing homelessness that are consistent with emerging guidance from the CDC, and informed by the experience of people on the ground working hard to keep clients and staff as safe as possible.

This webinar will present the guidance developed by the State of California with the University of California San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, and protocols being used by Abode Services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Guidance and protocols will include suggestions for shelter and emergency housing providers, outreach workers, and coordinating public health systems for how to reduce risk for the most vulnerable in unsheltered and congregate settings.

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Serving and Supporting Unsheltered People During COVID-19
Tuesday, April 7, 2020 – 3:00-4:00pm ET
Iain De Jong, OrgCode Consulting, Inc

This webinar will be facilitated by Iain De Jong of OrgCode Consulting, Inc. and will examine the following: a rationale for why and under which conditions street outreach should continue at this time; examining and re-configuring the workflow for responding to unsheltered homelessness; engagement precautions and considerations; supporting and responding to encampments; prioritizing who to see; harm reduction considerations; responding to food insecurity; and protocols for encountering ill or deceased unsheltered persons.

This webinar will be a reprise of the webinar Iain De Jong provided for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, with some slight modifications.

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Working with FEMA to Address Homelessness During the Pandemic
Thursday, April 9, 2020 – 3:00-4:00pm ET
Partner webinar with the National Low Income Housing Coalition

The Alliance is partnering with speakers from the National Low Income Housing Coalition to provide a webinar on working with FEMA to address homelessness during the coronavirus pandemic. 

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Supporting People Remotely in Housing Programs During COVID-19
Thursday, April 16 – 3:00 – 3:30 pm ET
Iain DeJong, OrgCode Consulting, Inc. 

This webinar will be facilitated by Iain De Jong of OrgCode Consulting, Inc. and will highlight a number of considerations for staff that work in Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) and Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) programs to support people remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.

Topics to be covered in the webinar include: staff wellness; communicating with program participants; considerations for prioritizing time and who to serve; staying connected; supporting financial matters; supporting harm reduction; addressing food security; changing support plans; assisting with crisis planning; and supporting landlords. This webinar is a condensed version of the original 90-minute webinar topic provided by OrgCode on March 31.

COVID-19 Resource Highlights

Fact Sheet: 
Population At-Risk – Homelessness and the COVID-19 Crisis

Report:
Estimated Emergency and Observational/Quarantine Bed Need for the US Homeless Population Related to COVID-19 Exposure by County; Projected Hospitalizations, Intensive Care Units and Mortality

Resources:
Coronavirus and Homelessness

Homelessness & COVID-19: Considerations and Action Steps

Community Survey: Protecting People Experiencing Homelessness from COVID-19

Using Medicaid Waivers to Improve Access to Care for People Experiencing Homelessness During COVID-19