GREENSBORO, Ga. — Shelter is available for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus; that’s our elderly and homeless population.
The Interactive Resource Center has partnered with the city of Greensboro to provide additional shelter for the homeless.
Staff and volunteers with the emergency shelter spent Thursday at their warehouse to load cots to take to the Greensboro Sports Complex.
The 100,000 square foot facility is where the homeless will take shelter in a way that follows CDC guidelines and helps prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“The IRC is about 10 thousand square feet so it doesn’t give us a lot of room to practice social distancing and provide voluntary shelter,” said Michelle Kennedy, Interactive Resource Center executive director.
There is a separate plan for those over the age of 60.
“We started placing people experiencing homelessness who are over the age of 60 into hotels,” Kennedy said. “We know that’s a particularly vulnerable population, so we have that process running now.”
The 24-hour voluntary shelter opens Friday at 8:00 a.m.
“It’s important to note that folks that are in a tent encampment should stay in a tent encampment,” Kennedy said. “It's for folks who are living outside, but don’t have any means of cover.”
The medical clinic will be on site and each person that enters the shelter will be screened for coronavirus symptoms.
“We also recognize that over the coming weeks there may be people who are newly homeless as the situation goes on and we need a central point of intake for those folks,” Kennedy said. “The sports plex allows us to do those things."
The shelter is set to run for 60 days, staff will assess as the situation evolves.
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