Homeless in St. Pete in the midst of the pandemic

Toward the end of February 2020, Karen Kirkpatrick was evicted from her low-income apartment in St. Petersburg. For about nine months, Karen was homeless.

A few weeks before Pinellas County issued a safer-at-home order, Karen sought refuge at homeless shelters. As the coronavirus infection rate started to rise, shelters were no longer an option.

To help prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus among members of the homeless population, the Cares Act included a $4 billion Emergency Solutions Grant for Homelessness Assistance.

Communities with the greatest need could use the grant to help with rapid rehousing and rental deposit assistance.

"Maybe I didn't meet the criteria, or perhaps they were quarantining after staying closed for so many months and only slowly, letting people in," Karen explained. "The bottom line is, I couldn't get in."

Homeless families with children are usually the first to receive help from local and federal grants, followed by homeless military veterans.

"The homeless individual, male and female, are the last of the homeless population for funding," said Michael Raposa, CEO of St. Vincent de Paul South Pinellas.

"They are the last ones to be served," Raposa said. "There's just no denying that. And the sad thing is the amount of money that is present and among us right now is not enough to scratch the surface. We need more."

Full story on 10 Tampa Bay: https://tinyurl.com/y9fpm7se

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