As one of our case managers, Ellen’s first step was to find the best short-term solution for Bob and help him meet his most immediate needs: housing and food. Ellen found him a bed in one of the city’s homeless shelters and started exploring longer-term options. 

But, what happens when services are changed, reduced or halted because of a worldwide pandemic? 

Paul’s Place keeps going

In addition to being unemployed and homeless, Bob had been dealing with a host of health issues.

He quickly found himself in the hospital and unaware that his current shelter needed to relocate all its the male residents due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Not only did Bob not know of the change, but he wasn’t able to connect with the shelter to find out where to go or if he still had a bed reserved. Upon his release from the hospital, he didn’t know what options he had, if any. 

He did know he could call Ellen.

Ellen reached out to the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services (MOHS) to try to find Bob a new place to live and sleep. While they were able to secure a spot for him at a shelter, the curfew was fast approaching. If he didn’t get there on time, he would lose the bed. With no means to pay for public transportation and the potential for a two-hour walk, Ellen quickly called a Lyft and Paul’s Place paid for transportation needed to get Bob to the shelter before curfew. He reached the shelter on time.

Bob reached out to the person and the place he knew would do whatever was necessary to make sure he had a place to rest his head before, during and after the pandemic.

Bob is just one of many guests who need help from Paul’s Place now and after the pandemic. Please consider a gift to allow Paul’s Place to continue serving these many guests, connecting them to needed resources, and doing whatever is necessary to ensure their needs are met.