RSI COVID-19 Shelter in Erie County, NY

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

COVID-19 hit the Erie County community quickly, and its impact on people experiencing homelessness was very sudden and negative. Social distancing requirements created a sudden loss of beds in the emergency shelter system during a time when having a place to stay, and stay away from others was of paramount important. The County, with the City of Buffalo, the Western New York Coalition for the Homeless, and Restoration Society, partnered to create a pandemic-appropriate emergency shelter on very short notice and without prior experience or precedent. In addition to creating a large-scale operation that would prevent the spread of COVID, the operations were oriented towards quicklyhousing people such that they could stay safe.