Volunteer Idalia Borquez hands out meals in Calexico's Border Friendship Park, April 21, 2020. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource)
In the first week of April, three weeks after a pandemic was declared and as dozens of COVID-19 cases were being reported in Imperial County, Jessica Solorio’s charity encountered 72 homeless residents.
Forty-one of them told her outreach team they had never heard of the virus.
“That just added to the already big demand of taking out food bags and clothing,” said Solorio, head of Spread the Love Charity in Brawley. “We had to also implement a plan on educating them on COVID.”
Why this matters
Before the coronavirus pandemic and the economic turmoil it has caused, Imperial County struggled with one of the state’s highest unemployment’s rates and a lack of lodging for its more than 1,400 homeless residents.
Solorio and other nonprofit leaders who serve some of the most vulnerable people in Imperial County say they’re seeing fewer volunteers and struggling with their own financial uncertainty because of the novel coronavirus — all while demand for their services remains high. Those problems now join those that already existed in the county of 181,000 people — high unemployment, no long-term homeless shelter for men and a homeless population that sharply grew in recent years.
The $528,000 the county was recently awarded in emergency state funding will help, with most of the money going to cover motel vouchers and isolation housing. But nonprofit officials say that won’t protect all of the region’s more than 1,400 homeless residents from COVID-19.
Maribel Padilla, co-founder of the Brown Bag Coalition in Calexico, says the region’s local government leaders aren’t doing enough.
A man walks away from a hand-washing station in Calexico’s Border Friendship Park, April 21, 2020. The portable stations are brought to the park every evening during the Brown Bag Coalition’s dinner handouts. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource)
While others in the state began a month ago moving the homeless into hotel rooms and other shelter options, Padilla said she fought the county just to get two mobile hand-washing stations for the park near the U.S.-Mexico border where her group serves daily meals to the poor.
She also wants an effort made to test the homeless for COVID-19.
County spokeswoman Linsey Dale told inewsource the Public Health Department isn’t conducting testing of any kind and is unaware of any coordinated testing effort for the homeless.
“The local hospitals and clinics are continuing to use the same prioritization and screening process for all individuals regardless of housing status,” Dale said.
Padilla said she’s trying to work with a local health care center to do tests at the park before her group serves meals.
While Padilla said her nonprofit still has sponsors covering the cost of food, fewer people are volunteering to help serve meals. But she said that won’t stop her from feeding Calexico’s homeless — “my people,” she calls them.
Carlos Hernandez, a 55-year-old Calexico native who became homeless after a family dispute four months ago, was one of more than 30 people at Border Friendship Park Tuesday night to get a meal from the Brown Bag Coalition.
“It’s been kind of hard because of everything happening,” Hernandez said. “Everything closed, everything. Thank God the people right here come and feed us, because it’s hard. Being homeless is hard.”
Imperial County has seen its homeless numbers spike in recent years, in part because of increased efforts to count the homeless at what’s known as Slab City, a former military base that’s now an off-the-grid community.
In 2017, the county’s homeless population increased 204%, jumping from 380 to 1,154. In 2018, the number grew to nearly 1,500 homeless residents, and last year it was 1,413.
Jesse Reyes sits in Calexico’s Border Friendship Park during the Brown Bag Coalition’s nightly dinner, April 21, 2020. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource)
One staggering number: All but about 200 of them are unsheltered.
Nonprofit leaders say because annual counts are done on a single day, it’s likely not all homeless residents are included.
Ken Wuytens, head of the United Way of Imperial County, said he doesn’t expect the homeless population to shrink when this year’s numbers are finalized. And the region’s economy will likely take years to fully recover from the pandemic, he said.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic,” Wuytens said. “I’m just trying to be realistic about what we’re facing. And I’m sure there will be agencies and businesses that don’t survive this.”
A rural area with a largely agriculture-driven economy, Imperial County “struggles with socioeconomic issues as a result of lack of job opportunities in higher paying industries and low educational achievement,” a 2019 economic report said.
In March, the county reported an unemployment rate of 20.5% — the second highest in California and far higher than the state’s 5.6% rate. For February, the county’s rate was 17%.
‘Nowhere for the homeless to go’
As of Thursday, the county had 232 COVID-19 cases out of nearly 1,400 tests. Eight residents have died, many of whom public health officials have described as older with underlying health conditions.
Since April 10, a local health order has required residents to wear face coverings when going to public places such as grocery stores. Solorio said the county’s homeless have limited options under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. There are two women’s shelters and one for men.
“There’s nowhere for the homeless to go,” Solorio said. “So it’s super difficult right now just to even educate them, get them clean, teach them sheltering in place when there’s nowhere for them to go or to get away from the pandemic.”
Bruno Suarez, a volunteer at Brown Bag Coalition, said the group has been trying to help the homeless with their hygiene.
Peter Sanchez, a Navy veteran from Calexico, cleans his hands with wipes handed out by the Brown Bag Coalition in Calexico’s Border Friendship Park, April 21, 2020. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource)
“With the whole pandemic going on, it’s really hard to get them the (personal protective equipment),” Suarez said, “or having a shower daily, wash your hands. That’s one of the challenges I’ve seen.”
Imperial County has been working with the state Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, Dale said, to obtain other money to help the homeless and the nonprofits that serve them.
About $476,000 of the state grant will go toward temporary housing, she said. The rest is expected to go for sanitation supplies and personal protective equipment for the homeless.
The county has moved more than 120 homeless people into motels, Dale said, and another 100 are on a waitlist. Because of the high demand, priority is being given to individuals who test positive for COVID-19, and those 65 and older or with pre-existing health conditions.
Solorio said her nonprofit has received help from the county during the pandemic. Under a contract the county Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday, the Spread the Love Charity also will get funding to buy three hand-washing stations and a four-stall mobile shower.
“They sent us an abundance of bottled water and hand sanitizer and bars of soap,” Solorio said. “So I know that the funding is going to be used for homelessness. But $500,000 is not going to go a long way — especially when it comes to motel rooms. That takes a huge chunk of money.”
She worries an outbreak will hit the county’s homeless population — particularly in Slab City. More than half of the county’s unsheltered residents stay there, according to a 2017 homeless report.
“If they get it out there, it’s going to be horrible,” Solorio said.
Nonprofits press on with fewer volunteers, donations
The Brown Bag Coalition has served dinner to as many as 65 people on recent nights. Padilla said the meals are continuing despite challenges brought by the pandemic.
Some of those who regularly helped serve meals have stopped volunteering. They fear exposing relatives to the coronavirus, she said. The group also quit serving hot food, opting to provide meals in bags and takeout containers to limit interactions and risks of contracting COVID-19.
Solorio said Spread the Love Charity, which has 1,500 clients, also has fewer volunteers because of the pandemic. Its budget has been hit, too.
A man pulls out a mask given to him by volunteers in Calexico’s Border Friendship Park, April 21, 2020. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource)
In March, she said, the group received 39% of its usual donation amount. So far in April, it’s only received 9%. Two of its biggest annual fundraising events weren’t held because of the pandemic.
“We’re struggling,” Solorio said. “When I say we’re struggling — we’re struggling.”
Nonprofits in the San Diego region have reported similar challenges. A survey done last month by the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego found that despite an increased demand for services, the majority of organizations have been forced to reduce or shut down programs.
The nonprofits said declines in donations, potential layoffs and delayed grant funding were ranked among their most urgent challenges.
Wuytens, who’s one of two staffers at the United Way of Imperial County, said eight of its 17 member agencies are closed or have reduced operations.
He’s been working with the Salvation Army on meal distribution during the pandemic, including transferring food that would have gone to the United Way’s annual Easter drive and applying for emergency funding to keep the meals coming.
He said his own organization relies on payroll deductions — and “obviously, if businesses are closed up, then we’re not getting payroll donations.” People’s favorite charities, he said, are facing tough times during the pandemic. “If they have the ability, now would be a great time to donate to their local or favorite charities,” Wuytens said.
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Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Gender Identity
Women
80%
Women
82%
Women
75%
Men
20%
Men
18%
Men
25%
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation
Straight
87%
Straight
82%
Straight
100%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
LGBTQ-identifying
7%
Not specified
7%
Not specified
7%
Speak a language beyond English at home
33%
Speak a language beyond English at home
18%
Speak a language beyond English at home
75%
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
Race/Ethnicity
White
67%
White
73%
White
50%
Hispanic or Latinx
20%
Two or more races
18%
Hispanic or Latinx
50%
Two or more races
13%
Hispanic or Latinx
9%
Age
Age
Age
20-29
40%
20-29
45%
20-29
25%
30-39
47%
30-39
45%
30-39
50%
60 or older
13%
60 or older
9%
60 or older
25%
* The percentages in the charts have been rounded and may not add up to 100.
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Lorie Hearn is the chief executive officer, editor and founder of inewsource. She founded inewsource in the summer of 2009, following a successful reporting and editing career in newspapers. She retired from The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she had been a reporter, Metro Editor and finally the senior editor for Metro and Watchdog Journalism. In addition to department oversight, Hearn personally managed a four-person watchdog team, composed of two data specialists and two investigative reporters. Hearn was a Nieman Foundation fellow at Harvard University in 1994-95. She focused on juvenile justice and drug control policy, a natural course to follow her years as a courts and legal affairs reporter at the San Diego Union and then the Union-Tribune.
Hearn became Metro Editor in 1999 and oversaw regional and city news coverage, which included the city of San Diego’s financial debacle and near bankruptcy. Reporters and editors on Metro during her tenure were part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stories that exposed Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham and led to his imprisonment.
Hearn began her journalism career as a reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times, a small daily outside of Philadelphia, shortly after graduating from the University of Delaware. During the decades following, she moved through countless beats at five newspapers on both coasts.
High-profile coverage included the historic state Supreme Court election in 1986, when three sitting justices were ousted from the bench, and the 1992 execution of Robert Alton Harris. That gas chamber execution was the first time the death penalty was carried out in California in 25 years.
In her nine years as Metro Editor at the Union-Tribune, Hearn made watchdog reporting a priority. Her reporters produced award-winning investigations covering large and small local governments. The depth and breadth of their public service work was most evident in coverage of the wildfires of 2003 and then 2007, when more than half a million people were evacuated from their homes.
Laura Wingard is the managing editor at inewsource. She has been an editor in San Diego since 2002, working at The San Diego Union-Tribune, KPBS and now inewsource. At the Union-Tribune, she served in a variety of roles including as enterprise editor, government editor, public safety and legal affairs editor, and metro editor. She directed the newspaper’s award-winning coverage of the October 2007 wildfires and the 2010 disappearance of Poway teenager Chelsea King. She also oversaw reporting on San Diego’s pension crisis.
For two years, Wingard was news and digital editor at KPBS, overseeing a team of four multimedia reporters and two web producers. She also was the KPBS liaison with inewsource and collaborated with inewsource chief executive officer and editor Lorie Hearn on investigative work by both news organizations.
Wingard also worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the city editor and as an award-winning reporter covering the environment and politics. She also was the assistant managing editor for metro at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. She earned her bachelor’s degree at California State University, Fullerton, with a double major in communications/journalism and political science.
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In 2017, Racino was selected by the Institute for Nonprofit News as one of 10 “Emerging Leaders” in U.S. nonprofit journalism.
Racino has worked as a reporter and database analyst for News21; as a photographer, videographer and reporter for the Columbia Missourian; as a project coordinator for the National Freedom of Information Coalition and as a videographer and editor for Verizon Fios1 TV in New York. He received his master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2012.
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Jennifer Bowman is an investigative reporter at inewsource, covering mostly education. She’s happy to be back in her hometown after stints at daily newspapers in Michigan and North Carolina.
At the Asheville Citizen Times, Jennifer’s award-winning coverage of yearslong corruption helped...
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Zoë Meyers is a photo and video journalist at inewsource. Zoë loves working as a visual journalist because it gives her the privilege of witnessing moments in people's personal lives and in our community that can enhance our understanding of important stories. When she's not behind the camera,...
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