For more than a year, half of the 66 homeless residents at Stepping Stone Emergency Housing lived at the shelter. The other half stayed in a hotel to allow for social distancing during the pandemic. Executive Director Julie Jeppson says that arrangement along with masking and extra cleaning worked well.
“We had zero cases of COVID for residents here in the shelter from April of 2020 to August of 2021. So it was a great solution to social distancing, cleanliness, mask wearing and encouraging vaccine. But then in August of ’21 that shifted, said Jeppson.”
Jeppson says it was not sustainable. In August, everyone moved back to the shelter in Anoka. But that move proved to be too many people in too small of a space.
“When they came back from the hotel, we had to increase from four people to a bedroom to eight people again. So having that many people in that small a space was a hot-bed for COVID, the Delta variant, Jeppson said.”
They experienced a COVID outbreak that hit 40 percent of the residents and several staff members. So now the Stepping Stone Emergency Shelter is currently empty. All residents have been moved back to a hotel.
“We just moved everyone out of the shelter, out of the congregate settings into the hotel rooms to stop the spread so that individuals could be quarantined, taken care of.”
Staffers still make and deliver meals to residents at the hotel. Jeppson says it’s the best short term solution. But a $385,000 grant from the state will only cover hotel expenses for two more months. She says the shelter needs to buy some time to come up with a longer term plan.
“We are asking for financial help from the community, from anybody interested in helping us right now. Just to allow us to extend that time at the hotel so that we can come up with and develop that long term solution for our residents. ”
Long term options for additional space include finding a vacant building or even buying a hotel.
“With so many things going on right now the homeless problem is only getting worse.” said Jeppson.
Jeppson says this has been extremely stressful to navigate and is the biggest challenge she’s faced since she started. Stepping Stone is reaching out to church groups, businesses, and civic groups to help out.
You can donate online at: www.steppingstoneeh.org/donate, or by sending a check to Stepping Stone Emergency Housing, 3300 4th Ave N., Anoka, Minnesota 55303
