As Kansas City prepares for a shelter-at-home order to take effect Tuesday morning, a community crisis is developing in the area’s growing homeless population. Shelter residents are terrified, knowing many are already weak in health and shelters are overwhelmed and unable to provide the space for safe social distancing to protect them.

“There are tens of thousands of people experiencing homelessness, said Tara Raghuveer, director of  KC Tenants in a report by The Kansas City Star. “And they cannot follow the guidance to stay home right now. I don’t think anyone is acting fast enough to protect them.”

Other cities have opened hotels to help separate and shelter homeless residents. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city is rushing to look for ways to help the situation.

“There is nothing that scares me more than if we have high instances of community spread among our homeless or low-income populations,” Lucas said in a Facebook Live session Sunday.

Moratorium on evictions critical to prevent more homeless

Many jurisdictions have stepped forward to enact moratoriums on evictions, including the Jackson County Court in Missouri and a statewide moratorium issued by Governor Laura Kelly in Kansas. Advocates are calling on Missouri Governor Mike Parson to do the same.

“This crisis demonstrates, more clearly than any recent moment, why we cannot continue to treat housing as a commodity,” advocate Jenay Manley told KCUR.

“General guidance these days is to stay home. Tenants can’t stay home if we don’t have a safe home, if we don’t have a clean home and we don’t have a healthy home,” she said.