March 26
March 27
March 28
March 29
First weekly student lunch distribution
First WV COVID-19 death
lunch for about 100 at Trinity Episcopal Church on Willey every weekday. “They are still letting us operate out of the kitchen, but everything goes in to-go packaging. We don’t want people standing around together outside, so we’re handing out the food as soon as it’s ready. We have a table at the door where they can get their bagged food, whether cold or hot that day.” One group of people Morgantown Community Kitchen began feeding was the residents at the Bartlett House emergency shelter downtown. That facility began to shelter in place on March 16. “We are bringing in all of their meals, delivering medications if there are prescriptions that need to be picked up,” says Bartlett Housing Solutions Executive Director Keri DeMasi. “We’re delivering all of their personal care items and providing as much entertainment as you can during these times.” Anyone who leaves the property for other than a medical necessity, she says, can’t return, on recommendation of the state Department of Health and Human Resources and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Protection. Bartlett House isn’t full, she said in late March. There are homeless who don’t want shelter because of addiction, mental health, social anxiety, or other reasons. Those unsheltered homeless face exceedingly difficult conditions now because some of the places they rely on for bathrooms and hand-washing—places like the meals programs and Milan Puskar Health Right—are controlling entrance tightly. If the virus were to find its way to the unsheltered homeless population, many of whose health is compromised already, it could spread quickly and fatally. In recognition of that risk, a county homelessness task force that DeMasi serves on, along with representatives of local and state health care and homelessness organizations, is planning to make portable toilets and mobile hand washing stations available. It’s also considering the challenges of testing the unsheltered homeless for symptoms and providing quarantine and treatment for any who need it. While the social services organizations adapted quickly, they also have new needs to handle a surge of demand and new sanitation requirements: volunteers, cleaning supplies, protective gear, and, especially funding.
Time to Stock Up The sudden, and then lengthening disruption to normal economic activity has sent many to food banks, soup kitchens, and other social service organizations across the state. Consider making a donation toward the good works of one of these organizations, or to one near you. Facing Hunger Foodbank
1327 7th Avenue, Huntington facebook.com/facinghunger Mountaineer Food Bank
484 Enterprise Drive, Gassaway facebook.com/mountaineerfood Morgantown Community Kitchen 247 Willey Street, Morgantown facebook.com/morgantowncommunitykitchen Mountain Mission
1620 Seventh Avenue, Charleston facebook.com/mountainmissioninc Salvation Army of Buckhannon 21 North Spring Street, Buckhannon facebook.com/the-salvation-army-of-buckhannon-wv-112435340120008 Salvation Army of Martinsburg 111 Ellis Street, Martinsburg facebook.com/martinsburgsalvationarmy The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling 1610 Eoff Street, Wheeling facebook.com/the-soup-kitchen-of-greater-wheeling-inc-156150694415498/ West Virginia Rescue Ministries
107 Jefferson Street, Fairmont facebook.com/wvrescuemin
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