Redwood Motor Inn used for self-isolation

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This article was published 04/04/2020 (2108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Redwood Motor Inn is being used to help some of the city’s most vulnerable people self-isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corp. executive director Carly Gasparini said motel rooms are being rented for the city’s homeless population who are chronically ill and over the age of 65. People in those categories are most vulnerable to the coronavirus but can’t isolate or social distance themselves from other people in their own house.

The rooms are also being used to isolate homeless people who are showing symptoms of the virus or who have been tested. Outside of Samaritan House Ministries’ Safe and Warm Shelter, where it is harder to avoid interacting with other people, there isn’t anywhere for people to shelter.

“(Isolating) is particularly hard on a population that is used to being very social with each other, their support network is each other so it’s very hard to self-isolate in that environment, so we’re trying to be as supportive as we can,” she said.

Money to rent the rooms comes from the federal government’s Reaching Home program, which also provided funding to Samaritan House.

Gasparini said they are also trying to provide things to do during the day for people who are staying in the rooms so they don’t leave to go other places — potentially infecting other people. Meals are brought from Helping Hands at lunchtime and again from Samaritan House for dinner.

“The weather is what the weather is, and the means they might have to walk around a grocery store, even libraries are closed at this point so we’re doing our part to keep them out of those spaces, keep those spaces safe and provide a safe place to self-isolate,” she said.

The Redwood Motor Inn isn’t a replacement for a typical homeless shelter, only a place to help people isolate during the pandemic. She said creating the space for people to isolate if they are sick also makes other social services safer.

The BNRC doesn’t have a timeline for how long the rooms may need to be rented. Gasparini said it depends on how long the pandemic lasts.

The number of people staying in the rooms also fluctuates. Only two people stayed in the rooms on the first night earlier this week, but on Thursday night 17 people self-isolated there.

Homeless people who need to self-isolate are identified in two ways, she said. The BNRC has a list of people in the community who might be vulnerable, but workers at Samaritan House and other social services are also identifying people.

The Redwood Motor Inn was chosen as it is close to downtown and close to the services people might already be accessing, Gasparini said.

“Brandon’s homeless-serving sector never ceases to amaze me, the way that they can come together and co-ordinate their efforts and very quickly.”

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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