With COVID cases on the rise, hospital beds aren’t the only ones filling up. Homeless shelters in Dallas County are trying to house an increasing number of people in need with a dwindling number of resources.
"With COVID, especially with the numbers going up, the number of beds in every homeless shelter has been significantly reduced," says Pastor Wayne Walker, Executive Director at Our Calling in Dallas. "I believe right now we only have 1,457 beds in the entire county."
Walker says the nonprofit has been sending out more and more COVID rapid tests to homeless shelters across the county. Rapid testing is one safety measure some shelters are choosing to implement to slow the spread of the Delta variant. Like at Austin Street Center, where COVID safety protocols haven't loosened much in the past couple of months.
"We work very closely with the Dallas County Health Commission," says Teresa Thomas, with Austin Street Center. "They come here and it's a two way discussion about what's going on in the community and what's best for our population. Whatever we're asked to do to protect our clients, we're going to try to implement."
The shelter has also sliced its capacity nearly in half and requires masks.
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