Imperial County Will Increase COVID-19 Testing With State’s Help
Speaker 1: 00:00 They are the most vulnerable people in one of America's most vulnerable counties. The Corona virus pandemic has made life far more precarious for the homeless in Imperial County. A glimmer of good news. The state will start testing about 130 people there daily after rural Imperial County was declared a testing desert amid the pandemic. Joining me to discuss the homeless situation in Imperial County is Jennifer Bowman, an investigative reporter with KPBS news partner. I knew source. Jennifer, welcome to midday edition. Speaker 2: 00:31 Thanks for having me. Speaker 1: 00:32 Now in contrast to San Diego County, our neighbor to the East as long struggled financially even before the U S economy plunged, Piero County has been known recently for having one of the worst unemployment rates anywhere, right? Speaker 2: 00:45 That's right. The County reported a 20.5% unemployment rate last month, which has compared to about 16% a year prior. That's far higher than what you see. A niche nationwide and statewide. In California that rate is less than 6% so double digit unemployment is the norm for Imperial County. Speaker 1: 01:06 And what are some of the reasons for that? Speaker 2: 01:08 Well, it's, it's largely rural and its largest economy is agriculture. So you see a lot of seasonal jobs driven by the agriculture industry. Um, but, but there's also, um, uh, other issues that affect the County, one being just a lack of well paying jobs. Um, and, and it also has a low educational achievement, um, less than 15% of its residents have received a bachelor's degree. So that's part of what drives some of their socioeconomic issues. Speaker 1: 01:37 And what are the numbers show regarding the surge among Imperial counties? Homeless population? Speaker 2: 01:43 Yeah, that number saw a huge spike in recent years. And in 2017, they reported about 1100 homeless residents and that's compared to the year prior being less, fewer than 400. Um, and that number has remained pretty high ever since. Uh, last year the number was about 1400. I, I spoke with a nonprofit leader, uh, this month. Um, and when he expects that number not to go down when they see the latest numbers released. Speaker 1: 02:10 Now explain some of the challenges facing those, trying to help the homeless and Imperial County. Speaker 2: 02:14 One of those issues is just lack of shelters. There's two women's shelters in the County and one men's shelter. Um, and among the homeless population, almost all of them are unsheltered, only about 200 are sheltered, meaning they're in emergency or transitional housing. So, um, that's one issue that existed even before the pandemic. What nonprofit leaders tell me those, that, that they have encountered homeless residents who were unaware of the pandemic and, and they're juggling that with, um, other issues like lack of personal protective equipment, trying to, um, help with hygiene for homeless residents. All while the nonprofits have seen their own donations shrink. I spoke with spread the love charity, uh, which operates out of Brawley but serves homeless county-wide. She said that they're only seeing about 9% of the donations. They usually receive an April. Combine that with them seeing fewer volunteers. Many of these small nonprofits, they don't have a paid staff. They rely on people to volunteer their time with, with the concerns of the pandemic. Um, fewer people are showing up to volunteer, um, and to help in person. Speaker 1: 03:23 And what are the numbers show regarding the spread of Corona virus in Imperial County? Overall, Speaker 2: 03:28 it's, it's a much smaller County, so naturally they're, they're smaller numbers than what we're seeing here in San Diego. Um, there are about 180,000 residents in Imperial County. Um, and, and just late last week, the County has reported, um, w fewer than 300 cases and eight deaths and about 1500 residents who have been tested. Speaker 1: 03:48 Now is the state providing funds to help the Imperial County? Speaker 2: 03:51 They are, the, the County has seen, um, about, uh, $528,000 awarded, although they have not yet received it, but that's part of a a hundred million dollar package. The state doled out to all 58 counties. Um, the biggest cities along with these continuum of care councils that work with the counties, um, the County plans and Imperial County, they plan to use their money mostly on motel vouchers. Um, their, their priority after hearing from nonprofit leaders is the biggest priority is, is getting shelter for these folks and all, but almost 400,000 is going to be used toward that. Um, but we do see big numbers in San Diego County for example. Um, we've seen $7 million awarded in that emergency Homeland, that homelessness funding that the state gave out. Speaker 1: 04:41 And you interviewed several advocates who work with the homeless and Imperial County. Tell us what they're seeing, explain their views on how dire the situation is on the ground there near the Mexico border. Speaker 2: 04:51 Yeah, I spread the love again, gave me a pretty striking uh, statistic. Um, in the first week of April, their outreach team went out and in one day, uh, communicated with 72 homeless individuals. Um, 41 of those individuals told the outreach team they had never heard of the pandemic. And this is the first month of April. So three weeks after the pandemic has been declared as dozens of cases in Imperial County are being reported. And in fact, the first Corona virus related death in Imperial County was reported that week. And so that they say just adds on to all these challenges already a big demand for services as they deal with high unemployment, high poverty and Imperial County Speaker 1: 05:35 and the homeless themselves. What did they tell you in some interviews? Speaker 2: 05:38 Well, our, our photographer Zoe Meyers went to Calexico to a daily dinner in, collects at the, uh, border park in Calexico. The Brown bag coalition has done a dinner there for five years every night, and she says that these were some of the most vulnerable residents you see in Imperial County. Um, one of them spoke with her and said, thank God the Brown bag coalition does these dinners. He had been homeless for just four months. Um, so it's an interesting time to coincide with the pandemic. Well, it's a such a tough situation out there. I've been speaking with a new source reporter, Jennifer Bowman. Thanks very much, Jennifer. Thank you.
