United Way of Weld County helps people experiencing homelessness find refuge from COVID-19 and cold winter weather
Richard Martinez smiles as he talks about his room in a block of apartments at the Good Samaritan Society Bonell Community on Thursday, Feb 18., in Greeley. The apartments are being used by United Way of Weld County and the City of Greeley in a combined effort to provide a shelter from the recent intense cold and from the Covid-19 virus. Photo by Joshua Polson.
By Dan England
At the end of spring, Richard Martinez thought he faced a choice: the cold or the coronavirus.
The cold was a killer, or sometimes it was merely cruel. Martinez had a friend who lost his fingers to the cold. Another, he said, lost all his toes. But a cold weather shelter where Martinez had survived winters since 2017 meant packing in close quarters with dozens of others in his unfortunate situation. It seemed almost impossible not to catch the virus in that.
Still, at first the choice seemed more silly than serious among his group of homeless friends by the Poudre River in Greeley. The cold was a monster guaranteed to bite you if you stayed out in it too long. The virus?
“We giggled about it,” Martinez said. “We didn’t think it would affect us the way it has.”
Their feelings about it changed after they all lost friends to the virus, and Martinez’s feelings changed after he was in the hospital for a few days after testing positive. He’s used to hospitals. He has leukemia. But that virus — what Martinez calls “the 19” — is bad news.
Richard Martinez sits on the mattress in his room in a block of apartments at the Good Samaritan Society Bonell Community on Thursday, Feb 18., in Greeley. The apartments are a part of a combined effort from the City of Greeley and United Way of Weld County to create a shelter that can easily keep people safe from the cold and the Covid-19 virus. Photo by Joshua Polson.
“It ain’t no joke,” he said. “I didn’t have the strength I normally have, even just riding my bike to the park.”
His friends, he said, are still out there, somewhere, either braving the cold or possibly another shelter. But Martinez, 68, has a warm apartment, by himself, where he doesn’t have to make an impossible choice. The United Way of Weld Conty anticipated the problem, especially for those the Centers for Disease Control defines as high-risk, just a month after the pandemic started and began to search for solutions and found a willing partner in the City of Greeley. A block of apartments from Bonell in the 600 block of 23rd Avenue, run by the Good Samaritan Society, surfaced pretty quickly. The city paid for the lease for 31 rooms and 40 individuals 65 and older or those with severe health conditions. Three couples double up along with a couple friends.
“The city was very interested in making sure what the shelter would look like during this winter season,” said Meredith Munoz, project director for the shelter. “We’ve had immense support from them.”
Peeking down the long hallway Richard Martinez shows some the space at the building at Good Samaritan Society Bonell Community on Thursday, Feb 18., in Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.
The project can’t save everyone, but it can help the ones much more likely to die from complications from COVID-19, such as Martinez. The rules are fairly strict, as residents aren’t supposed to leave their rooms much or mingle with each other. Munoz gets their groceries, and the apartments have a fridge and microwave along with a bed. They did purchase TVs for a few residents because the quiet, lonely room can get boring, Munoz said, but Martinez wasn’t one of the lucky ones. He admits he gets bored, something he alleviates by going for walks by himself or spending time in his storage unit where he keeps his things. But his contact with others is kept to a minimum.
Martinez, along with his neighbors in Bonell, was referred to the shelter by the Housing Navigation Center, also run by United Way, that connects the homeless, or those in danger of becoming homeless, with resources. By the end of the summer, they had a list of residents, Munoz said.
They did have five cases of the coronavirus, Munoz said, which confuses her, she admits, given the strict rules. But no one came down with a severe case.
Richard Martinez talks about his plans for the future and where he hopes to move to while in his room at the Good Samaritan Society Bonell Community on Thursday, Feb 18., in Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.
The apartment was the first time Martinez had a roof over his head since 2017, when he “fell apart” after trying to help a friend. He worked 20 years with Longmont Foods, which was known most of all for a turkey processing plant. The job gave him a roof in Fort Collins. It wasn’t much, but it was a roof.
The residents have to leave in April, but the city and United Way may find permanent solutions for some of them. They found one for Martinez. This week, he will move to an apartment in Fort Collins, where he will pay rent with 30 percent of his income from Social Security. His grandchildren aren’t too excited about that because they will miss having him close, but he’s excited to have a place of his own.
Many struggled in 2020. You probably did too.
“But it turned out pretty good for me,” Martinez said and smiled.
To learn more
To access to the Housing Navigation Center, go to www.unitedway-weld.org or call 2-1-1.