Trailers will help house Fresno's homeless amid COVID-19 outbreak

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Governor Newsom took emergency action and authorized $150 million to protect the homeless from COVID 19.

Some of that money will be used to bring trailers to Fresno to house people who have been tested.

The calls for social distancing and to shelter in place have been even more difficult for those in our community who don't have a place to call home.

Those living in the streets of Fresno and other cities often set up their tents right next to each other. Many homeless pack into the Fresno Rescue Mission and Poverello House to have their meals.

Fresno Rescue Mission CEO Matt Dildine said, "Ironically, the homeless are the least likely to come into contact with someone who is engaging in interstate or state-to-state travel. But it would be really bad if one of them got it because it would spread so easily."

Dildine said he's asked volunteers not to come in as a precautionary measure. The over 350 people at the rescue mission were being asked to sleep six feet from each other.

Dildine and other local leaders expected the state to provide 10-15 trailers to help house the homeless. He explained, "What we're working on is placing those trailers directly across the street from our current facility where our old facility used to be that's owned by the state, to have those trailers there. And we would be discharging current homeless there in the hospitals being tested so we could continue to help them."

The state has purchased over 1300 trailers.

At this point, the City of Fresno was not actively taking the homeless off the street.

Talks were also underway to use area hotels and other facilities to help house the homeless during this time of crisis.