Hotels with empty rooms ready to house homeless as part of pandemic fight

State and federal officials are lining up more than 16,500 rooms in hotels, dormitories and other facilities for homeless people in North Carolina to stay at to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Posted 9:04 p.m. Apr 8, 2020 — Updated 10:11 p.m. Apr 8, 2020

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL Fayetteville reporter, & Sarah Krueger, WRAL Durham reporter

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — State and federal officials are lining up more than 16,500 rooms in hotels, dormitories and other facilities for homeless people in North Carolina to stay at to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

"North Carolinians without stable housing still need places to go if they are have a mild case of COVID-19 or need to quarantine after being exposed to the virus," Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. "These types of alternatives will help people who have no other safe options to self-isolate or [exercise] social distance while we slow the spread of this virus."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pick up 75 percent of the costs associated with the sheltering program, with the state paying for the remainder. Funding includes the cost of utilities, waste disposal, laundry, food, cleaning and security.

Ashok Desai, who manages a Deluxe Inn off Interstate 95 in Cumberland County, said he would love to fill all 100 of his rooms with people in the program. But he said he would first need to ensure his staff is protected from the virus.

"What we can suggest is they can stay in that room. If they need anything, they can just call us. We'll put everything outside the door," Desai said. "At the end of the quarantine period, we can just trash whatever they used in the room."

People eligible for rooms under the program include those who have tested positive for the virus but don't need to be hospitalized, who have been exposed to the virus and need to be quarantined outside of a hospital or who need social distancing from high-risk groups, such as people age 65 or older or those with health problems.

"Just the thought of it scares me a little," said Marva McDonald, who has been cleaning rooms at the Deluxe Inn for about five years. "I just try to protect myself as much as I can with the masks and the gloves and just try to stay [at a] distance as they ask."

Business at motels along I-95, which are usually a stopping point for "snow birds" heading back to the Northeast after wintering in Florida, is off by 85 to 90 percent, according to area managers.

Durham County moving homeless into hotels

The Durham County Board of Commissioners plans to meet Thursday to approve a contract to relocate individuals from homeless shelters into hotel rooms as quickly as possible.

A dozen at-risk people have already been moved out of Urban Ministries, and officials want to move about 150 more from Urban Ministries and Families Moving Forward, said Wendy Jacobs, chair of the Board of Commissioners.

"Any kind of congregate facility, whether shelter, jail, adult living facility, those are obviously places that are putting people at the highest risk because it’s hard to implement social distancing practices," Jacobs said.

Jacobs said she expects another 75 rooms would be available for discharged prisoners returning to Durham, people discharged from a hospital with nowhere to go or people coming from other shelters.

There was no initial cost estimate for the contract.

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