ST. LOUIS — To expand the city’s capacity to house the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic, the city on Monday began leasing part of the former Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home at 3225 North Florissant Avenue.
“Our goal is always to get people into housing,†Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a statement.
“But we recognize that right now, individuals experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable. This is an important, potentially life-saving component of the city’s unprecedented response to COVID-19.â€
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The city is working with City Hope ºüÀêÊÓƵ, a nonprofit agency, to operate and manage the facility, which closed in 2018.
Each person housed at the building will undergo a health screening test before admittance. City Hope will provide several services to people staying at the facility, such as workshops on resume writing, job search techniques and health and wellness.
Meals and laundry service will be available as well. People can stay there 24 hours a day, city officials said.
Steve Conway, the mayor’s chief of staff, said the lease allows the city to house people in the facility’s old convent building and on three floors of an adjoining eight-story tower. There will be space for up to about 125 people, he said.
Conway said the facility provides a place for homeless people who want to stay inside to avoid contact with people carrying COVID-19. Social distancing guidelines will be followed.
At the same time, he said, some areas could be set apart for quarantining if needed.
The city is leasing the facility for about $40,000 a month for two months, with an option to extend it.
In addition, he said, the city is finalizing details on taking over a small hotel with fewer than 50 rooms to also house homeless people during the current crisis. He did not say where the hotel is located.
He added that the city may be able to line up more providers if needed. “The key for us is to get anybody we can off the streets,†he said.
Dr. Will Ross, who heads the city Board of Health, said the plan to house homeless individuals in the old Little Sisters of the Poor facility is “a wonderful development†— for the current situation and the longer term.
“The situation on the ground will determine how much more we need,†said Ross, who also is on a city committee that works with a network of homeless shelters.
