Eau Claire City-County Health Department Incident Command
Food Delivery to Homeless Individuals Quarantining During the Pandemic
by Celine Sabbagh
Background
People experiencing homelessness are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. These people do not have the ability to isolate and distance from others and tend to live in community shelters which increases risk of exposure. Those experiencing homelessness were particularly vulnerable in the beginning of the pandemic due to the sudden closure of the resources that they rely on such as shelters and food pantries. Eventually, these resources were reopened and adjusted to be as safe as possible. The stress of the pandemic, coupled with the stress that sudden change to the resources they rely on was very challenging for homeless people. Given their increased risk of exposure due their living situations, many homeless individuals contracted COVID-19 in Eau Claire. The Health Department housed these individuals in hotels and provided them with meals and toiletries while they stayed in the hotels. I volunteered with the health department and helped prepare the meals and toiletries and deliver them.
One challenge in providing meals for those housed in the hotels was that these homeless individuals were not only disproportionately exposed to COVID-19, but they were also disproportionately impacted by chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Much of the food that was donated to the food pantries were high in sodium and sugars, which were not sensitive to the diet that best helps people manage their illnesses. This is not solely an issue that was encountered during the pandemic, but it has consistently been an issue. Without access to healthy foods due to reliance on donations, food-insecure diabetics are not able to manage their diabetes and are at greater risk for complications such as cardiovascular disease or kidney problems.
My experience as a volunteer at the health department shed light on how socioeconomic status plays a role in health disparities. Those experiencing homlesness are unable to prevent chronic illness due to their reliance on food donations, and cannot properly manage their illnesses again due to their reliance on food donations. They are unable to protect themselves from chronic illness and subsequent complications from chronic illness. This makes COVID-19 infection more dangerous, as those with comorbid conditions become the sickest when they contract COVID-19. My work with the health department was to help provide food to these people, while also trying to make this food sensitive to their dietary needs.
The Eau Claire City-County Health Department
The Eau Claire City-County Health Department is a government organization responsible for the health and safety of those in the Eau Claire Community. They are responsible for a variety of health concerns in the community, however during my time there the sole concern that they addressed was COVID-19.
My Work
When COVID-19 emerged in Wisconsin in Spring of 2020, I reached out to my local health department to see how I could aid in the city’s response to COVID-19. I worked with an Americorp Member as a member of the Eau Claire City-County Health Department Incident Command team. I played a few roles in the Health Department response to COVID-19. In the early stages of the pandemic, I worked remotely for the COVID-19 call center and did contact tracing. This consisted of calling individuals who have come in contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID-19 and investigating their case. This is done by asking them a series of questions regarding their symptoms, explaining their role in slowing the spread, providing them with testing information and resources involving the spread and the symptoms, giving them details on how to self-monitor, contacting people to set them up with supplies (groceries, thermometer, etc.), and finally having them consent to self-quarantine for 14 days or until they are symptom free.
In June with the lifting of the stay at home order I was able to physically go to the health department and took a role as an AmeriCorps Hotel “Runner" Volunteer. I supported distribution of food, grab bags, and other items to hotels and residences being used to house individuals who were either COVID contacts or cases who have tested positive who are homeless or unable to isolate/quarantine in their current living situation per COVID-19 guidelines. My job entailed arranging balanced meals with donated non-perishable foods and picking up hot food from the Community Table and delivering them to hotels around the community housing these individuals.
Community table grab bags
The Eau Claire City- County Health Department
Lessons Learned
Without access to healthy foods, due to reliance on donations, food-insecure diabetics are not able to manage their diabetes and are at greater risk for complications such as cardiovascular disease or kidney problems. My experience as a volunteer at the health department shed light on how socioeconomic status plays a role in health disparities and sparked my interest in serving those in low-income communities as a primary care physician. Everyone deserves the same opportunity to manage their diagnoses and prevent complications.
Celine Sabbagh
Hello! My name is Celine Sabbagh. I am from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I am a Neuroscience major with minors in Biology and Arabic and a concentration in Community and Global Health. I am a part of the basketball team at Macalester. In enjoy watching sports, cooking, and spending time outside. After Macalester, I plan to work as a Dermatology Medical Assistant before applying to Medical School. I am interested becoming a physician, and my goal is to provide care to disadvantaged patients and start initiatives to provide underserved communities with the resources needed to prevent disease at an early age.