Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Problems with Project Roomkey in the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Lauren Ensor and Jesse Hession Grayman

This article is part of the series: Dispatches from the pandemic

“Constrained to exist in public spaces, the homeless are constant targets of regulation, criminalisation, expulsion and erasure.” – Randall Amster

On April 3, 2020, Californian Governor Gavin Newsom announced the implementation of Project Roomkey: the state’s initiative to aid those in situations of homelessness amidst the COVID-19 crisis. As growing fears of coronavirus contagion became more prevalent, it …

Lectures

June 19, 2020

“The Hostel saved me, really” – addiction and homelessness under Covid-19

By Johannes Lenhard

This article is part of the series: Dispatches from the pandemic

When I did my second shift of volunteering at the Hostel^[1], new rules were already in place: ‘stay-at-home’ orders had been issued and were enforceable (if not necessarily enforced) by police all over the UK. I arrived to prepare dinner for all the guests and was surprised to see so many people in the Lounge, the main hang-out area for everyone at the Hostel, waiting …

Somatosphere

Science, Medicine, and Anthropology

A collaborative website covering the intersections of medical anthropology, science and technology studies, cultural psychiatry, psychology and bioethics.

Tag Archives: Homelessness

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Problems with Project Roomkey in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“The Hostel saved me, really” – addiction and homelessness under Covid-19