Placing homeless people in hotel settings rather than makeshift shelters is a concept that while not new, grew in popularity during the Covid pandemic as concerns mounted about the chances of the virus spreading.

The researchers quizzed people who had been moved into such hotels from shelters. The respondents consistently said that the hotel provided more stability, not least due to having access to amenities, a sense of privacy, and a consistent room.

Small differences

The results reveal that small and seemingly inconsequential things can make a significant difference in people’s lives. For instance, access to a cabinet to allow storage of food or to a private bathroom was viewed extremely positively, as was access to electrical outlets at any time of the day. These things gave people more control over their schedules and had a big impact on their well-being.

“In these conversations, staff expressed a number of observations about how the shift to the hotel setting was impacting shelter residents’ health and well-being,” the researchers explain.

The study found that people gained significantly more peace of mind when they were in an individual room than when they were in an open dormitory-type environment with up to 50 others. Indeed, such spaces often resulted in people feeling they had to be on guard at all times, which added considerably to their stress levels.

Lack of control

This contributes to a general lack of control over one’s life, which was a consistent concern of respondents. For instance, they worried about their belongings being stolen due to a lack of secure place for them. They also often had to be out of their shelter by 7 am and were not permitted to return until 5 pm.

The nature of many shelters also meant that they tended to operate on a first-come, first-served basis, which meant that queues to access them formed a long time before they opened, which was not only stressful but also reduced the time people could spend looking for work or generally getting themselves back on their feet.

Suffice it to say, while the hotels were generally seen as a significant improvement, participants still felt considerable stress, not least due to the uncertainty around the length of their stay in the hotel. The constant fear of being back on the streets loomed over them.

“We found the most difficult aspect of this research to be the reality that while the hotels were much better in a lot of ways as compared to the congregate spaces or unsheltered locations people were coming from, a ‘better’ shelter is still a shelter, and is still only a temporary solution,” the researchers explain.

They believe that shelters could make relatively small changes, such as providing secure storage space or reliable wifi, that could make the lives of homeless people significantly easier. Even these changes fail to address the larger problem, however.

“Right now, improving the shelter environment is important,” they conclude. “However, working to incorporate those elements into shelter spaces doesn’t truly get at the root of the problem, which is that we have a shortage of permanent, affordable housing that is at a crisis level.”