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SOLEDAD: WELCOME BACK TO MATTER OF FACT. AS PROTESTS DOMINATE HEADLINES, A PANDEMIC STILL LOOMS IN THE BACKGROUND. WASHINGTON STATE HAD THE FIRST CONFIRMED CASE OF COVID-19 IN THE COUNTRY. AND PUT ITS LARGEST CITY, SEATTLE, IN A RACE TO SOLVE ANOTHER CRISIS. FINDING SHELTER FOR MORE THAN 10 THOUSAND HOMELESS PEOPLE BEFORE THE VIRUS SPREAD THROUGH THAT VULNERABLE POPULATION. COULD SEATTLE’S RESPONSE TO THE OUTBREAK CHANGE HOW THE COUNTRY ADDRESSES HOMELESSNESS BEYOND THIS MOMENT? LOLA NAJERA HAD JUST ARRIVED IN SEATTLE WHEN COVID-19 FIRST HIT. SHE CONSIDERED HERSELF LUCKY WHEN SHE LANDED A SPOT ON A FRIEND’S COUCH. >> I WAS IN A SHELTER DOWNTOWN AND THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THAT SHELTER, I DIDN’T FEEL SAFE AND I HAD TO GO OUT. SO I PACKED MY BAGS AND WENT OUT. SOLEDAD: SEATTLE AND KING COUNTY ESTIMATE THEY HAVE BETWEEN 10000 AND 12,000 HOMELESS PEOPLE LIKE NAJERA. THE HOMELESS IN SHELTERS SUDDENLY STOOD IN THE PATH OF A DEADLY PANDEMIC. >> I’VE ALWAYS BEEN WORRIED ABOUT THE HOMELESS POPULATION AND THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE LIVING SO CLOSE TOGETHER. WE KNOW THAT THAT’S ALMOST A PERFECT STORM. SOLEDAD: A STORM THAT HAD BEEN BREWING FOR YEARS. KING COUNTY WAS ALREADY DEALING WITH ANOTHER CRISIS. A LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. >> IT IS A BIT OF A PARADOX BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, AS PEOPLE HAVE HAD MORE OPPORTUNITY AND IN GENERAL, WEALTH HAS INCREASED. FOLKS HAVE BEEN SQUEEZED OUT OF HOUSING. THERE IS A LACK OF HOUSING. THE HOUSING THAT EXISTS BECOMES MORE AND MORE EXPENSIVE. SOLEDAD: THIS NEW CRISIS FORCED THEM TO SCRAMBLE TO FIND WAYS TO GET THE HOMELESS TO SAFETY. THEY STARTED SEARCHING FOR HOUSING TO ISOLATE THE SICK AND INSTALLED HYGIENE STATIONS SO THE HOMELESS COULD KEEP CLEAN. >> WE WILL WANT TO IDENTIFY ANYBODY WHO MAY HAVE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH ANOTHER RESIDENT, SHELTER CLIENT, STAFF, OR VOLUNTEERS. SOLEDAD: THEY SENT TEAMS OUT TO TEST FOR COVID 19 INSIDE HOMELESS SHELTERS. 204 STAFF AND RESIDENTS TESTED POSITIVE. KING COUNTY MOVED ABOUT 500 PEOPLE OUT OF THE SHELTERS AND INTO HOTELS, SOME INTO ISOLATION UNTIL THEY RECOVER. >> IT’S REALLY SCARY BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN’T BREATHE AND YOU DON’T KNOW IF IT’S YOUR LAST DAY OR NOT. SOLEDAD: OVERNIGHT, NEW HOUSING WINTER. AT LEAST TINY HOUSING. >> USUALLY A VILLAGE LIKE THIS WOULD TAKE THREE OR FOUR MONTHS. BUT BECAUSE OF COVID 19, WE HAVE STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS AND CONTRACTORS THAT ARE HELPING S US UP IN THREE WEEKS. >> SHAME, SHAME, SHAME. SOLEDAD: THEN IN LATE MAY AS THE NUMBER OF INFECTIONS WAS SLOWING, THE POLICE BROKE UP SOME HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS, WHICH FORCED THE INHABITANTS INTO CROWDED INDOOR SHELTERS WHERE COVID-19 SPREADS MORE EASILY. >> MY CONCERN IS THEY ARE SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY FROM COVID RESPONSE MONEY FROM FEDS OR FEMA AND THEY’RE PUTTING PEOPLE IN HOTELS OR PUTTING PEOPLE INTO PUBLIC SPACES LIKE SEATTLE CENTER. I THINK THE THOUGHT IS THAT THE ABSOLUTE MOMENT THE CRISIS IS OVER, ALL THE HOMELESS PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE BACK ON THE STREET. SOLEDAD: FOR NOW, THANKS TO THE COVID-19 RESPONSE, LOLA NAJERA IS DOING BETTER. SHE HAS A TINY HOME TO CALL HER OWN. >> TO EVEN SAY THOSE WORDS, THIS IS MY HOME, MY HEART SWELLS UP.