Efforts underway to quickly house hundreds of vulnerable people in local hotels and motels during pandemic.

Nearly 55 people considered vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic who need a safe place to isolate themselves are being housed in Monterey County hotels and motels, and that number is expected to grow to more than 175 within the next two weeks as part of a collaborative effort of government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Adding to that number will be farmworkers who either test positive or who have been exposed to Covid-19 who will be sheltered at additional sites through the efforts of agricultural community leaders.

As of May 6, Monterey County is housing 15 people in local motels and hotels. The Coalition of Homeless Service Providers is housing 39 people and is working on housing up to a total of 100 by this Friday.

The 15 people being housed by the county are seniors and high-risk individuals as part of a statewide effort launched by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier in the week called Project Roomkey, said Lori Medina, director of the Monterey County Department of Social Services in a virtual press briefing on May 6. The seniors and other vulnerable individuals have not tested positive for the virus, but they are considered high-risk and in need of shelter.

The main focus of Project Roomkey is to house homeless individuals, farmworkers and others who are exposed to, test positive for or are convalescing from Covid-19 but have no home or live in an overcrowded home, she said. Her department is providing services to those living in the hotels and motels, including medical and behavioral health support, food and other services.

Medina said they expect to have as many as 75 people in Project Roomkey housing within the next week or two. The FEMA-approved program will reimburse cities and counties for up to 75 percent of the cost of providing housing.

The man who used to have Medina’s job before he retired in 2018, Elliott Robinson, spoke Wednesday in the press briefing on behalf of the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers, saying that agency expects to have just over 70 people housed in one location, with the rest of the approximately 100 people housed in other locations.

(Robinson is working as a consultant for CHSP; he served as interim executive director while the agency was looking for a new director.)

“We’re really pleased with the progress and it’s wonderful to see the relief of people on the faces of the people who are getting housed and who are very nervous given underlying conditions and living on the street,” he said.

Some farmworkers who have either tested positive or have been exposed and are waiting for test results will be housed by a collaborative effort of members of the Grower-Shipper Association, said Abby Taylor-Silva, vice president of policy and communications.

She said over the past few weeks those involved have secured multiple hotel properties where those housed will receive wrap-around support services, meals, laundry and daily medical checks by partner Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System.

The hotels and motels being utilized by the agencies were not named. Taylor-Silva said her organization was not naming locations to "protect worker privacy and provide secure surroundings."

The county has been working toward securing housing for homeless individuals since late March when it was expected it would have possibly $6.8 million in state monies to fund temporary housing during the pandemic.

As the push continues to house people in hotels and motels, the alternative housing site at the Monterey County Fairgrounds remains "inactive," according to the May 6 daily report from the county. The other alternative housing sites in Salinas and King City are also listed as inactive. Those sites were created to house positive Covid-19 patients referred by local hospitals, health care providers and other approved agencies.