Over 100 people are banned from St. Louis shelters due to incidents of drug use, untreated mental health illness, or inability to follow shelter rules such as curfews. Rather than receiving specialized care, these community members are denied future access to shelter or aid, essentially condemned to life on the streets. But with relentless encampment evictions during the pandemic, it has become increasingly more difficult to survive without Safe Havens or sanctioned encampments.
The local organization Tent Mission STL is working towards providing this emergency care to those unhoused without access to shelters during the pandemic. You can support their mission by donating to their Venmo @tentmissionstl.