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AMNA NAWAZ: At the start
of the pandemic, we were
all urged to stay at home
and avoid crowds. But,

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for homeless people,
packed shelters made COVID
transmission nearly unavoidable.

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And so many cities, using
federal COVID money,housed
people in vacant hotels to

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better protect them. This
year, Washington, D.C.,

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announced it would phase out
its program, following others
like it across the nation,

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leaving some unhoused people
unsure where they will go next.

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William Brangham has that story.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At
McPherson Square, once
the largest homeless
encampment in Washington,

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D.C., the 70 or so people
living here are losing the
closest thing they have to home.

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MAN: Please collect
your belongings and
exit the park now.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Daniel Kingery
(ph) lived here for three years.

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He says life outside
was much better than
inside city shelters.

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DANIEL KINGERY, Washington,
D.C.: I have heard people who
go to the homeless shelters,

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and they're more violent
than the streets are.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: These
sweeps,which are occurring
constantly in cities across the

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country, come at a particularly
bad time, because a successful
homelessness program

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is now ending in D.C.,
following other programs
like it around the country.

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During the pandemic, the
city brought homeless
people at particular
risk from COVID because

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of preexisting medical
conditions to hotels like
this one in Southwest D.C.,

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people like Dean Eliot
Clark, who is diabetic.

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D.C. housed more than
2,000 people like him
in these hotels. Here,

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Clark gets health care,
meals and privacy.

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DEAN ELIOT CLARK, Washington,
D.C.: You can't ask for
no more. A person that
don't appreciate this,

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they don't appreciate
nothing. And that's sad.

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That's sad. When it's cold
outside, it's warm here.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Tiayana
Williams, who has an autoimmune
disease, had been living on

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the streets and in the
woods for over eight years
when caseworkers offered
her a spot in the hotel.

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TIAYANA WILLIAMS, Washington,
D.C.: I say you know what,

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what's it going to hurt
me? Let me go in this year.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Give it a try.

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TIAYANA WILLIAMS: Yes,
give it a try, and where
I get to take a shower,

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get something to eat.
I don't have to run out
my tent every morning.

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So, when I got here, I did
take a little break for
myself. I started resting.

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DR. CATHERINE CROSLAND,
Unity Health Care: I have
often said that housing

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is health care. I now
say housing, with the
appropriate supports in
place, is health care.

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I'm good. How are you doing?

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Doctor
Catherine Crosland has

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treated residents in D.C.'s
hotels since the program
began. She says one of her

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patients saw a huge
improvement in his health
after just a week inside.

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DR. CATHERINE CROSLAND: He
was not short of breath. The
swelling in his legs were

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gone. The ulcers were healed. He
had all his medications lined up

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on his dresser. And my medical
intervention had not changed at

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all. What had changed was
that he had this stable
place to care for himself.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Another
hotel resident who asked
we just call him Joe found

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the same effect. With
stable housing, he takes his
psychiatric medicine regularly.

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JOE, Washington, D.C.: Yes,
it helps me keep on medication
and any jobs that I hold down.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Having
a steady place to stay?

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JOE: Yes. Yes.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: How were
you able to do that when
you were living in a tent?

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JOE: It was really hard.
Actually, I wasn't able
to. I wasn't able to
hold down very much.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This hotel
is one of three remaining
that's still housing

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people in Washington, D.C. But
as federal funds disappear, and
the city phases out the program,

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the 400 or so people that still
remain face an uncertain future.

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But city officials say the
program, known as PEP-V,

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was never intended to
be a permanent solution.

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DENA HASAN, D.C. Department of
Human Services: Continuing PEP-V

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as designed is ill-timed.
It was launched during
a global pandemic.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Dena
Hasan is the director
of policy and program

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support for D.C.'s
Department of Human Services.

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DENA HASAN: As we are phasing
out the PEP-V program, aligned

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with the phase-out of pandemic
efforts throughout the nation,

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we will make sure that
every PEP-V resident is
linked to the services
that they are eligible for.

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Some of that will include
permanent housing.
Some of that will not.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: According
to D.C.'s Department of
Human Services, as of
the end of February 60

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percent of all PEP-V
residents had been matched
to a housing subsidy that
would cover the cost of

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their rent. DHS estimated around
50 people will have to return
to shelters after PEP-V closes.

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AMBER HARDING, Executive
Director, Washington
Legal Clinic for the
Homeless: I'm worried that

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they're going to phase
it out without a plan B.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Amber Harding
is the executive director at the

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Washington Legal Clinic
for the Homeless.

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AMBER HARDING: Now that
the federal money for
these hotel programs is
lapsing in May, it's going

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to be a real test for
local governments as to
how high of a political
priority it is to actually

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provide a program they
know is saving people's
lives and is improving
their health in many ways.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM:
For Dr. Crosland,

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the idea of sending her
patients back to shelters
is the worst outcome.

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DR. CATHERINE CROSLAND: Seeing
people together under one roof
with end stage renal disease,

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metastatic cancer undergoing
chemotherapy, congestive heart
failure, severe COPD requiring

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oxygen, these are folks who
should never be in a shelter,
let alone an outside encampment.

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And so it has really highlighted
the need of a place for this

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vulnerable population
to be while they're
experiencing homelessness.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM:
Researchers say this model
offers a blueprint for

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temporary housing across
the country, but a long-term
solution should be the end goal.

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Some point to California's
Project Homekey, where local
entities are provided grants to

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purchase vacant hotels and
convert them into permanent
housing for the homeless.

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SAM BATKO, Urban Institute:
No shelter solution,

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be it either congregate or
noncongregate shelter, will
be successful without having

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a housing exit strategy
for the people that are
staying there temporarily.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Sam Batko is
a principal research associate
at the Urban Institute.

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SAM BATKO: The most important
thing that a community can
do is rehouse people as

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quickly as possible. And so
what that means is making
sure that every single

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shelter that you have is
oriented towards helping to
minimize the amount of time that

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people spend in it and
getting them into what we
call permanent housing.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While
D.C.'s program is ending,

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Hasan says the city
will continue to improve
housing options for
its unhoused residents.

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Do you worry that there might
be some people, given that the

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federal money is now
disappearing, that might
fall through the cracks?

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DENA HASAN: What we are
committed to is making
sure that the lessons

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we have learned from this
crisis is implemented,

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is integrated into our
longstanding services and
supports for our residents.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: After just
over a year in the hotel,

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Tiayana Williams secured a
subsidized apartment with
the help of her caseworker.

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TIAYANA WILLIAMS: Yesterday,
I was with my worker. And
she took me to this apartment

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complex. I love it, because it's
up there by the zoo. I want to
take my grandkids to the zoo.

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I signed my papers
yesterday, so I'm waiting
on my inspection, and then
I will be on to my life.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's a happy
ending for her, but one that
not everyone will experience.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm William Brangham
in Washington, D.C.