As this is written, hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions of people all over the world are grieving the loss of a loved one to the COVID-19 virus. Compounding their grief exponentially is the reality that the vast majority of them were not able be with their mother, father, sister, brother, grandparent, or other loved one as they fought the virus, or worse, lost their lives.

In late March 2020, Dennis Culhane, Ph.D., who is one of, if not the nation’s most trusted researcher into homelessness of individuals unaccompanied by children, issued a terrifying, and for many of us, a heartbreaking report. According to his research, homeless individuals who are unaccompanied by children are 2 to 2.5 times more likely to be infected with the COVID-19 virus than non-homeless people.