How to house the homeless in a pandemic? Plastic partitions, takeout containers and a coffee cart help.

NORFOLK — Just after sunset, in a light rain and chilly breeze, men and women lined up outside the church doors.

Inside First Presbyterian Church in Ghent, volunteers wearing masks draped disposable blankets over sleeping mats. They unpacked water bottles and dinners boxed in takeout containers.

For nearly 30 years, a coalition of churches and synagogues across the city have housed homeless people overnight during the cold winter months as part of NEST, the Norfolk Emergency Shelter Team.

This season, volunteers and the city needed to make adjustments for the pandemic — social distancing, no communal dining, frequent disinfecting — but the need still exists, if not more so now.

In a typical year, as many as 40 churches and synagogues participate. This year only about 16 are hosting and preparing meals, but some that can’t serve as host sites have stepped up in other ways, like collecting winter hats and toiletries.

“It really has a wonderful spirit of people helping other people,” said Anne Odell, chairwoman of the board that oversees the program.

The shelter team has housed about 120 people nightly in past years, spread between two locations. This year looks different: The city and its Community Services Board have been housing about 110 of the most vulnerable people in hotels continually since the pandemic began in March so they can isolate and reduce their risk of contracting the coronavirus, Odell said.

The NEST program fills the remaining gap, housing about 45 people nightly from December through March.

First Presbyterian Church, which has participated for over two decades, volunteered to host the first six weeks of the program this year.

This fall, church leaders and the city began troubleshooting: Was it possible to host during a pandemic? What would that look like?

First Presbyterian had the space and the resources, and approval from its board.

“We were called to do it,” said Joel Phillips, the church’s virtual pastoral intern.

Inside the church, sleeping mats lay spaced out on the floor, plastic partitions separating each spot. When guests arrive, they’re assigned a number that matches one on a partition.

Instead of eating together at long tables, people served at their spots. Instead of a large coffee urn, coffee is delivered by cart, like on an airplane.

“We want to limit movement as much as possible,” Phillips said.

When the church doors open, men and women who were there the night before come in first. After a certain time, if someone doesn’t return, their spot is cleaned and turned over to someone else. Priority is given based on age and health.

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On nights that are especially cold, windy and rainy, those who aren’t able to get a spot at the church will be screened and may be able to get a spot at one of the hotels, Odell said.

On a recent Wednesday evening, a volunteer took temperatures of those in line while they waited. As the men and women entered the church, another volunteer handed them new masks and hand sanitizer.

“Good evening!” she said.

The guests moved to the next volunteers’ table for a bed assignment and bus pass for the morning. Then they stepped inside a large room, mats, blankets and dinner waiting for them.

Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com

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Shelter hotline

If you or someone you know needs overnight shelter in Norfolk, call the NEST hotline at 757-823-1622 to find out which location is currently hosting.