Hundreds Of Homeless Evacuated From Hotel After Overdose: Report

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A former Sheraton hotel in midtown Minneapolis that had been housing more than 200 of the city’s homeless population during the coronavirus pandemic has been ordered emptied after a resident suffered a drug overdose.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, citing volunteers at the site near Lake St. and Chicago Ave., reported that residents were awakened by a fire alarm on just after 6 a.m. Tuesday morning following the overdose. The Star-Tribune reported that the hotel’s owner, Jay Patel, ordered the eviction of all of the guests.

The homeless are among the most vulnerable during the pandemic. Tuesday’s eviction marked the second time in recent weeks that large numbers of the homeless in Minneapolis have been forced to leave a temporary site. Chief among concerns of those who work with the homeless during the pandemic is coming up with a permanent housing solution while cities struggle with financial assistance to help local agencies charged with helping the homeless.

The Star-Tribune reported that efforts had been in place to find housing for homeless residents that had been depending on local homeless camps for safe shelter. But since unrest began in the city following George Floyd’s death, volunteers reached out to Patel, who offered 136 rooms at the former Sheraton hotel.

According to the report, all of the rooms at the four-story hotel were filled and other areas of the hotel were being used for sleeping spaces as more of the homeless residents were moved in from camps. As of Tuesday, there was a waiting list of 400 people awaiting shelter at the hotel.

The newspaper reported that homeless residents were seen flooding out of the hotel with their belongings in shopping carts, which has left volunteers frustrated of where all of the homeless who had been relying on the hotel for shelter will go.

“We have reached out through every single possible channel and there is no alternative,” volunteer Kat Eng, told the Star-Tribune. “Residents are traumatized, scared and we need solutions."