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A look inside one of Baltimore’s pandemic hotel shelters

Baltimore. Maryland. USA. November13. 2021. Baltimore East Harbor canal with modern high-rises and historic buildings.

What was once the Fairfield Inn by Marriott, right in front of the Baltimore Shot Tower, is now the Pinderhughes Women’s Shelter.

It’s one of five hotels in Baltimore City that have served as non-congregate shelters during COVID-19. The hotels, unlike conventional congregate shelters, allow people to stay physically distant. Each resident gets their own room and bathroom.

Stacy Walton is the director of the Pinderhughes Shelter. She says no two days are the same, but her regular duties include making sure all 145 rooms are clean, connecting residents with health resources, and tasting the food the residents will be eating.

“I make sure that they don’t eat anything that we wouldn’t eat,” she says. “So we take pride in that and making sure that they have warm meals.”