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Communities struggle to make best use of COVID homeless aid Funding delays and confusing spending restrictions have hampered communities’ abilities to capitalize on the largest influx of homeless aid in American history. By Howard Center for Investigative Journalism Winter in Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge is wet and freezing, a life-threatening situation for the area’s homeless residents even without a pandemic. Darcy Long-Curtiss understands that better than most. The shelter that normally provided nighttime refuge was closed because of COVID-19, and federal aid money meant to help protect homeless people from the pandemic came late and with confusing restrictions. By the time Long-Curtiss got permission to erect temporary shelters purchased with her community’s share of the funding, temperatures were already dipping below freezing. She had just one week to ready the site and make potentially life-and-death decisions. ....