My shelter makes news (again!)

[PunkyP0WER]

Back in spring a former employee at the shelter wrote a scathing account that was printed in the Hartford Courant's op-ed page. Basically she told stories of employee theft/embezzlement/mistreatment etc amongst the staff. Here's the link to that thread:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...hlight=shelter



Well, just a week ago or so 6 residents contacted a reporter from the Hartford Courant with reports of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. Anyway, here is the article as printed, my boss Valerie Archer is mentioned in it. (I've mentioned her numerous times on the board - she is currently pregnant with twins via invitro-fertilization after her and her husband tried unsuccessfully for 10 years)


http://www.courant.com/community/har...,4878683.story


HARTFORD — - My Sisters' Place, the transitional housing complex in the North End, says it offers a safe haven and empowerment for women forced out of their homes due to domestic violence, eviction, unemployment or mental illness.

But that hasn't been the case for six black women, who say they have been belittled, threatened with eviction, stolen from, subjected to unwanted sexual commentary and made to feel unwelcome during their stay.

"I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy," said Angie Richardson, 33, who has been living at My Sisters' Place since October.

The women say they have lodged numerous written and oral complaints with My Sisters' Place staff about their treatment at the Pliny Street shelter. They say staff members have gone through drawers in their apartments and opened mail when they were out of the building. Money, food, sneakers and jewelry have disappeared from their apartments, and hurtful comments are made to them, they say.

After the women complained to The Courant, Diane Paige-Blondet, executive director of My Sisters' Place, began an investigation last week.

"There may be some truth to some of this or not," said Paige-Blondet, who also met with the women after learning that they had contacted the newspaper. "Everything they told me will be addressed."

The women say they are also held to a different standard of behavior than the shelter's Latina and white clients, from being denied weekend passes to being written up for minor infractions.

Some of the women who are complaining previously lived in an emergency shelter run by My Sisters' Place before moving into the transitional housing. The emergency shelter closed in May.

"I've been written up for standing outside," said Brandy Whitehead, 29, a resident since September.

The women say that most of their issues are related to three white staff members: Barry D'Andrea, the clinical case manager; Michelle Dumais, a case manager; and Valerie Archer, the complex's supervisor.

D'Andrea, they say, constantly drives group discussions toward the subject of sex, which makes them feel uncomfortable.

"He should not be here trying to counsel anybody," said Brandy Evans, 30, a resident since December. "This is supposed to be a recovery group and all he does is talk about sex."

Diona Mundle, 19, a resident since May, said D'Andrea frequently made explicit comments about the size of her breasts.

Tracy Mills, 40, a recovering heroin addict who takes methadone, said D'Andrea recently told her that she would always be "a dope fiend."

"They never have anything good to say," Mills said. "They don't commend you for anything you're doing positive."

Richardson alleges that D'Andrea has shared her private medical information with another resident.

D'Andrea declined to comment on the allegations, citing the confidentiality of his working relationship with the women.

The women say they believe the color of their skin is an issue when it comes to dealing with Dumais and Archer, who are responsible for meting out punishment and discipline and granting passes and other liberties, such as visitors.

"It's racially motivated. We get treated differently," Mills said.

Dumais declined to comment, also citing confidentiality restrictions.

Archer said, "If I was a racist, why would I choose to work here every day?"

Paige-Blondet has moved Kathy Shaw, the director of operations for My Sisters' Place, to the Pliny Street complex and said that if the allegations of racism and improper sexual discussions or comments are proven to be true, she will recommend that the employees involved be terminated.

"This is not the first time we've had allegations, some that were unfounded," she said. "But if something needs to be fixed or changed, I will do that."

Paige-Blondet declined to allow the women to give The Courant permission to see copies of the grievances they say they filed with management of the complex. Some of them have also been denied access to their files, they say.

When asked if she was going to let the women make copies of the grievances, Paige-Blondet said "no comment."

Mills, who said she feels that she has been singled out for punishment and is on the verge of being kicked out of her apartment, said she hopes the group's decision to speak out results in change.

"We've been through a lot in our lives," she said. "You're looking for support and then you get abused and harassed."

[PunkyP0WER]

This was a letter sent to reporter Steve Goode in response to his article:


Apparently the Hartford Courant has resorted to sensationalistic practices and "fabricated truths" as it desperately claws for life in its lean years. Not only has the physical size of the newspaper diminished, but its obvious that its integrity has as well.

First, you potentially jeopardize human life for the sake of a story when your paper wrecklessly proceeded with its coverage regarding the domestic hostage crisis situation in South Windsor that occurred on July 7, blatantly refusing to comply with the demands of an insanely dangerous man on a mission to kill his wife. I guess being the first to get the scoop was more important than the perilous plight of this woman. And now you follow it up by going to press with these slanderous lies and malicious allegations made out of spite by the few disgruntled residents against the staff of MSP.
I wasn't aware that yellow journalism was back in fashion, Mr. Goode. The Hartford Courant has no more standards than a tabloid rag and makes the National Enquirer look credible.

The complainants claim that they are denied earned liberties and are written up for "minor" infractions. Did they ever explain why they were denied? Could it be because they have not made productive use with the tools provided them by the Transitional Living Program or taken advantage of the wealth of opportunities afforded to them ? Could it be because they brazenly disobey the agreed upon rules - like maybe staying out past a generous 10 o'clock curfew to go out clubbing? Or having their ex-con boyfriend scale the side of the building with a rope, climbing into a second floor window for a late night rendezvous? (Might want to check with the Hartford Police on the last inference. Guess they conveniently left all of that information out of your little exposé?) Could it be because they haven't completed their 20 hours each week of either actually working/schooling/volunteering that they agreed to do upon entering the program? Could it be because they failed their apartment inspections, another agreed upon stipulation of the program - that some of the apartments are in squalid conditions with old trash bags containing rotting food and dirty diapers lying around and dishes piled to the ceiling with crusted food stuck to them? (One former residents apartment was so trashed it looked like it had been ransacked by robbers!) Could it be because they have poor parenting skills and leave their small children unattended or have poor judgement when making decisions in regards to their children's well being? But after all, those are only "minor" infractions, Mr. Goode.




As for valuables gone missing, well, to put it bluntly, the majority of clients have substance abuse problems among other complex personal issues. And you'd be naive to believe that all of them have followed the recommended programs and have kicked their dependencies. They spend a great deal of time apartment hopping, visiting from one apartment to the next most nights. Did you ever consider that they themselves are the culprits stealing from each other to support their addictions? During my time there, I was personally aware of a couple residents who stole money, prescription pills and other expensive material items to sell for drugs. These residents still live there and travel in the same circles of the women featured in your article.


One resident states "I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy?" Really? They didn't have and reservations when they applied for residence though. When they were desperate for a roof over their heads. Tell me, if this outrageous scandal invented by these ingrates results in MSP losing funding and in turn them losing their apartments, where would they go? MSP wouldn't be such a bad place then, would it? Let me remind you the residents voluntarily entered a program that comes with an apartment, not the other way around. Its not a hotel, its a transitional living program, emphasis on program, designed to instill, these unfortunate, impoverished, abused and/or uneducated women, with the life skills necessary in leading an independent, successful and productive life.

There's no question that MSP isn't without its legitimate grievances, but to put a racial slant on it is reprehensible. Its due to your negligent reporting that racism DOES still exist - by spinning stories like this to the public and skewing facts, distorting them to fit your own agenda and that of the complainants while tarnishing the reputations of innocent people in the process. It is not race that is the issue here but character. The staff at MSP have always met the clients needs in a professional and compassionate manner and have tirelessly supported and encouraged their growth while treating them with the utmost dignity and respect. The MSP staff are some of the last bastions for equal rights and ethical and humane care. If these women are victims of anything, they're victims of themselves.

[Chocoholic]

Excellent letter, Kimberlee! I hope they publish it. People need to know the truth. Those women ought to be ashamed of themselves too. They sound like a real waste to society. ( Probably shouldn't say that. I might be labeled a racist )

[browneyes106]

Great letter Kimberlee. My friend worked at a shelter a few years back that was abused by illegal Mexican immigrant women all the time.

[PunkyP0WER]

I'm on 3rd shift right now, and one of the 6 residents featured in the article just let her 16 year old daughter out alone at 11:45, its now over an hour later and she still has not returned. Mind you this is a high crime inner city neighborhood and she's out walking the streets somewhere at this hour. ANOTHER "minor" infraction I guess

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by PunkyP0WER

I'm on 3rd shift right now, and Tracy one of the 6 residents featured in the article just let her 16 year old daughter out alone at 11:45, its now over an hour later and she still has not returned. Mind you this is a high crime inner city neighborhood. ANOTHER "minor" infraction I guess

I'm so glad you'll soon be out of there!

[PunkyP0WER]

Believe me, I can not wait.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I'm so glad you'll soon be out of there!

Me, too. You deserve better, Kim.

[Doodyville10019]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I'm so glad you'll soon be out of there!

I agree. If anything, Kimberlee, it's YOU that's being abused - by the media!

[TheGreatPretender]

Hi I know this is a little off topic but what do you do at the shelter? Do you own it or work there? How do you get involved with working with shelters? I'm a college student right now, what major would you reccomend?

Lol, sorry I bombarded you with questions, but I always wondered about how to get involved with that, because I'm kinda soul searching for what I want to do with my life.

Oh and I'm from CT too, Litchfield County.

[PunkyP0WER]

Originally Posted by TheGreatPretender

Hi I know this is a little off topic but what do you do at the shelter? Do you own it or work there? How do you get involved with working with shelters? I'm a college student right now, what major would you reccomend?

Lol, sorry I bombarded you with questions, but I always wondered about how to get involved with that, because I'm kinda soul searching for what I want to do with my life.

Oh and I'm from CT too, Litchfield County.

Hi, nice to meet a fellow CT resident. I live in Middlesex county. Anyway, this place I work at is a battered women's shelter. It is a private organization that runs on grants from the government and donations from private citizens and companies. I was assigned to the shelter by the security company I work for and I am their overnight guard. We closed the emergency shelter portion of the program back in April but the other part of the program called Transitional Living is still operating. The Transitional Living Program consists of subsidized apartments offered to the clients who applied and were accepted. Depending what their income is (whether thats in the form of an actual paycheck, a welfare check, social security disability etc) the amount of their rent will be based on that. For instance one woman who is unemployed and has 4 kids lives in a 4 bedroom apartment and pays $60 a month for rent while another resident who has a full time job pays $300 a month.




Anyway, the clients can stay up to a maximum of 2 years but in doing so they agree to many rules like having a curfew at 10pm, not having cable, having visitors only on certain days and at certain times, completing 20 hours a week every week of either school, work or volunteering, passing apartment inspections, passing drug tests and attending life skill classes 3 times a week amongst other stiplulations.




As I said I'm the overnight guard and my duties include signing people in and out/reporting any infractions of the rules like if someone comes in after curfew or leaves after curfew/i'm in charge of handling any emergency situation that arises etc. though while the shelter was still open i had many more duties like conducting interviews over the phone for the inital intake process of the shelter/providing their basic needs like blankets, food, medicine (we used to take any prescriptions they entered our shelter with and lock them up and they'd have to come to us to access them) and also sorting out donations.





Most of the staff that works at the shelter had studied sociology and psychology in college so I think that would definately be helpful if you'd want to pursue a career in this field. However, there are other employees who started off just by volunteering and then were subsequently hired.

[PunkyP0WER]

By the way, just as an update the underage girl who left at 11:45 pm last night didn't return until 3:06 am

[PunkyP0WER]

Another update, the mother of the daughter who let her 16 year old daughter out late last night is trying to put the blame on me. When staff confronted the mother asking why she let her kid out that late the mother answered she was sleeping and did not know the kid was out and thats a bold faced lie because just before the teen left i had to help out another resident who got locked out of her apartment, this resident lives right next to the mother and the daughter and i could hear the mother and daughter talking to each other through their door. she claimed what i heard was the tv but it was NOT. i'm so sick of these liars here.

[Chocoholic]

I hope you find another job soon. Sad that there have to be so many people like her in this world.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by PunkyP0WER

Another update, the mother of the daughter who let her 16 year old daughter out late last night is trying to put the blame on me. When staff confronted the mother asking why she let her kid out that late the mother answered she was sleeping and did not know the kid was out and thats a bold faced lie because just before the teen left i had to help out another resident who got locked out of her apartment, this resident lives right next to the mother and the daughter and i could hear the mother and daughter talking to each other through their door. she claimed what i heard was the tv but it was NOT. i'm so sick of these liars here.

That's just sick. I despise people like that; nothing is ever their fault because society is sooooo mean to them.