no show

I had an appointment with Kristi Cruz, shelter manager, this afternoon between 5 pm and 6 pm. When I arrived, staff told me that she had left at 2:30 p.m. I told them I was going to the library and asked for her to call me if she returned. She never contacted me.

Bedtime and quiet hours not being enforced

I woke by two adults from different rooms talking in the hallway (before quiet hours end at 7 am). One of them told me that she does not get points for her child being up after 9 pm at night. She said she’s told as “long as her child isn’t downstairs or outside and if she is she just gets a warning.” (Staff issue 3 points for the bedtime violation to other families; after receiving 20 points a family is kicked out to the streets; IF they consistently enforced this there are a number of families that would have been kicked out after one week!! The maximum scheduled family stay is four months)

She said that if they “don’t like a particular family, that’s it.”

7 year old cannot find mom

Seven year old child in room 7 is standing in the hallway saying, “Mom?” It's after 9:30 at night!

Bedtime

3 guests have their children still awake and downstairs or outside. It is 9:21 p.m. Room 1 adult and child (under age 12) are outside. Room 1 child is up every night very late. She has been in other person’s rooms as late as 11 pm. They have been here for a few weeks. If staff had enforced the bedtime rule (children in bed by 9 pm) she would have received 3 points every night in one week for a total of 21 points, thereby kicking her out. It appears that points are not enforced consistently and only used when staff wants to exercise power and control over a particular client.

Preschooler mad about being homeless

My child is crying because she is upset we had to come here after the adult we were living with died and her children changed their mind about us living there and kicked us out (the house was then vacant for months). She’s been very upset about this for a long time.

Forced relocation and homelessness has been hard on her.

Room to spare?

A guest said that two other guests recently spent a night at a hotel together. Apparently even though they have separate rooms here, they sometimes share a room at night.

Washing clothes

I am washing clothes and need to dry them. All staff know that I go to sleep at 9:30 p.m. At 9 p.m. another resident emptied the dryer so I can dry my clothes. A staff member says, “I need to remind you to not wash your clothes so late.” (completely disregarding my day full of appointments and the fact that we have one assigned day to wash clothes). The “reminder” felt condescending. The dryer took two hours to dry the flannel sheets! Perhaps the issue is the dryer; not a person who deserves to be treated with dignity.