An ongoing police investigation of The Shelter, a Tallahassee-based homeless shelter, was sparked from a blog posted by City Walk Urban Mission owner Renee Miller in which she described her uncomfortable experience staying there. According to the mission of City Walk, their “primary goal is to respond to the needs of the people in urban areas of Tallahassee and its surrounding areas, reaching those who are described as ‘unreachable’ and ‘impossible,’ including the homeless, prostitutes, drug addicts and ex-offenders.” However, according to Miller, many of the homeless men told her how their blankets or backpacks were taken away from them, which for some carried everything they had including important documents such as birth certificates. When Miller began to hear these numerous complaints of The Shelter from some of its clients with whom she works, she felt compelled to go undercover at The Shelter and discover the truth.
Miller disguised herself with an auburn wig which was covered up with a baseball cap before checking into The Shelter. She explained the process in her blog that upon check-in, a staff member assured her that she wouldn’t want to stay at a place like this and she should come stay at his house. He handed her his number and said, “Call me and we can hook up later tonight.” This is inappropriate behavior, especially since many of the women who come to the shelter are extremely vulnerable. Unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about it and when Miller reported it to the police nothing could be done. She continued to reach out to clients of The Shelter and invited them to share their experiences. They told her that in order to get laundry privileges many women had to perform sexual acts for the staff members or else their name would get put on the bottom of the list, leaving their chances of getting to do laundry very unlikely that night. After further talking to the clients, it became apparent to Miller that the staff of The Shelter uses threats to keep clients from speaking up. For example, someone at the shelter made a complaint that the staff members would threaten to kick them out and then call the Department of Children and Families who would take their children away since they had nowhere to live. As Miller began to see red bites on the arms of children and mothers who live at The Shelter, it also became evident that there was a bed bug infestation that hadn’t been addressed as well.
Since the investigation, two staff members have been fired and the executive director has been placed on paid leave. The United Way of the Big Bend funds The Shelter and after getting news of what was going on, they initiated an investigation and came out with a 15 page report. The report explains that The Shelter does indeed have strict sexual harassment policies in place. However, staff members receive no type of training before they start working. Had there been training that taught staff members how to handle certain situations or notify a staff manager when they believed some sort of harassment was taking place, the encounter Miller had with one of the staff members might not have occurred. After the investigation, the Board of Directors had all agreed to begin training for staff members and volunteers right away as outlined in the report.This exposé should not be a representation of all homeless shelters, but it certainly should be a reality check for our city officials that shelters need to be checked more often. We may think that this problem doesn’t affect us, that this was something that the city of Tallahassee should take care of, but in reality this problem could potentially hit close to home.
In a 2012 report done by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, it was found that Tampa was the metro area with the highest homelessness rate, surpassing New Orleans and Las Vegas in the ratings. For every 10,000 citizens residing in Tampa, 57 of them are homeless. Shelters like Metropolitan Ministries and the Good Samaritan Inn provide a temporary home to these people.
What The Shelter did was despicable as they not only took advantage of their clients and the people who donated, but also took advantage of the fact that they were a tax deductible institution. However, this shouldn’t make possible donors or volunteers lose all hope in shelters. Personally, I have a hard time donating monetarily to charities because I’m not always sure if what I am giving is going directly towards the cause I’m trying to support. And after reading Miller’s blog, I’m not sure certain monetary donations are actually being put to good use. If you do plan on donating to a shelter, my advice would be to personally check out the shelter yourself beforehand. The P.E.A.C.E. volunteers at the University of Tampa regularly plan trips to the Metropolitan Ministries to help out. Even if you find that you don’t have the money to donate, your time volunteering could be just as beneficial. Treating the clients with respect is one of the main qualities every shelter should have.
I agree with Miller when she stated towards the end of her blog, “I don’t believe in coddling people. It should not be ‘easy’ to be homeless or that takes away the incentive of finding a way out.” Of course, a homeless shelter shouldn’t be a five star hotel or else the people who live there will lose the motivation to find work and become independent. However, they deserve the same dignity as a non-homeless person and should not be taken advantage of because of the state they are in. Rules must be enforced and as much as we’d all hope that the motives of volunteers and staff members are pure. The Shelter is a perfect example that those in authority can at times take advantage of their power. It is crucial that those working for a shelter are trained on what is appropriate behavior toward a shelter’s resident and what is not.