Homeless Women Being Mistreated At Open Door Women's Shelter

During the media blitz that I was the subject of this past December, it was said that I stopped police harassment at a certain women's shelter. While that assertion is substantially correct, the facts are a little off. Women who stay at the Open Door Shelter were leaving at 7 AM (when the shelter closes) and buying breakfast at the food court on the first floor of the Judiciary Square government building (441 4th Street NW, Washington, DC)

Even though the food court seats 200 people easily and hardly ever has 50 or more people in it, the women were being told to leave by security -- sometimes right after they'd purchased their food. One particular cop was especially notorious for his crass manner in dealing with these women. due to my intervention, he has been re-assigned and the homeless women are able to eat in peace and stay warm in this de facto shelter -- to get the homeless 2-for-1: buy food and/or drink and also benefit from the warmth.

Well, now the mistreatment is coming from the shelter staff. Mistreatment of the homeless by the shelter staff that is entrusted with their care is nothing new in DC shelters -- not even at the Open Door Shelter which is operated by New Hope Ministries. But, the staff seems to have sunken to a new low. They are throwing out the women's bare necessities -- even their shampoo, soap and important papers.

Several weeks ago, a certain homeless woman told me that she had been ordered to downsize -- to get rid of some of her belongings. If she didn't, she risked losing her bed. She told me that open containers of shampoo, lotion and liquid soap were being confiscated from the women and thrown out.

She also explained that the rules previously stated that she could store her belongings in her locker and leave up to 2 bags on her bed when she left in the morning, but that the bags that she takes with her are now counted as the 2 bags that are allowed to be outside of her locker. Though I know this woman to be a bit of a pack rat, there is substance to her claim that the rules are being changed without staff going through the proper procedures to do so.

Any time that a shelter rule is changed, the Dept. of Human services is supposed to be notified and to O.K. the rule change. The rule is not supposed to take effect for 90 days and the shelter residents are supposed to sign a paper stating that they have been made aware of the new rule and understand it.

This morning another woman stopped me to give a more in-depth explanation of the mistreatment that is occurring in this shelter. she said, as the first one did, that open bottles of hygiene products were not being allowed, making it difficult for women to keep themselves clean. This reminds me of airport security checks for which the TSA has become infamous. But she added that she is no longer allowed to sell her discount sodas for 50 cents to residents at the shelter which has no soda machines.

Many of the women at the shelter sell Street Sense, DC's street paper about poverty and homelessness, at various intersections throughout the DC Metro area. (They buy it for 35 cents and sell it for a dollar.) However, they are being told that they may not bring papers into the shelter. This, of course, means that they must dispose of papers that they may have spent their last bit of money on if they want a bed. And so, even those who are making an effort to get it together are being held down by the shelter staff, of all people.

The woman who stopped me this morning implored me to write this blog post and inform people about how the women at Open Door are being treated. She was quite passionate as she explained that she really wanted to see this issue publicized and addressed. that said, this blog post is a promise kept, though it wasn't up by 5 PM like I had said it would be.

She also stressed the need for sensitivity training for the staff. Many of the homeless and their advocates have asked for this many times over the years. The training sessions have occurred from time to time, but to no avail. After making broad statements about the need for sensitivity among the staff, she gave an example of a particularly insensitive occurrence that took place this morning.

A certain staffer named Ms. Blackwell was seen pacing back and forth this morning telling the women repeatedly that they needed to be gone by 7 AM. She came across like a drill sergeant and seemed quite thrilled by the prospect of putting the women out into the weather, with the temperature at that time being in the 30's. Granted the hypothermia alert was called of by Ms. Blackwell's higher-ups, it would have satisfied the residents to simply hear her express remorse for having to put them out, rather than excitement.

The shelter recently got a new director named Ms. Johnson who apparently has a property at 1610 7th Street NW which is worth $750,000. It is when homeless service providers can afford such extravagant items as this that they are seen as "poverty pimps". Though the informant didn't say much about Ms. Johnson, she made it clear that Ms. Johnson doesn't seem to be the nicest person in the world.

Then there is Ann Kirby, the former director of Open Door. I've heard many complaints about her from many women over the past 2 years. She needs her own blog post in order for me to adequately explain all that she has done to hurt the women. I personally have had someone from the Dept. of Human Services go down and talk to residents about how she was treating them. At one time, the women were strongly considering circulating a petition to call for her ouster. For some strange reason, Ann Kirby's name is showing up on the write-ups that the women are receiving (for things as miniscule as having too many possessions). But Ms. Kirby hasn't set foot in the building in over a year.

Even the security was complained about. The story was told of a certain resident who, though being petite, was quite obnoxious. She was known to antagonize many people. One day she was confronted by a much larger woman who threatened her with a broom. The security guard approached as if to break up the altercation, but upon seeing who was about to be attacked, turned around and went back to her desk.

On yet another occasion, one woman picked up another and threw her into the wall. The indentation is still there, as the wall has yet to be repaired. The attacker was not jailed or prosecuted. instead, she was allowed to transfer to the John L. Young Women's shelter which is on the other end of the same building and was recently taken over by New Hope ministries, the same people that run Open Door.

And so, you can see that the homeless women at the Open Door Shelter have a long litany of complaints about the way in which the shelter is managed by the church. One would hope that those bearing the name of Christ would do better. (I guess the pedophile priests should've taught us otherwise.) Nonetheless, I will post this on facebook and Twitter. I will also send it to people in the media and in DC Government. I hope that something is done soon. Due to the relationship that I have with the women at this shelter, I'm certain that I will be told of any changes, good or bad, that occur. Let's see what happens under the new mayor, Vincent Gray.