It finally happened.
I saw the woman who directs the homeless shelter face-to-face at Wal-mart Saturday.
It was bound to happen sooner or later, as Sheridan is not a vast metropolis where you can get lost in the crowd. Someone in the crowd usually knows your mom, taught you in school, knows your daughter, or just knows your car.
It was she and her husband and maybe an offspring.
She was all smiles and said, “Tim, how AAARRRE you.”
“Fine.”
“We sure miss you at the shelter.”
“Oh, you do not,” I said, smiling (or sneering, I can’t remember).
“Of course we do,” she said.
“Well,” I paused to decide whether to argue, then said, “That’s nice.”
“I really do wish you the best,” she said cheerily.
Since that isn’t a complete sentence, I am supposing she meant “funeral you’ve ever had,” or, “case of some quick and lethal disease.”
At any rate, even a crude, horrible man such as myself can appreciate her civility, even though it was an opaque façade. Even psychos can be nice sometimes. She might have been in a good mood because she just kicked somebody out of the shelter. That really gets her endorphins going.
Had I had the presence of mind (never happens when it needs to) I could have asked:
1. Does this mean you are going to pick up the telephone now, when your caller ID says it’s me?
2. Are going to allow staff to talk to me when I call?
3. Are you going to call the resident to the phone who I want to talk to?
4. Are you going to allow me on the property at the shelter without calling the VA Police to escort me away for trespassing?
5. Are you going to stop grilling residents about whether they have been in contact with Tim Cummings to cause trouble?
Naw, she doesn’t miss me THAT much!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The VOA Sheridan Shelter Song
Sheridan Shelter Song
To the tune of “The Beverly Hillbillies”
Come and listen to a story
‘bout man named Fred,
Asked the Sheridan shelter
if they could spare a bed.
He was told he could stay
and could eat the shelter food,
but from that point on he was treated pretty rude.
Like soil, that is. Vexed was he.
Well, the next thing ya know
He was treated less than fair.
The director always spoke
With a condescending air.
She tripled his load
Of his worries and his strife,
He didn’t know that her ‘help’
Meant she’d overtake his life.
Meg’lomania to the gills, that is. Thinks she’s God. Grooves on pow’r.
His stay wasn’t long
‘cause he couldn’t acquiesce,
when accused of a crime
she demanded he confess.
He was kicked down the road
Cuz she was in a bad mood,
And no one would know
Cuz her actions aren’t reviewed.
(End theme, accelerando)
And now it’s time to say goodbye,
Cuz Fred could never win.
The tilted box that was her world
He could not quite fit in.
Underneath a bridge, he figured, was a better place to be,
Than to put up with the Sher’dan shelter’s ‘hospitality.’
Bye now!
To the tune of “The Beverly Hillbillies”
Come and listen to a story
‘bout man named Fred,
Asked the Sheridan shelter
if they could spare a bed.
He was told he could stay
and could eat the shelter food,
but from that point on he was treated pretty rude.
Like soil, that is. Vexed was he.
Well, the next thing ya know
He was treated less than fair.
The director always spoke
With a condescending air.
She tripled his load
Of his worries and his strife,
He didn’t know that her ‘help’
Meant she’d overtake his life.
Meg’lomania to the gills, that is. Thinks she’s God. Grooves on pow’r.
His stay wasn’t long
‘cause he couldn’t acquiesce,
when accused of a crime
she demanded he confess.
He was kicked down the road
Cuz she was in a bad mood,
And no one would know
Cuz her actions aren’t reviewed.
(End theme, accelerando)
And now it’s time to say goodbye,
Cuz Fred could never win.
The tilted box that was her world
He could not quite fit in.
Underneath a bridge, he figured, was a better place to be,
Than to put up with the Sher’dan shelter’s ‘hospitality.’
Bye now!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
No Follow-Up From Shelter; VOA Guilty of Grant Abuse
A former homeless veteran called me last week and said he needed help in his apartment.
I was happy to oblige ...
... But I also wondered where the VOA Homeless Shelter was with the follow-up on veterans who leave the shelter and find appropriate housing. Their Per Diem grant requires this kind of follow-up. Not happening.
The Federal Government grants them more than $26 per day per veteran. The average vet-per-day count is supposed to stay around 16. Where's my calculator ... that's more than $416 per day. The grant contains certain expectations from the grantee organization, and, try as I might, I can't find where it says, "Sit on your a-- and enjoy the free money."
I was happy to oblige ...
... But I also wondered where the VOA Homeless Shelter was with the follow-up on veterans who leave the shelter and find appropriate housing. Their Per Diem grant requires this kind of follow-up. Not happening.
The Federal Government grants them more than $26 per day per veteran. The average vet-per-day count is supposed to stay around 16. Where's my calculator ... that's more than $416 per day. The grant contains certain expectations from the grantee organization, and, try as I might, I can't find where it says, "Sit on your a-- and enjoy the free money."
Thursday, April 17, 2008
'Human Dignity of Every Person' Not On The Menu At Local Shelter
I have noted during Pope Benedict XVI’s papal visit to the United States, that he has referred several times to “the human dignity of every person.”
It might be thought that it is safe to assume that we do not live within reach, out here in Wyoming, of lapses in this particular area. This is a false assumption.
Our nice town has the potential, or, in the case of the homeless shelter, human dignity issues already in need of addressing.
Any time we care for the vulnerable in our midst, we must hold up the doctrine of the dignity of every person as the standard. Our shelter does this lousily, very lousily.
We must also hold up this doctrine in our nursing homes, our day cares, our medical facilities, our rehabilitative services, the special education components at our schools, our mental health services, our correctional facilities, our alternative schools, our addiction treatment facilities, our youth homes, our probation and parole offices, our courtrooms, our recreational facilities and our social services providers.
Obviously, this doctrine goes wherever people go.
As members of a healthy community, we must be on our toes to guard this human dignity of every person, and not go the way of the Volunteers of American Sheridan Community Homeless Shelter, with its smug dismissive, authoritarian, intrusive, manipulative, counter-productive and controlling ways, which in only the most distorted and twisted of minds would be considered “helping people.”
There is no agency more undignified than the shelter. Any individual or group supporting this shelter is aiding and abetting.
Plenty of dignified works in Sheridan can use your gifts, and will not toss them by the truckloads into the landfill as the shelter did last summer, or make the residents feel like they are either in prison or kindergarten.
It might be thought that it is safe to assume that we do not live within reach, out here in Wyoming, of lapses in this particular area. This is a false assumption.
Our nice town has the potential, or, in the case of the homeless shelter, human dignity issues already in need of addressing.
Any time we care for the vulnerable in our midst, we must hold up the doctrine of the dignity of every person as the standard. Our shelter does this lousily, very lousily.
We must also hold up this doctrine in our nursing homes, our day cares, our medical facilities, our rehabilitative services, the special education components at our schools, our mental health services, our correctional facilities, our alternative schools, our addiction treatment facilities, our youth homes, our probation and parole offices, our courtrooms, our recreational facilities and our social services providers.
Obviously, this doctrine goes wherever people go.
As members of a healthy community, we must be on our toes to guard this human dignity of every person, and not go the way of the Volunteers of American Sheridan Community Homeless Shelter, with its smug dismissive, authoritarian, intrusive, manipulative, counter-productive and controlling ways, which in only the most distorted and twisted of minds would be considered “helping people.”
There is no agency more undignified than the shelter. Any individual or group supporting this shelter is aiding and abetting.
Plenty of dignified works in Sheridan can use your gifts, and will not toss them by the truckloads into the landfill as the shelter did last summer, or make the residents feel like they are either in prison or kindergarten.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Still Here ... Still Noting Weirdness At VOA
1. I have a life … that’s my story and I am sticking to it.
2. My daughter is getting married next month, so we are cleaning the house until the day of.
3. I have had a touch of “blogger’s block.”
4. My temporary job has been kicking my butt.
Please chose one of the numbers above to explain the preceding season of quiet on this here blog.
While I was away …
It seems the Department of Transportation is looking into what looks like a breakage of the law due to a poor management decision by VOA. To save money and avoid inconvenience, the then supervisor of VOA’s Supervision Services (the pee-test people) decided not to certify any of the employees for the use of the breathalyzer.
The DOT apparently thinks this certification is needful, as it is the law.
We mentioned the needfulness of this certification to the supervisor (then the COO) while working there (2006). The matter was let drift away into Don't-Worry-About-It Land.
Last I heard, DOT was looking for names and addresses of all companies using VOA for Commercial Driver’s License testing.
When I was with Supervision Services (before my stint at the homeless shelter watching people get kicked around by the director and staff) we discovered by trial and error that ambient alcohol in the air from cleaning supplies could give the next breath-test person a false positive. Also, one of the Willy Wonka candies will give a false positive. Lord knows what else could pose problems. I bet certification training would have been helpful. It would have been lawful, too.
2. My daughter is getting married next month, so we are cleaning the house until the day of.
3. I have had a touch of “blogger’s block.”
4. My temporary job has been kicking my butt.
Please chose one of the numbers above to explain the preceding season of quiet on this here blog.
While I was away …
It seems the Department of Transportation is looking into what looks like a breakage of the law due to a poor management decision by VOA. To save money and avoid inconvenience, the then supervisor of VOA’s Supervision Services (the pee-test people) decided not to certify any of the employees for the use of the breathalyzer.
The DOT apparently thinks this certification is needful, as it is the law.
We mentioned the needfulness of this certification to the supervisor (then the COO) while working there (2006). The matter was let drift away into Don't-Worry-About-It Land.
Last I heard, DOT was looking for names and addresses of all companies using VOA for Commercial Driver’s License testing.
When I was with Supervision Services (before my stint at the homeless shelter watching people get kicked around by the director and staff) we discovered by trial and error that ambient alcohol in the air from cleaning supplies could give the next breath-test person a false positive. Also, one of the Willy Wonka candies will give a false positive. Lord knows what else could pose problems. I bet certification training would have been helpful. It would have been lawful, too.
Monday, April 7, 2008
What Are You Supposed To Do About All This?
All of this material I have been sharing is just dandy to know, but what are you supposed to do about it?
I suggest any of the following:
Stop donating to the shelter.
Your used clothes, household items, your gift cards, your cash, your time – all of these things are converted into matching fund money for grants that perpetuate the oppression of the homeless in our own backyard. The thrift shops, the Salvation Army, the Advocacy Resource Center, the Lunch Together program, and local churches with outreach ministries to the needy all have a great need for help. None of these is oppressive or abusive toward the people they help.
Write your concern.
If you work with senior citizens, you need to know that plenty of the abused at the shelter are older people.
If you have a heart for military veterans, old and new, the shelter always has a number of men from at least the Vietnam era, if not Korea, and now young guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They get pushed around at the shelter as much as the civilians.
Young families? They come through the shelter, and find themselves held hostage by the director telling them how to raise their children, and added threats to call the Department of Family Services.
Young people trying to get their life on track? These get kicked out rather quickly, I suppose because the director believes they are robust enough to sleep under a bridge without too much damage to health.
Writing the VOA won’t do any good. They still get paid whether you like them or not. Write the Senior Center, write Disabled American Vets, write the VA, write friends in the business community, write your pastor or priest, and write your city councilman or county commissioner, and the mayor, and tell them no more support for authoritarian manhandling of the homeless at the shelter.
Make a move against homelessness in your own way.
You don’t have to undo the shelter in order to make a difference for homeless or under-sheltered people in our town. Try to think in terms of direct help. How can you help someone else? If you spend time with this question open in your mind, the answers will come swimming up to you. I promise.
I suggest any of the following:
Stop donating to the shelter.
Your used clothes, household items, your gift cards, your cash, your time – all of these things are converted into matching fund money for grants that perpetuate the oppression of the homeless in our own backyard. The thrift shops, the Salvation Army, the Advocacy Resource Center, the Lunch Together program, and local churches with outreach ministries to the needy all have a great need for help. None of these is oppressive or abusive toward the people they help.
Write your concern.
If you work with senior citizens, you need to know that plenty of the abused at the shelter are older people.
If you have a heart for military veterans, old and new, the shelter always has a number of men from at least the Vietnam era, if not Korea, and now young guys coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. They get pushed around at the shelter as much as the civilians.
Young families? They come through the shelter, and find themselves held hostage by the director telling them how to raise their children, and added threats to call the Department of Family Services.
Young people trying to get their life on track? These get kicked out rather quickly, I suppose because the director believes they are robust enough to sleep under a bridge without too much damage to health.
Writing the VOA won’t do any good. They still get paid whether you like them or not. Write the Senior Center, write Disabled American Vets, write the VA, write friends in the business community, write your pastor or priest, and write your city councilman or county commissioner, and the mayor, and tell them no more support for authoritarian manhandling of the homeless at the shelter.
Make a move against homelessness in your own way.
You don’t have to undo the shelter in order to make a difference for homeless or under-sheltered people in our town. Try to think in terms of direct help. How can you help someone else? If you spend time with this question open in your mind, the answers will come swimming up to you. I promise.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Senator Enzi Responds To My Letter
On March 6, I posted here a letter written to the Veterans Affairs contact office for a large grant the Volunteers of America Sheridan Community Homeless Shelter gets each year, even though VOA fails to address itself to the expectations of the grant.
This letter caused enough of a ruckus at the main office, behind Wendy’s, that the organization thought it prudent to ban me from setting foot on any of their properties.
On March 12, I posted a letter I sent to U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), requesting he do what he could in light of my concerns.
Here is Senator Enzi’s response to my letter, which was postmarked yesterday and received today:
“Dear Tim,
“Thank you for your recent letter concerning your complaints against the Volunteers of America Wyoming-Montana operation of the Sheridan Community Shelter. I appreciate hearing from you.
“In an effort to be of every possible assistance to you, I have contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs asking that they review the situation you described. As soon as they have responded to me, I will be in touch with you again.
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be of service to you.
“Sincerely,
“Michael B. Enzi
“United States Senator”
I appreciate the Senator’s responsiveness.
This letter caused enough of a ruckus at the main office, behind Wendy’s, that the organization thought it prudent to ban me from setting foot on any of their properties.
On March 12, I posted a letter I sent to U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo), requesting he do what he could in light of my concerns.
Here is Senator Enzi’s response to my letter, which was postmarked yesterday and received today:
“Dear Tim,
“Thank you for your recent letter concerning your complaints against the Volunteers of America Wyoming-Montana operation of the Sheridan Community Shelter. I appreciate hearing from you.
“In an effort to be of every possible assistance to you, I have contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs asking that they review the situation you described. As soon as they have responded to me, I will be in touch with you again.
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be of service to you.
“Sincerely,
“Michael B. Enzi
“United States Senator”
I appreciate the Senator’s responsiveness.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Shelter Features Oppression, Residents 'Pay' By Putting Up With It
Don’t think I haven’t wondered if I should have kept my mouth shut at work at the homeless shelter.
Maybe I should have stood idly by for longer than I did while the shelter director imposed her bizarre brand of behavior modification via control and fear and veiled threats.
It does something to your spirit when you see this day after day – people treated poorly by an authority-addicted crazoid. There is only one word for it: Oppression.
Hit your thesaurus key on Microsoft Word (shift F7, I use mine a lot) with “oppression” highlighted. You will see these synonyms: Domination, Coercion, Cruelty, Tyranny, Repression, Subjugation. Not a very friendly list. Other words in this family include Intimidation, Bullying, Meanness, Duress and Defeat.
Business-As-Usual persists at the Volunteers of American Sheridan Community Homeless Shelter, even though this dysfunctional family of words describe the reality with which vulnerable people live at the shelter.
Don’t get me wrong – homeless persons are not weak or puny underlings. They are fabulous people with deep spirits and a great deal to offer the world around them.
They are, however, vulnerable, as they are in the midst of a critical need for a place to live, a job, a safe place, some stability. They are made all the more vulnerable because they must pay “rent” at the shelter by obeying and bending to the whims of a capricious director and at least one of her staff.
“Oppression” as a word is ugly, but you should see it in action at the shelter.
Usually, oppression of the poor is something folks around here would have to see on the news. But thanks to the shelter, all we have to do is walk up the hill and peek inside.
Maybe I should have stood idly by for longer than I did while the shelter director imposed her bizarre brand of behavior modification via control and fear and veiled threats.
It does something to your spirit when you see this day after day – people treated poorly by an authority-addicted crazoid. There is only one word for it: Oppression.
Hit your thesaurus key on Microsoft Word (shift F7, I use mine a lot) with “oppression” highlighted. You will see these synonyms: Domination, Coercion, Cruelty, Tyranny, Repression, Subjugation. Not a very friendly list. Other words in this family include Intimidation, Bullying, Meanness, Duress and Defeat.
Business-As-Usual persists at the Volunteers of American Sheridan Community Homeless Shelter, even though this dysfunctional family of words describe the reality with which vulnerable people live at the shelter.
Don’t get me wrong – homeless persons are not weak or puny underlings. They are fabulous people with deep spirits and a great deal to offer the world around them.
They are, however, vulnerable, as they are in the midst of a critical need for a place to live, a job, a safe place, some stability. They are made all the more vulnerable because they must pay “rent” at the shelter by obeying and bending to the whims of a capricious director and at least one of her staff.
“Oppression” as a word is ugly, but you should see it in action at the shelter.
Usually, oppression of the poor is something folks around here would have to see on the news. But thanks to the shelter, all we have to do is walk up the hill and peek inside.
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