Dear City Council,
Last week we missed the fact that both Best Western (Stone Creek) and the Tamarac family shelter contracts with the Salvation Army are also up for renewal. Just as with Crossroads and Doubletree, we ask you to vote no and not keep the Salvation Army as the provider for these sites.
In our survey with residents of Best Western, again “staff” was the top reason given for not feeling safe. Residents’ frequently express unfair treatment by staff.
This unfair treatment includes many people who are kicked out for no good reason. One woman we assisted had her service dog kicked out for supposedly biting another dog, but even the other dog owners admitted this did not happen and they kicked the dog out anyway with no investigation. The woman, who has cancer and seizures, then stayed on the streets with her dog. Another man was kicked out for “arson” when he was just smoking weed in his room as he had for over a year of living there. Another woman was kicked out for killing bugs in her room in a way staff did not approve of, then once on the streets she was raped when trying to find somewhere to sleep.
Multiple residents have been forced to stay in unsafe rooms, with black mold, asbestos, or rodents, and refused the basic accommodation of being moved to a different room.
This treatment by staff is under the Salvation Army’s leadership and it is putting people’s lives in serious danger.
Here are some quotes from residents of Best Western.
“I got my rights violated by the police, taken to jail. I called and wrote the shelters soon as it happened no one responded. My family called and they wouldn’t give them no information. They just took my stuff all my property out the room. The room was cleaned and everything was neat. All they did was take my stuff. I filed a police report. I need some type of compensation for my things.”
“As of December 19th 2024 they moved me from a room that had mice in it and a fridge not working into a new room that had the walls torn out when I moved into that room,… This whole entire Building located at 4590 Quebec street has been known to have Asbestos,.. Because the building itself was built in: built in 1974 it is important to note that buildings conducted prior to 1981 are required to have warnings about Asbestos,.. And there are construction workers working on each level here on each floor with signs saying careful walking through the Hallways there’s Asbestos,…
I was Exposed to what I believe was both Asbestos and Black Mold,..
I am providing 2 Medical doctors notes from two different Medical Doctors saying that they recommend that I move out of the room I’m currently in and into a better room.
I am also providing a written letter from: Antonio D. – DPHE Environmental Public Health Investigator III Pasquarelli Saying that he believes I should also be moved out of the room i’m in and placed in a better Environment/ Room,…. “
“Resources should come faster – told us we get housing, people with medical needs not getting help faster, been there 120 days & yet to talk to anyone [about] what I’m doing.”
Residents of the Tamarac Family shelter also are suffering under the management of the Salvation Army. While families are often grateful to get into this shelter given the massive waitlist and desperate need for family shelter, the operations at the shelter create serious issues for residents. This includes, again, kicking families out without cause. One family we work with was kicked out of Tamarac for being “combative” when they were absolutely not combative! This was a racist act by staff against a black family.
Here is a longer quote from a family residing at the Tamarac shelter.
“We are a family of 5, 2 disabled parents and 3 children. We are domestic violence survivors, our reason for being in shelter. We are in one of the SA shelters and being treated horribly because of our disabilities.
They refuse to help with trash, laundry, we haven’t had clean clothes in over 2 months. Most days the food is not edible. This place is falling apart, holes in the walls, trash everywhere, violence, we get pushed, knocked down, roaches, bedbugs, spiters, etc. there is no AC, and I am heat intollerant and our room is 85-90 degrees all the time. They almost kicked us out for cleaning our room, we had a few trash bags and were cleaning, litterally. We are afraid they will kick us out at anytime as the staff yells at us at least once a day for something like having packages delivered, asking for help with litterally anything. They said they’d help with housing and have done nothing. We’ve been here for over 2 months and they have done nothing for us.
There site claims it is a safe, how is this safe with broken stuff everywhere, holes in the walls, trash everywhere, drugs everywhere,
healing? how is this healing when we can’t even get laundry done?
support we need? how in the world does this indicate support?
most experienced service providers? how? if they treat people like this, yelling at us, and providing nothing?
mental/behavioral health? where is that. not here.
case management, when you can get it, which we waited over 7 weeks for a cm who has done nothing for us.
job training? where is that? not here.
I just wanna cry. I just wanna be anywhere but here but have nowhere to go…”
Hear the cries of residents in Salvation Army shelters. Do not renew these contracts. Ensure providers who manage our shelters have the true ability to care for vulnerable individuals and families. Not just be big enough to front money and cover their failures.
Sincerely,
Housekeys Action Network Denver
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