 |
| Is this too much to ask today? This is not a police-state? |
Thanks to her and the court process, the facility became updated on handicap ramps, with a new ramp built, new handrails down to the basement, and together, we helped raise awareness about the A/C yearly leakage concerns. Also together, we got the MCH Senior Therapeutic Garden project off the ground during the COVID lockdown when everyone was stressed out.
Today, BP helps me with the project; she sends me these lovely sustainable poster project illustrations. I need to post some here. One was a "Butterfly-Friendly Garden" with all the different flowers they like: Butterfly bush, coneflower, marigold, lavender, etc.
But that was not the reason for this update. There are still some critical issues around here, because Chinatown will always be a "go-to" for "excitement" and that includes some "red-light district" type activity. The Patricia Handy Shelter, where I had to stay for a year, has re-opened after some repairs and rennovation. Now it is a shelter for both men and women. (It was initially only for women, then during Covid it was primarily for men, now it is co-ed).
So only a block away there is a four-story homeless shelter, and the people typically must be out by 7am, and can only return at 4pm. The rest of the day they have to go somewhere, and often it is the MLK Library or other libraries in the area, unless they are also working.
Often word gets out from the colorful people here that they should try knocking on doors; they sit on the steps of the church and/or rectory; some of them are seriously "investigating" the premises. Its only because we are facing a government building and there are security guards there that we have not had major security issues.
Some of the people here who are in positions of authority even tolerate it, and I was having to raise concerns about the risks of perhaps men fighting one another on the premises, or maybe one of them being from a gang. Believe it or not that gal still gets to stay here, so that is how things typically work out here.
But as I have stated, this is a party town, and it doesn't matter which building, there is a lot of that kind of stuff, maybe more upscale, taking place. One must ask how it accords with the theme of a women's permanent supportive and transitional housing, where the mission is the care and rehabilitation for disabled, formerly abused women.
Once you figuratively are at middle-age or older, the chance for older workers to return to full independent workplace productivity is slim. Even with the AARP often promoting the peptalk that older people are wiser, work efficiently, stay focused, mission serious, more tolerant, have empathy, possess various funds of knowledge, transferable skillsets, are well-rounded, this area generally is saturated with youthful just-graduated workers.
Its why America has not exactly used its resources in the best way. Employers get away with burning out workers, advancing poor managers, focusing on office politics, and allowing corruption to take hold. This was even before the new trend to shuck all human workers and replace them with AI-software or AI-robotics. (They won't notice whether you dye your hair blonde, have cool tattoos, new flip-flops.)
It doesn't make sense for the average worker to lean into that, yet there are engineers whose entire job is "restructuring" to allow HB1 workers to take over the floor. There are workers who are brainwashed to think that if they act like human automatons, they will become the exceptional survivors amid the robots. Afterall, who wants to become homeless...
My opinions don't really matter, but maybe it helps sometimes...
Notes reposted here for human verification by client
Client Satisfaction Survey
Catholic Charities, Mount Carmel House
1. Length of Stay in the Program 5+ years
2. I am satisfied with my case management services
Response - Minimal Participation
Explanation - I do receive case management service offsite in the form of career and health counseling as well as spiritual counseling and psychological counseling. Ms. Paula, while skilled with English, has a very different worldview. In the past she had presented as quite excitable and/or provocative and/or extremely presumptive as if she has a "supervisory function" over our persons. This is quite different from the people I consult, who are much more based in down-to-earth caring and listening. Their offwork lives and values are perhaps spiritually connected to genuine social service. While we can keep a short conversation, her interests are as if we were not living in a stressful downtown region in the nation's capital. It almost seems like she has the worldview of Good Housekeeping in the suburbs for women of color. Her fascination with used clothing also seems strange. Because of my disability, we have custom clothing made for me, and I have conservative dress tastes. I have to walk around a lot, so I like sturdy shoes, not plastic dress shoes. I do not like clothes that look like they are made for McCall's magazine, used colorful shoes, used sparkly purses, used long-slinky gowns, used blouses and semi-torn jeans, etc. However much it costs, I rather buy my clothing brand new. And also in the past, we had a concern for Covid virus, so it is contradictory that so many used unwashed items are being shipped here to sort. The basement looks like a backroom from the Goodwill Industries Store, and that can present as a distraction for the firemen and maintenance workers in such a messy basement. [There are also concerns about used clothing harboring lice, flea, or roach eggs.]
Another item related and of concern is that on 04/03/25, Ms. Jeannette knocked on the room of #27, Tonya, around noon and she slipped in the room, and presumably had a "long talk" lasting almost an hour with Tonya inside her room with her. There are no specific guidelines against this, but it seems very strange that the Senior Director cannot schedule a talk with Tonya in her office downstairs, and have that meeting downstairs in a more professional setting. Because of the difference in hierarchy it enables manipulation to take place.
3. I understand what is expected of me in this program
Response - Disagree
Explanation - Some ladies are completely skipping their chores. In the past, Ms. Stephanie used to rotate monthly assignments, now she hardly ever does. I have been cleaning bathroom #3 every day for almost three years; meanwhile Bonnie is cleaning Bathroom #2 for at least the past five years with rarely a break. Is this a coincidence that neither of us are the dominant people of color here. We have ten women on this floor. #23 (Sharon) was actually bragging loudly to Bonnie that she never has to clean anything, never has to go to meetings, never has to do anything, because she is such a long-time resident and disabled person, she just gets to do whatever she likes. (And that is true since she is also a bully towards me). We are all disabled, but Robin has been assigned to do the kitchen garbage for at least a whole year, every single day. Because she is light and small, it is hard for her to carry out the kitchen garbage, and on weekends or other times, I end up doing her chore. Meanwhile several women who are not working, still they never have to do any chores, but when they do their chores, they do not do much of anything. For instance the S/he (Kaila) person here does not have to do any chore, but I guess S/he is trying to keep a low profile, since S/he is not officially a female--S/he probably doesn't menstruate for instance, but S/he seems reasonably easy to get along with.
For instance, Joyce is hardly ever sweeping the stairs---hasn't been swept in over a month. I am doing a little of this too now. Ms. Stephanie was supposed to offer cleaning instructions. Hanging signs about how to clean, for women who are semi-literate doesn't cut it. One time several years ago, Ms. Stephanie took residents on a tour to show how to properly clean. The reason I mention this is because when Joyce does clean, she uses Chlorox to scrub the stairs. It makes the staircase very wet, but worse, the Chlorox strips the varnish down so that now the stairs barely have any varnish at all on them, and are stripped bare to the grain of the wood, which makes it more prone to rotting. There is no need to use Chlorox anywhere except appliances. I know about this because I used to work at Merry Maids for about 6 months, and also was shown how to clean by various other living situations, including in college sharing house-cleaning duties in a room-renting situation.
4. I understand what is expected of me according to my lease or rental agreement
Response - Agree
5. I know how to file a complaint about the program if I have one.
Response - Neutral
Explanation - The staff were very good about responding to a walk-in request or two the last month or so. However filing a formal complaint (Service Recipient Grievance Form) is overly complicated and can even backfire, causing the person who files the complaint stress and difficulty. I understand it helps keep the staff busy, gives them something to discuss, however, where real behavorial issues exist, it has in the past not resulted in any significant change. Elle may have calmed down a little, but she is still highly erratic; everytime she cleans the TV room, she moves or relocates or just throws things away that she does not like. She has done this with vases in Bathroom #3, in the TV room with a number of items. Other people simply don't care about who has to clean up after them; for instance, they will not use any ash tray can no matter if it is right in front of them; they will not even throw the paper towel in the garbage can but just toss it on the floor; they will not flush the toilet after themselves; wash their own dishes; leave the side door unlocked, etc. So it doesn't matter how many signs are hung up, unless you talk to the people, tell them your expectations, and communicate verbally, people do not pay attention to the many signs hung up inside the house. And there are way too many signs, such as at least six up to seven on each exit door, signs near or on every appliance, signs in the bathroom, lots of leaflets and notices in the dining area, signs outside as well, yet nobody pays attention it seems.
6. I understand the process for requesting reasonable accommodation within the program
Response - Agree
7. I know how to request language translation and interpretation services within the program if or when needed.
Response - Agree
8. I am provided with the resources and referrals that best fit my needs and help me achieve my goals
Response - Agree
Explanation - The caseworker has sort of come to a compromise with regard to activities versus resources and referrals. It seemed in the past that she had the "art and social" type activities as a priority over our actual case needs. She seems to be more attune to our needs as very low income and disabled women. She is only using one table in the dining room and the bulletin board above to set out critical resources: meal opportunities, discounted shopping, healthcare, anti-human-trafficking, special events, month-of. Last month she picked up a booklet of meatless healthy quick meal menus, and that was very germane to our needs. In fact, I decided to include it in Mount Carmel House menu binder, since the healthy protein shakes and such are very trendy right now. The fact that these meals are quick and easy to prepare matters greatly because of so many women having to share one kitchen.
She/they also purchased a new air fryer which is pretty popular among the residents, and hung a sign on proper refrigeration of foods, since one resident has to have at least two bags in the middle shelf of the refrigerator plus cooked food in pots, and the meat and such will dribble blood down onto other peoples bags and food on the lower shelf, but because she is always in a rush, she would not care about another resident's bloodied up bags.
9. My case manager and other program staff treat me with respect.
Response - Agree
Explanation - I was able to discuss our community garden ideas with Ms. Jeannette recently, and she was very supportive, and we were thinking that maybe a Spring Cleaning Day or something along those lines might be a fun outdoor activity. I told Ms. Jeannette that gardening is not gratuitous. I pick up all the litter and cigarette butts along the frontage road, also the patio, and empty the cigarette cans, since AM has left (and even before when she was not doing her chore which was quite frequently). Then I do some gardening of herbs which are useful and meant to share with the entire house. Because of cutbacks in church staff, I was also helping with weeding sometimes.
10. I feel confident voicing my needs and concerns to my case manager and other program staff
Response - Neutral
Explanation - Because of favoritism here, and being an Asian minority it is not easy to explain what is going on sometimes. I cannot just report Sharon recently acting up on me; I warned her myself that God does not like to hear her cussing me out just because I asked if I could reach for a pot in the kitchen. She also was cussing at me and acting very surly when she sees me as if to intimidate me, which is quite ridiculous. So sometimes, I am not sure the staff can see us each as individuals, rather than free-associating with a dominant group and over-compensating for their misfortunes in life. We are all misfortunate, have faced trauma, calamity, and that kind of stuff but we still deserve to have the right to privacy. Just because I do not appear to have bad days does not mean I don't have days when things are not going well for me personally or healthwise, and there is some suffering involved also.
11. My case manager is easy to reach and responds to my needs in a timely manner.
Response- Neutral
12. Meetings with my case manager are informative and productive
Response - Neutral
13. My case manager assists me if I have maintenance concerns in my unit
Response - Agree
Catholic Charities, Mount Carmel House
1. Length of Stay in the Program 5+ years
2. I am satisfied with my case management services
Response - Minimal Participation
Explanation - I do receive case management service offsite in the form of career and health counseling as well as spiritual counseling and psychological counseling. Ms. Paula, while skilled with English, has a very different worldview. In the past she had presented as quite excitable and/or provocative and/or extremely presumptive as if she has a "supervisory function" over our persons. This is quite different from the people I consult, who are much more based in down-to-earth caring and listening. Their offwork lives and values are perhaps spiritually connected to genuine social service. While we can keep a short conversation, her interests are as if we were not living in a stressful downtown region in the nation's capital. It almost seems like she has the worldview of Good Housekeeping in the suburbs for women of color. Her fascination with used clothing also seems strange. Because of my disability, we have custom clothing made for me, and I have conservative dress tastes. I have to walk around a lot, so I like sturdy shoes, not plastic dress shoes. I do not like clothes that look like they are made for McCall's magazine, used colorful shoes, used sparkly purses, used long-slinky gowns, used blouses and semi-torn jeans, etc. However much it costs, I rather buy my clothing brand new. And also in the past, we had a concern for Covid virus, so it is contradictory that so many used unwashed items are being shipped here to sort. The basement looks like a backroom from the Goodwill Industries Store, and that can present as a distraction for the firemen and maintenance workers in such a messy basement. [There are also concerns about used clothing harboring lice, flea, or roach eggs.]
Another item related and of concern is that on 04/03/25, Ms. Jeannette knocked on the room of #27, Tonya, around noon and she slipped in the room, and presumably had a "long talk" lasting almost an hour with Tonya inside her room with her. There are no specific guidelines against this, but it seems very strange that the Senior Director cannot schedule a talk with Tonya in her office downstairs, and have that meeting downstairs in a more professional setting. Because of the difference in hierarchy it enables manipulation to take place.
3. I understand what is expected of me in this program
Response - Disagree
Explanation - Some ladies are completely skipping their chores. In the past, Ms. Stephanie used to rotate monthly assignments, now she hardly ever does. I have been cleaning bathroom #3 every day for almost three years; meanwhile Bonnie is cleaning Bathroom #2 for at least the past five years with rarely a break. Is this a coincidence that neither of us are the dominant people of color here. We have ten women on this floor. #23 (Sharon) was actually bragging loudly to Bonnie that she never has to clean anything, never has to go to meetings, never has to do anything, because she is such a long-time resident and disabled person, she just gets to do whatever she likes. (And that is true since she is also a bully towards me). We are all disabled, but Robin has been assigned to do the kitchen garbage for at least a whole year, every single day. Because she is light and small, it is hard for her to carry out the kitchen garbage, and on weekends or other times, I end up doing her chore. Meanwhile several women who are not working, still they never have to do any chores, but when they do their chores, they do not do much of anything. For instance the S/he (Kaila) person here does not have to do any chore, but I guess S/he is trying to keep a low profile, since S/he is not officially a female--S/he probably doesn't menstruate for instance, but S/he seems reasonably easy to get along with.
For instance, Joyce is hardly ever sweeping the stairs---hasn't been swept in over a month. I am doing a little of this too now. Ms. Stephanie was supposed to offer cleaning instructions. Hanging signs about how to clean, for women who are semi-literate doesn't cut it. One time several years ago, Ms. Stephanie took residents on a tour to show how to properly clean. The reason I mention this is because when Joyce does clean, she uses Chlorox to scrub the stairs. It makes the staircase very wet, but worse, the Chlorox strips the varnish down so that now the stairs barely have any varnish at all on them, and are stripped bare to the grain of the wood, which makes it more prone to rotting. There is no need to use Chlorox anywhere except appliances. I know about this because I used to work at Merry Maids for about 6 months, and also was shown how to clean by various other living situations, including in college sharing house-cleaning duties in a room-renting situation.
4. I understand what is expected of me according to my lease or rental agreement
Response - Agree
5. I know how to file a complaint about the program if I have one.
Response - Neutral
Explanation - The staff were very good about responding to a walk-in request or two the last month or so. However filing a formal complaint (Service Recipient Grievance Form) is overly complicated and can even backfire, causing the person who files the complaint stress and difficulty. I understand it helps keep the staff busy, gives them something to discuss, however, where real behavorial issues exist, it has in the past not resulted in any significant change. Elle may have calmed down a little, but she is still highly erratic; everytime she cleans the TV room, she moves or relocates or just throws things away that she does not like. She has done this with vases in Bathroom #3, in the TV room with a number of items. Other people simply don't care about who has to clean up after them; for instance, they will not use any ash tray can no matter if it is right in front of them; they will not even throw the paper towel in the garbage can but just toss it on the floor; they will not flush the toilet after themselves; wash their own dishes; leave the side door unlocked, etc. So it doesn't matter how many signs are hung up, unless you talk to the people, tell them your expectations, and communicate verbally, people do not pay attention to the many signs hung up inside the house. And there are way too many signs, such as at least six up to seven on each exit door, signs near or on every appliance, signs in the bathroom, lots of leaflets and notices in the dining area, signs outside as well, yet nobody pays attention it seems.
6. I understand the process for requesting reasonable accommodation within the program
Response - Agree
7. I know how to request language translation and interpretation services within the program if or when needed.
Response - Agree
8. I am provided with the resources and referrals that best fit my needs and help me achieve my goals
Response - Agree
Explanation - The caseworker has sort of come to a compromise with regard to activities versus resources and referrals. It seemed in the past that she had the "art and social" type activities as a priority over our actual case needs. She seems to be more attune to our needs as very low income and disabled women. She is only using one table in the dining room and the bulletin board above to set out critical resources: meal opportunities, discounted shopping, healthcare, anti-human-trafficking, special events, month-of. Last month she picked up a booklet of meatless healthy quick meal menus, and that was very germane to our needs. In fact, I decided to include it in Mount Carmel House menu binder, since the healthy protein shakes and such are very trendy right now. The fact that these meals are quick and easy to prepare matters greatly because of so many women having to share one kitchen.
She/they also purchased a new air fryer which is pretty popular among the residents, and hung a sign on proper refrigeration of foods, since one resident has to have at least two bags in the middle shelf of the refrigerator plus cooked food in pots, and the meat and such will dribble blood down onto other peoples bags and food on the lower shelf, but because she is always in a rush, she would not care about another resident's bloodied up bags.
9. My case manager and other program staff treat me with respect.
Response - Agree
Explanation - I was able to discuss our community garden ideas with Ms. Jeannette recently, and she was very supportive, and we were thinking that maybe a Spring Cleaning Day or something along those lines might be a fun outdoor activity. I told Ms. Jeannette that gardening is not gratuitous. I pick up all the litter and cigarette butts along the frontage road, also the patio, and empty the cigarette cans, since AM has left (and even before when she was not doing her chore which was quite frequently). Then I do some gardening of herbs which are useful and meant to share with the entire house. Because of cutbacks in church staff, I was also helping with weeding sometimes.
10. I feel confident voicing my needs and concerns to my case manager and other program staff
Response - Neutral
Explanation - Because of favoritism here, and being an Asian minority it is not easy to explain what is going on sometimes. I cannot just report Sharon recently acting up on me; I warned her myself that God does not like to hear her cussing me out just because I asked if I could reach for a pot in the kitchen. She also was cussing at me and acting very surly when she sees me as if to intimidate me, which is quite ridiculous. So sometimes, I am not sure the staff can see us each as individuals, rather than free-associating with a dominant group and over-compensating for their misfortunes in life. We are all misfortunate, have faced trauma, calamity, and that kind of stuff but we still deserve to have the right to privacy. Just because I do not appear to have bad days does not mean I don't have days when things are not going well for me personally or healthwise, and there is some suffering involved also.
11. My case manager is easy to reach and responds to my needs in a timely manner.
Response- Neutral
12. Meetings with my case manager are informative and productive
Response - Neutral
13. My case manager assists me if I have maintenance concerns in my unit
Response - Agree
