12/3/09

shelters in boston

http://www.mnip-net.org/cambridge/cambridgeRDB.nsf/printview/03-02-054010

This is where I am currently staying.

Nancy who is in administration there has listened to a complaint about a staff member who who was abusive. Most of the staff there really seem to care about what they do. There is one woman there who is especially good who is on during the afternoon time she is young and seems very smart.

There is also a place to go during the day called On the Rise just for women.

I wish I knew about these places before instead of torturing myself in places like WOODS MULLEN and Pine St Inn.

PINE ST is a place where high level staff get 100000 a year yet they cant decide if they can keep THE NIGHT CENTER open. The night center is a place where the staff work wonderfully with many of the old school drunks that are there who cant survive the wheel and deal of most inner city shelters with a gang presence like Pine St or woods mullen. the staff at these places are often abusive and engage in favortism. Also the NIGHT CENTER is the only place to go if you find yourself out late as i often am from doing internet work and going to universities.

Just a few nights ago, a woman from the islands at Pine St told me i had been away so long that I did not know that "we dont let people sleep in the lobby anymore" yet the next night when i called another woman with an accent said "the lobby is full" and i replied "so people CAN sleep in the lobby" and she said aggressively "WHOS A CALLIN, WHO IS DIS" becuz of course she is engaging in favoritism so they have to konw who you are. Many times when you call for a bed at these places and see if there are any more female beds, you have to GIVE YOU NAME BEFORE YOU GET AN ANSWER. What does that tell you?

That night that I was lied to and refused access another woman, about 60 her and I had to walk to Woods Mullen at 10 pm for cots. It was sad to see her having to walk at that age. and she is pretty peacable in these places from what I have seen.

The staff at St Patricks is very into solving issues. There is a staff member there named Judy that is aggressive and inapropraite. Me reporting some behavior like this to staff has caused a 18 year old named Diamond and her aunt Reshan to get personal due to it becoming a racial and personal issue for them, as is the nature of Boston unfortunelty. Judy is Haitain and they are not excatly the easiest people to get on with here. Thier country is very screwed up with constant revolutions and it has become quit unstable historically.

However this is not Haiti and you cant treat people, especailly natural born citizens as you please.

All I had to do was tell administration and it was resolved. The girl Diamond who is threatning me is just a kid of 18 who has never been out of Boston and does the typical Boston trip where all whites are supposedly easily intimidated...not after getting beat up by A camp at Shawnee national forest where I had to be escorted out like a journalist out of a third world country shoved in a car and driven out to save my ass from a violent mob.

Maybe Diamond should come on the road and see what is out there. I think she needs some life experinece outside BOSTON.

This place never changes...its sad reallly and my stress levels will go down as soon as I leave.

I had to return for emergency dental work and its been difficult. No road dogs wanted to come with me as its too cold here and you i wont sleep outside alone in this cold especially.


Ill leave in a few days and itll be a relief really.

this morning during the pouring rain someone on staff (judy was on and the older haitan woman who defends all her actions) crossed my name off of the van list so I had to walk in the rain. unlike most people i aint afraid of a little rain..its going to take more than that to stop me.