After spending an expensive night in a motel, I met with (let's call her) Elise, the lead counselor for the shelter, the next morning. She tells me that there were no notations in my file that I was granted permission for my night out. I point out that I told TWO staff members, including my new counselor, "Meagan" about it and no one told me I was in error. There was no way I could have known I was not on solid ground regarding a month's-long plan in place.
Pretty much a bunch of back-and-forth bullshit with her telling me that it wasn't her job to call me yesterday and get it sorted out. She also tells me that her communication with the front desk was that I was offered a COT on the dining room floor last night as my punishment, but that I chose to leave, instead. I told her to check the video feed-- NOBODY said a word about "a cot"... just told me I couldn't stay there last night. She "said" she'd check... I doubt she ever did.
She could see that I was extremely angry at the massive amount of inconsistencies in what I had been told, and asked me, "If you're so unhappy here, why are you still here?" I pointed out that that phrase is one white supremacists often utter when confronted with people of color protesting unequal treatment. She (pretended?) to be offended at the comparison.
Though she acknowledged that the fault didn't lie with me regarding the many miscommunications, she NEVER apologized... but DID act as if she were doing me a huge favor by not kicking me out of the shelter for "breaking the rules".
At this point, I should divulge that, under my last counselor, I had been enrolled in their "Journey program", which is, simply: After you've been in the shelter for 30 days, you're allowed to PAY $250-$350 per month to be allowed to stay inside all day rather than leaving at 8am.
However, since I hadn't met with said last counselor in a month, I had assumed after a time that I was no longer in that program and started leaving the shelter every morning with everyone else. This ALSO was not something Elise checked before, a day or two later, issuing a decree through Meagan that I was BANNED from EVER participating in the Journey program again because of "late payments", pretty much accusing me of attempting to game the system without payment. I had no idea I'd still been on the list as being "pay to stay" up to that point. They REALLY have incredibly bad communication issues between staff here!
By this time, I'd realized that ALL important communication to the shelter's employees should be in writing, so I politely wrote to Meagan, informing her that, again, it wasn't my fault I didn't have a counselor to confer with for 30 days and no way of knowing to whom I was to pay the second month's program fee. I also requested that Elise revisit her edict and, if she still felt I should be banned from the program, that she should put it and her reasons for doing so in writing, to be given to me at our next meeting later that week.
It only surprised a little, what happened at the next meeting...
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