I suppose the REAL reason I'm writing this blog is because I'm thoroughly pissed off. Like many homeless shelters, the one I'm in is supposed to be "Christian"-created and -supported. But I've come to learn that, like most of such orgs, it is heavily MONEY-oriented, and the well-being of those who make up the populace of the shelter pretty much get screwed over if they present with any sort of independent thought beyond being good little kennel-dwellers.
It started off nice enough: "Here are the rules. Abide by them and you'll find your stay with us to be pleasant and productive."
The rules?
* NO outside food allowed inside the building.
* You must meet with an assigned counselor at least once per week. (An important point for later)
* Once you are assigned a bed, you cannot NOT be present every night to be counted unless given express permission to be gone by your assigned counselor. (Another point important for later)
* You're to perform three chores per week. There's a list.. just choose one, document it and have it certified by someone on staff.
* Breakfast is 6am-6:30am, no lunch except on Sundays, dinner is 6pm-6:30pm.
* All residents must leave the dorms by 7:30am, the premises by 8am, and can only re-enter at 5pm.
There are many other rules, of course, but those are the basics.
SO-- why am I pissed?
I received permission from my counselor a month prior to be out on a certain night. The shelter doesn't do written confirmations, so it was a verbal contract I "ASS-umed" would be honored. Ha-ha.
My counselor ended up cancelling two weekly follow-up appointments with me, then suddenly quit. I'm honestly quite happy for her. It's not a pleasant environment to work for.
However, according to her higher-ups, she didn't document that last agreement we'd made, and I wasn't aware that she hadn't. By the time I was assigned another counselor a MONTH later, the day before I was scheduled to be gone all night, everything was in place for a pleasant evening away from the nuthouse. I had just enough time to inform the new counselor about my plans and that her predecessor had already okayed it. She only said, "Okay."
I leave and return the next night, ONLY to be told that I'm not allowed to sleep there that night since, according to them, I DIDN'T have permission for the previous night. I argued to no avail. Understandably pissed, I ended up having to find a motel room for the night.
The next morning, I return to speak to whatever IDIOT made that snap decision without even trying to contact me to find out what was going on.
That's a whole 'nother conversation I'll document in my next post.
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