Real Life at the Crisis Shelter January 9-15, 2012

Weekly highlights

Monday January 9:   Near crisis at the shelter tonight when it became apparent that there was no hot water.  An alert staff and good worker looked around and found out that one of the washers was stuck and was taking all of the hot water.  Once the washer water was turned off, everyone had hot water again.  One of our guests is struggling because she realizes that her boyfriend is no good for her right now.  Staff prayed with her.

Tuesday January 10:   Staff worked with a guest who was giving another some advice in a very aggressive manner.  One of our guests donated all of her clothing except the items on her back.  Staff are trying to help her gather up at least one more outfit that she can use while she does laundry.  Spokane police dropped off a woman who had some outlandish stories to share with staff.  She is in overflow and seems content with staying in overflow for some reason.  One of the other overflow guests said that she knows her and that she is dangerous.  What staff have observed beyond the stories is safe behavior.             

Wednesday January 11:   With all of the basement cleaning we are beginning to recognize that we will have garbage issues.  I have arranged for an extra dumpster pick up.  One of our guests chose to go to chapel and miss her Wednesday evening chapel.  This was her last chance to make that particular module so she was given an outdate.  The more interesting piece is that last Friday she had been hiding to avoid chapel at Mount Spokane.

Thursday January 12:   One of our guests spent the night at Respite Care.  When she got back on Friday she seemed much better.  Talking with some of our moms about leaving their kids in the rooms, this is unsafe since we don’t screen our guests.  The reasons was explained to the moms.        

Friday January 13:   Today Anne gave a fantastic tour to some girls from an alternative school.  There was much interest in what we provide and do here at the Crisis Shelter.  The girls then helped us maneuver some of our items that are not yet able to be stored due to the basement remodel.

Weekend:  Two moms are in conflict over the amount of sugar one of the kids have been getting.  On Saturday morning a man came into the shelter with heart trouble.  911 was called and staff sat with him until help arrived.  One of our overflow guests complained about another overflow guest.  However, the stories from other overflow guests contradicted her story so we will continue to work with them all.     

General comments:  We are looking forward to the basement work to get done so that we can get some of our materials moved back down there.  We plan on using only half of the space and are dreaming of what we might do with the other half.