St Francis House

Recent Google reviews

• Ronda Mills 1 · 2 months ago

  If I could give 0 stars, I would. People need to know what our family experienced here. I do not recommend this shelter for families with children. My husband and I stayed here temporarily with our two young children while trying to get back on our feet. Our 3-year-old daughter has autism, and despite repeatedly asking for permission to lock our family dorm door for her safety, we were denied. After she wandered out twice, staff threatened to call DCF instead of addressing the safety issue. When my husband asked for a number to file a complaint, they refused. He said he’d contact our lawyer to obtain it, and we were immediately told to leave, forced out on the spot with nowhere to go, and had to leave behind a box of our children’s toys, food, dishes, and hygiene items, which were thrown away and never replaced. The Board of Directors later admitted staff handled the situation improperly and allowed us to return, but very little changed, except for her allowing us to lock the door. Things only got worse after conflicts with another family sharing the room. They became hostile, yelled at me in front of my children, because we told staff they didnt help with chores, left bleach within reach of our kids, left doors unlocked while we slept, and admitted to recording our family—including our children—without our knowledge. Hogging the bathroom to the point my husband had to go to the gas station to use the bathroom, and I was forced to change our children in the family bed space with blankets covering them. We reported these issues repeatedly, but nothing meaningful was done. On our last day, the other wife put her finger in my face and pushed me during an argument. My husband pulled me away and got staff. Instead of addressing the assault, the caseworker said we complained too much and told us we would be exited. They didn’t even care at all that she put her hands on me. When my husband said it seemed like favoritism, she said and I quote, “REALLY? Okay, Im done,” and walked away. After he went to get a grievance form, we were again told to leave because we were on our “second chance,” even though the first removal had already been acknowledged as staff’s mistake. They used my statement that the environment was becoming unsafe for our children as a reason to remove us instead of the family creating the unsafe environment. That family stayed while ours was forced out. There were also rats in the dorm heating vent closet, which are still there, drug deals taking place outside the shelter, and adults approaching our children without staff taking meaningful action. My husband reported a man who repeatedly harassed me outside, yet the same supervisor later sent that man to our door to deliver a grievance form the first time we were kicked out. To make matters worse, after we discovered the family’s flip phone recording us and my husband documented the evidence—including multiple videos of our family—we were accused of violating their privacy. We have evidence supporting nearly everything described here, including the recordings, rats, unlocked doors with timestamps, and other safety concerns. As well as a police report we had already filed against the other family for recording our children so they were put aware. We attempted to contact the Board of Directors again, but this time our calls were never returned. We went to a referral resource yesterday and we’re put aware that we are not the only family to be unfairly kicked out on the spot. But yet the family that put our kids in danger were allowed to get away with it. We will be pursuing legal action against the other family and the shelter. Families deserve a safe environment. This shelter failed to provide one. I would like to say one of the staff - Meghan is incredible, very sweet and quick to help. We appreciate everything she did to help our family and truly believe shes there for the families and community which is more than we can say for the rest of the staff. Thankfully we are in a safe place but it is definitely not a shelter.