A Home Has Showers

County Relocates Women to Shelter Without Adequate Showers for Summer

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless calls on all taxpayers of Cuyahoga County to refrain from showering this summer unless you go next door to your neighbor's at a scheduled time. NEOCH is asking for this drastic action to show support for the women forced to live in a shelter without the proper number of showers. When the publicly-funded Community Women’s Shelter was closed for renovations last month, City and County officials relocated the 52 women to a facility that did not have a working shower. Because of budgetary concerns and Not-In-My-Backyard issues, the City and County allowed the shelter to relocate for the next six to nine months to 1701 Payne Avenue, a facility that only this week installed “one shower for emergency uses only.”

Between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. weekdays, the 50 homeless women can go outside and walk next door to the Bishop Cosgrove Center to take a shower. At other times the women are forced to walk to a nearby men's transitional shelter, escorted by staff, to use one available shower on the second floor of a men’s residential floor. Those with mobility issues must figure out how to take care of their hygiene needs using a sink, because the transitional shelter 1550 Superior Avenue facility is not handicapped accessible.

The Board of NEOCH has received numerous complaints from women living in the shelter regarding this matter. Many women said that they have had to resort to washing themselves in the sinks because they could not make it to Cosgrove during those two hours. Residents are concerned this unsanitary practice will put them at risk for contracting infectious diseases. “The City and County selected this location knowing it didn’t have showers,” said Rosie Palfy, a NEOCH board member. “The women were told on numerous occasions showers would be installed before they moved, but it never happened because they said it was too expensive.”

"Women in the care of Cuyahoga County who are incarcerated at the jails have access to daily showers on-site. The Men’s shelters have access to showers. Even the animals in the custody of Cuyahoga County at the Cleveland Metropolitan Zoo have better access to showers. Why are homeless women being denied the ability at the facility in which they live?" asked Marcia Bufford, NEOCH board president. "We find this move an unconscionable disservice to the women at the shelter who have no regular access to showers on site."

The members of the Board of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) oppose the move of the Community Women’s Shelter, even on a temporary basis, to a facility without the appropriate number of showers on-site. The facility is administered by Mental Services for Homeless People, a $15.5 million non-profit organization largely funded by government support. We ask:

• the City and County to enforce the Ohio Basic Shelter Standards
• install showers in the facility or move the women somewhere that does have showers on-site immediately.
• the Cleveland Health Department enforce basic health and safety standards for a residential facility.

In support of homeless women and any children who become homeless this summer, the NEOCH Board asks that Cuyahoga County tax payers stop using their own showers and instead schedule a two-hour window in which they can go to their neighbor’s house and use their shower.

Contacts for this issue:
Marcia Bufford and Rosie Palfy
NEOCH Board members
For media contacts call Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.