Reflections on the Death at the Shelter

Aftermath of the Shelter Director Death

We now have some distance from the death of Rita Ciofani and it is time to focus less on the grief and start talking about causes. We also need to talk as a community about how to avoid this ever happening again. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have to say that I love the VOA Veterans Resource Center. I have been in the facility many times, and each time I feel a sense of pride that this is how we are treating our veterans. It is one of the best shelters in the community and a place that honors the service of those who are struggling after giving a period of their life to preserve and protect the United States. I also have to say that I have the utmost respect for the Volunteers of America as an agency. Their facilities are always clean and well managed. They provide some of the most important services in the community, and we work with them often.

I have begun getting calls about upgrades in security at the shelters locally. While homeless people and shelter workers want to feel secure, there is a danger that we will focus on devices and technology and not on the people. We can't turn the shelters into prisons. There are a great many people already who refuse to use the shelters because of the rules and the institutional environment. We cannot add to this number by making the shelters into jails. As the police said to us at the Homeless Congress meeting, "anything can be used as a weapon, and some times people just snap." So, we need to work on reducing tensions and defusing conflict in the shelters as a part of the security plans. I am sure that Ms. Ciofani was working on reducing conflict because of her background, but I don't know if all the shelters use a similar strategy.

My biggest concern was the article that appeared in the Plain Dealer on the day after the tragedy. I understand the need for the media to get the story quickly, but I was offended that the Volunteers of America responded to the story. The story was basically about the events of the day of the attack and the reason that Raymond Ice was thrown into such a rage. I don't understand why the VOA could not say, "We are not going to comment at this time, because we are focused on comforting the families and the residents at the shelter." Instead we got spin about how the shelter did not discharge Mr. Ice to the streets.

Out of respect for the families, I have held my tongue about this incident. The reality is that discharging someone to Lakeside is the same as discharging someone to the streets. See the way things work in Cleveland is that Lakeside does not turn people away, but those new to the shelter must leave everyday and do not have a standard bed. Mr. Ice had worked his way up to the VOA where he enjoyed semi-privacy and had a place to keep his stuff. Then he was discharged back to the beginning without a bed and without a locker. He had done all that work to get to the VOA and he had to start all over. To the public this sounded like the VOA had found an alternative for Mr. Ice, but in reality he was being kicked to the streets. Why did the VOA official feel the need on the day of the deaths to talk about the private case plans and the veteran's history within the shelters?

I have no idea what happened in this incident except that Mr. Ice tried to find help to prevent his discharge, but he was unsuccessful. He reached out to other agencies (not NEOCH), but no other agency is willing to interfere in the private management of other facilities. I don't know if we will ever know if Mr. Ice was in fact given two weeks notice, but we do know many shelters kick people out the day of the infraction. Since there is no government agency that oversees the shelters, there is no where that a person can go to challenge their discharge. This is a huge issue for homeless people and it came up two weeks later with regard to the scalding death of a toddler.

It is unlikely that anything could have been done to prevent the deaths within the VOA shelters, but there are many things that we could do to make sure that people are not put in this same position in the future.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Remembering VOA Shelter Director

Moment of Silence

The Volunteers of America staff have sent us this notice of a system wide moment of silence to remember Rita Ciofani. Here is the information from Volunteers of America:

"Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 17, marks one week since the tragic and untimely death of Rita Ciofani, program director of Volunteers of America of Greater Ohio's Veterans Resource Center in Cleveland.

We will observe a moment of silence tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. We ask that everyone in the homeless provider community pause for a moment at that time to honor her life with silent prayer and reflect on her tremendous contributions to people in need and to Volunteers of America."

Nicole Knowlton

Vice President of Development and Communications

Volunteers of America of Greater Ohio

www.voago.org

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Most Media Have Acted Responsibly

Shelter Tragedy in the Media

The last few days have been tough in Cleveland for homeless people and especially homeless service providers. The media has been surprisingly understanding over the last few days. I was impressed by the article done by Joan Mazzolini in the Plain Dealer on Friday. It was a nice feature on the family of Rita Ciofani-Kercher, and her amazing life. I thought that it was great to hear the words of forgiveness in the article.

"She was very, very interested in the veterans' cause," Barnes said. "She would say that they were not always treated the way they should be." It was this personality that leaves her husband with no doubt about Ciofani-Kercher.

"The person that did this?" Kercher said. "She would forgive him."

The Plain Dealer followed up with a story about the Community Women's Shelter today from Regina Brett. We hope that this tragedy will lead to increased awareness of the homeless problem locally. Only one local media outlet has focused on the sensational and the tabloid aspects of the story, and they will remain nameless so as not to draw increased attention. The Channel 5 WEWS reporters seemed to understand the shock of the story, and were willing to focus the story on the reactions of friends and co-workers.

The Fox News outlet, WJW Channel 8, took an interesting angle by talking to the family of Raymond Ice. It was not disrespectful or an accusatory type of story. It seemed to be done in a forgiving manner. Overall, the media did a good job, in my opinion, of presenting this in a fair and balanced manner. I hope that this is a first step to healing for the homeless community.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Condolences to the VOA Family

Other Homeless Service Providers Saddened

This message came to NEOCH yesterday:

Dear friends and members in Cleveland:

I was saddened to learn of the murder of the VOA shelter director today, and of the death of her apparent killer at the hands of the police.


Please know that our thoughts are with you at this unsettling moment, together with our appreciation for the difficult and sometimes dangerous work that you do every day.

Wishing you Peace,

John

John N. Lozier, MSSW
Executive Director
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
www.nhchc.org


Health Care and Housing are Human Rights. Learn more about our work or donate at www.nhchc.org.

NEOCH had a regularly scheduled meeting yesterday afternoon with many of the shelters and social service providers including staff from the Veterans Administration. All were still in shock over the loss of one of our colleagues. We know that the VA and Mental Health Services sent grief/trauma specialists to the shelter yesterday. NEOCH has offered to host a memorial to begin the process of healing for the homeless community. We have heard that the family wants some privacy, and we will respect that. Some of the other service providers in the community have expressed a desire to have a time or place to grieve after the initial shock wears off.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

NEOCH Mourns Loss at VOA Veterans Center

Veteran's Center Director Dies At Shelter Today

There are no words to express our sadness regarding the incident this morning at the Veteran's Resource Center on East 152nd in Cleveland. The Cleveland media will cover the story, and there will be time to talk about the larger issues in the future. Now is not the time. Instead we need to focus on comforting the family, the other residents, and the agency. We hope that everyone involved can get help for the trauma that they witnessed this morning. We are stunned by the loss of Rita Ciofani who dedicated her life to serving others. The NEOCH staff and Board extend our heartfelt sorrow to the Volunteers of America family, over the loss of the director of this shelter.

Here is the press release from the VOA site about Ms. Ciofani who only took the job eleven months ago.

New Cleveland Veterans Resource Center Director - Friday, March 20, 2009

Rita Ciofani has been hired as the director for the Veterans Resource Center, responsible for running all program operations including transitional housing and employment services for veterans. Previously, Ciofani was the executive director of Lake County Committee on Family Violence, Inc. for 17 years. Ciofani is certified by the Ohio Supreme Court as a mediator and is the past-chair for the Coalition on Housing and Support Services of Lake County. Ciofani earned a law degree from Cleveland Marshall College of Law and her bachelor’s in education from Lake Erie College.

We are all stunned and shocked over this tragedy.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

The Toughest Job in the City

How Do Shelter Workers Keep Their Sanity??

We give the shelters a hard time, because we are a watchdog organization. We have to follow up on complaints from homeless people because no one else does, and nearly all have something to do with shelters. From problems with theft, curfews, and conflicts with staff are the complaints that come to us every week. Homeless people come to us for help and that makes many shelter providers uncomfortable. But over the last two weeks, providers have gone above and beyond. The stress of having over capacity for extended hours and for over two weeks is now getting critical. They all deserve a huge pat on the back, and a raise for performing in such tough conditions.

Now, with another five inches of snow predicted, we prolong the state of emergency. The shelter staff must figure out a way to keep the peace in very overcrowded conditions. They need to keep as many as 550 people from going stir crazy, and keeping all these people safe. There is a great deal of pressure to be responsible for so many with food, clean sheets, clean clothing, and a quiet place to sleep. They should all get awards for all they are doing behind the scenes. Unfortunately they never will, because they are only successful if nothing happens. Well, NEOCH staff and board congratulate everyone who is sticking it out working in the shelters during the winters in Cleveland. It takes a special person to be able to see all this human suffering every day and get up every morning to keep people safe.

Speaking of Hard Working Shelter Staff...
Lyle Draper of the Volunteers of America shelter is leaving next week for Re-Entry programming with VOA down in Mansfield. Lyle has been the director of the men's shelter over on Walton. He has kept the facility clean and has always been willing to help when homeless people needed assistance. Thanks Lyle for all your hard work, and good luck in your new job. We will miss you, and hope that the VOA finds someone as easy to work with to run the shelter.

After reading this post, I fear that one of the comments a homeless person told me might be true: I am getting soft? One of the members of the Homeless Congress insists that I, like Jesse Jackson, have lost my "heat." He tells me at almost every meeting that I am no longer willing to do whatever it takes. There is certainly worse people to be compared to then Jesse Jackson who I voted for in 1988 for President of the United States when he had some high "heat."

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.