News of 2009

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Regina Brett, a columnist for The Plain Dealer, writes about the MHS Community Women's Shelter as a place of hope, and "a place of stories."

"The women who end up here need help with housing, jobs and counseling for mental health and addictions. Most get back on their feet. Some never will. A few of them ended up in Anthony Sowell's backyard," she writes. Sowell is the 50-year-old man who was arraigned 4 November 2009 on murder charges. Cleveland Police officials and Cuyahoga County prosecutors say he killed 11 women, and lived in his Imperial Avenue house where he had buried or hidden his victims' corpses. Some of the women had come to the Community Women's Shelter. Some were at the Shelter for weeks or months.

Cathleen Alexander, the Shelter's Associate Director, says her work at the Shelter "is like a long Dickens novel." Brett sees the Shelter as "a place of stories. The staff listens to what happened, what broke down, what's needed. The shelter isn't a destination, it's a passage. Every day they help women move into a better life. The average stay is 30 days." Speaking of the women who use the Shelter, Alexander says "You would be shocked at how many work." Brett explains that "[m]any homeless women have had master's degrees, good jobs and were active in the PTA. Lately, the shelter has filled with women who lost their jobs. Others were pushed into poverty by a child who got sick, a husband who left or a landlord who got foreclosed on even though the women paid the rent."

Alexander "refuses to believe any of the homeless are hopeless." writes Brett. "Giving up is not an option for her. Or for us. 'I believe there is always a way,' she says." Brett concludes: "She's right. We are the way."

Rita Ciofani, Director of the Volunteers of America shelter for homeless veterans on East 152nd Street in Cleveland, was killed by a shelter client who had been asked to leave, according to a story in The Plain Dealer of 11 February 2010.

The Trustees and staff of MHS were deeply affected by news of this tragedy, and offer their condolences to the family and colleagues of Ms Ciofani, who was known for her devoted service to domestic violence victims and homeless persons

Ms Ciofani had been Program Director of the VOA's 50-bed shelter since March 2009, according to The Plain Dealer report. During the prior 17 years, she had managed the Forbes House shelter for battered women in Painesville, Ohio. "She also served as executive director of the Lake County Committee on Family Violence and chaired a task force on homelessness in Lake County," reports The Plain Dealer.

According to The Plain Dealer story, Cleveland Police officers said that Raymond Ice, a "man with a history of legal and behavioral problems killed Ciofani with a small ax" at the shelter. Ice had "spent the past few nights there but was being evicted, officials said. Police shot Ice, and he died at the hospital a few hours later."

A subsequent article in The Plain Dealer explains that Mr. Ice "learned last week that he had 14 days to leave" the shelter, "because he was not following a case management plan established by counselors." It is likely that policies governing service planning at the Volunteers of America shelter are similar to those of MHS shelters, and an individualized service plan is created through a process of discussion and negotiation with each client. The resulting service plan describes the steps that the shelter staff and client will take to achieve the goals of the service plan. Shelter staff support clients' efforts to complete the steps of the plan, and often work to engage clients in discussions to change plans that aren't being followed. There are times, however, when attempts to work collaboratively with clients are thwarted because of a client's distress or distrust, or because of other factors. Shelter staff members often perform their work as best they can, with information about their clients that is limited, contradictory, and of questionable accuracy.

In response to this tragic event, security procedures were being closely examined at homeless shelters throughout Cleveland, according to another article in The Plain Dealer. Protecting the safety of clients, staff members, and the community is a constant concern at the two shelters operated by MHS: the 50-bed Emergency Shelter for Disabled Men, and the 135-bed Community Women's Shelter. MHS devotes considerable resources to the development, implementation, and monitoring of safety-related policies and procedures at all MHS service sites. The MHS Safety Committee, led by Christopher Carrig, collects and analyzes information about safety-related incidents, evaluates the effectiveness of current safety policies, and formulates proposals for creating or modifying safety policies. MHS also maintains contracts with organizations providing professional security services.

Safety is an especially prominent issue in the operation of homeless shelters because of the multiple and serious risk factors associated with homelessness. Just being homeless can be a source of profound subjective distress, for many reasons. Many homeless people understandably experience their homelessness as a painful loss of control over an important domain of their lives. This sense of a loss of control can be exacerbated in shelters, where clients' may have limited choices about when to eat or sleep, or who sits or sleeps next to them. The limited opportunities for privacy at shelters can be particularly distressing, and can be perceived as yet another assault on one's dignity. All of these situatuonal or environmental sources of distress are potential contributors to violent conduct.

The characteristics of those coming to shelters represents another broad area of risk. In the point-in-time count of homeless individuals in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, by the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services on the night of 29 January 2009, nearly half of the 2,236 homeless people were characterized as having "chronic substance abuse." Alcohol and drug addictions are potent contributors to violent conduct. Untreated, severe mental illness is another risk factor. In the County's 2009 count of homeless persons, 21% of homeless persons were reported to have a serious mental illness. Perceptual and social misperceptions, delusional beliefs, impaired control of anger and other strong emotions, and impairments in judgement and impulse control are common features of some mental disorders, and can make significant contributions to the development of violent thoughts, imagery, and conduct.

Protecting the safety of clients and staff members of emergency shelters is a complex and expensive endeavor requiring continuous monitoring and evaluation. Shelter providers need to keep funders of shelter services aware of the need and costs of safety procedures.

All of us at MHS offer our heartfelt sympathies to Ms Ciofani's family, and to the staff and clients of the Volunteers of America shelter. Ron Kercher, Ms Ciofani's husband, said "My wife wanted to make positive changes in the world. She was dedicated to the needs of others" (Mazzolini, 2010). We grieve the loss of this woman who was so devoted to helping vulnerable people achieve lives of independence and dignity.

The obituary, memorial arrangements, and guestbook may be accessed here.