Barrett Haven Inc

I am first of all thankful for a place to sleep and food rather than being on the street. I stayed at this facility for a period of months. The board of directors is none of the residents business and we were not allowed to know who sits on the board of directors. I was told by the Executive Director that the monies that come into the facility are none of the residents business during a resident meeting. A donated vehicle was an issue as several residents desired a car and it was sold to the life skills coaches family member for a lower price and the life skills coach confirmed this with me. In this meeting the Executive Director explained that no one had a budget that could afford the vehicle. We (residents) were told that the facility had no income due to the delay by the government regarding the grant that was due the organization. The Executive Director explained that she had to use her private money to pay bills for the facility. The life skills coach and executive director go without pay checks to keep the place running. The life skills coach stated that she wouldn't be getting a check the week prior to Oct 3,2014. Heavy revenue return was expected upon the yard sale on Oct 3 2014. The facility does not have a phone for the residents to use nor any office phones. The fax machine does not work due to phone lines being down at the facility. I was told by the life skills coach to fax from a funeral home down the street if I needed to fax information to a potential employer.
Programs do not exist other than a life skills coach meeting and she only asks if chores are performed and if you searched for 10 jobs a week. I do not believe that she is an actual life skills coach with certification and she did tell me that she was a former resident before employment at the facility. The facility does not have a case manager (Social Worker) but interns volunteering from Norfolk State University. The interns do not have anyone to guide them in their learning and follow the direction of an acting life skills coach. The interns when at the facility have been told to catch the rodents that run around in the walls and roofing of the facility. A rodent trap has been placed on the property to catch these racoons that have torn through the roofing in 3 different places. It is up to the interns (acting social workers) to catch the animals by throwing danishes and set the animal traps. This is not a true job description for a school individual becoming a Social Worker! The residents including myself attended a meeting to learn how to trap the rodents at the facility and set the animal traps and throw danish into the traps at night. The potential for harm is great and rabies. The Executive Director nor the Life Skills Coach attended the meeting to capture the rodents that live in and on the grounds of the facility. One program exists and that is the course regarding how to handle your finances. The series a DVD video series that is required for residents and this was started up again after stopping several months prior. No program exists for pregnant mothers as the outline of the program states nor nutritious food guidelines. Residents are not allowed to have donations of clothing as they were sold in a yard sale for the bills of the facility and many bags were given to another facility. I asked for clothing and was not answered verbally by the life skills coach. I had to get charitable assistance from other charitable facilities and was given a list of Norfolk churches by the Life Skills Coach and told to use the 3-4 pages to search for assistance myself.
The residents are required according to the policy TO PAY THE FACILITY 30% RENT of income gross pay and put 30% gross into a savings account that the facility will open for them at a local bank. THE FACILITY GETS A GRANT AND MAKES THE RESIDENTS PAY RENT ONCE EMPLOYED 30% OF YOUR GROSS PAY. THE ONLY MONEY RETURNED WHEN THE RESIDENT LEAVES IS THE SAVINGS MONEY. The facility encourages the residents to stay the full 2 years and use the facility to their advantage. The facility has a van that is generally without gas and is only used for the Ballentine Civic meeting and volunteer work at the church that is agreed upon monthly for scrap booking. The facility Executive Director told me that the van can be used for residents to go to appointments if told to staff in a timely manner. I had an appointment that was agreed upon and on the day of the appointment the life skills coach told me that the van was not avalible. The outlet that supplied power to the refrigerators in the home stopped working. Several days at least 3 before anything was done about the problem only because a resident asked for an extension cord to plug into another outlet. The meats in the freezer thawed and blood ran out over the freezer. The refrigerator was hot for at least 3 days and nothing was done by Barrett staff. I dont believe that the employees care about the people in the facility but about aquiring paychecks from residents and accepting donations for self gain. Nothing gets fixed at the facility.

The organization is small which is good to help women. The board is new, board president new and has little experience and changes frequently. There is little governance and little experience especially in areas og HUD.