It’s hard to believe all the services Shade Tree offers to the ladies. When I think of shelter, I imagine cots lined up on the floor and people sitting around just to get off of the sidewalk. I volunteered for about a month for school and I have learned that this place is so much more. Shade Tree is not just a shelter. It is a place to get what you need to start again. They have a variety of services available. When you are hungry, you are fed. And not just soup and sandwiches. You can have cereal and milk for breakfast or oatmeal and coffee. I was there during lunch time and saw once they served pizza and another time they had turkey. If you want to take classes to learn about finances they have a bank come in to teach it, if you want to exercise they have yoga (Yoga at a homeless shelter is amazing!), you want to learn computers, they have a class for that. If you want to get a job, they have a program to help you do that, too. It seems as if anything you might need to help you get back on your feet, Shade Tree has is for you. In regards to one of the other comments, while I volunteered there I did see one altercation between some of the ladies there and I think the staff handled it well (I couldn’t do there job) but I would think that when you get that many people living in the same place together stuff like that is bound to happen once in a while.
Let's start with my first night. I called to see if a bed was available and was told i would have to come see for myself. I decide to take a bus, and my adventure begins. The driver went past my stop so I ended up walking over a mile, with a child, in a very sketchy neighborhood. Upon arriving I am slightly unnerved to discover that the gate and front door are open, no security guard in sight, and no real safety measures. Whatever. At Least i didn't get raped, robbed, or murdered on the way. (I'm still looking on the bright side at this point). After only 15 min of waiting, a nice lady comes and takes me to intake. This part is relatively painless and not too lengthy. I am pleased to discover that my child and i will be in a bunk bed in a semi private area with 1 other mom & daughter. I arrived well after lights out, which is 8pm, so i make our beds in the dark. I get settled in and go to sleep. Then surprise! 6am the lights go on. Ugh I'm not a morning person. I eventually get moving cause if you don't..you will get written up. Also if you don't get downstairs in time, you will miss breakfast. Yum unsweetened oatmeal. I make sure i pack up anything and everything i might need for the day cause you get kicked off your floor at 7:30am and can't come back till 3:45. So, what to do for the day? Well you can leave if you have a car, awesome friend to rescue you, or you have a bus pass and stuff to do. Don't count on this place to freely handout bus passes or you will be sorely disappointed. Sometimes i have to stay here and the only options are to sit outside in the blazing heat (getting eaten alive by flies), sit inside the day room (getting eaten alive by flies) and risk a headache from all the noise, or go "panhandle." It doesn't always mean what you think. Basically no matter where you hang out, you will be forced to listen to 99% of the women talking crap about the others while they smoke one cigarette after another. They don't discuss ANYTHING else. So you've made it through the day and 3:45 has arrived. Wanna go upstairs and relax? Nope. You can't possibly relax with all the screaming kids, rap music, and moms beating their kids. Now it's time to shower. Wear your shower shoes cause each and every bodily fluid (solids too!) are pooling on the floors cause some drains are stopped up. Yuck! I try not to touch the shower curtains that have a layer or two of mold on them. Ok now I'm clean (sort of). Time to go to bed and rest up for the next day. I am now physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. So a little about how this place is helping me. Oops haha i just wet myself from laughing over that comment. After many weeks of being here, i still haven't seen a case mngr. I have gotten zero counseling, zero help with housing, zero legal advise for family court issues, zero anything. I just want to move forward and put my life back together but i am told i need to learn how to be patient. At the risk of hurting everyone here including myself and my child, I urge people not to donate. We are fed questionable food (uncooked, tasteless, possibly left in the sun, nibbled on by rats and roaches, hey remember those flies I mentioned)), very few families get any clothing, they run out of bus passes, the plumbing in the bathrooms is certainly not up to code. Rarely will you find toilet paper in every stall, soap for washing hands, or towels for drying them. We have maggots or some weird worms swimming in a stopped up sink in a bathroom used by children. The entire place is dirty and disgusting. The beds have bed bugs. All of this is not just my opinion, it's a sad fact. Ask any woman here and they will tell you the same thing. Not only that, they will add some more shocking complaints. All the wonderful things that are listed on the shade tree website that are supposed to help us, just don't exist. Oh and when they have people come here for a fund raising event, we have to do "bed bug protocol" which is putting all of our stuff in garbage bags so our dorms look clean. This place should be evacuated then burned to the ground. God help us all.
I have to say they make this place sound so great online and to the investors and to those whom donate, however my experience has been horrible, they put you on cots in a day room with those sleeping in dorms making noise so your not able to sleep with your small children. They tell you they have no rooms available when they have a whole 3rd fl. Mostly empty. And the case managers and advocates aren't sympathetic and don't help you find or even move into a place, where's all the money going. Place is ran down probably not up to health or fire code, come on people, its not like us dv victims asked for this nor do we even want to have to stay in place like this, we finally do what's best for our safety and that of our kids and this is what we have to end up tolerating. Its why most end up back in violent situations then end up harmed badly cuz people like them leave you almost push to that choice. We've all been taxpayers too and deserve some respect and belief in humanity, the 2nd floor day area is chaos and advocates don't care.
This place is horrible, the people that write the good reviews are probably the people that work there, there's bed bugs in pretty much every bed and couch, the advocates aren't helpful at all, I asked for clothes for my kids at least 7 times and they never brought me a single thing. These advocates are stealing the donations, they're taking the clothes for themselves and their family. Whoever owns this place needs to do something asap. Oh, and I forgot, they serve undercooked chicken, me and my babies were sick the whole time we spent there. We moved with friends 10 days after going there, this place isn't for humans
As a returning client to the Shade Tree, After returning a year ago form out of town. My experince with this nonprofit is now way better then my last time. I feel that I have gotten more help since my last time here, I came back to Las Vegas to live with family and things where not wtat they seems, therefore I want back to The Shade Tree. Again I must say it is much better then before, I see that staff are more willing to help u now, help in getting u a place to live, a job, to also help in getting u medical help, help in provide u with help for u pets/ and or your love ones. Staff try as best as they can to help,and provide for u as well as others. Last time I was here to me and this is for me, where not as friendly, they where into helping who they wanted to help. Most ladies have to realize that in order to better yourself u must make the first step in helping yourself, therefore others will see this and help u more. You need to stay focus towards your goals. Now I could go on and say things are not perfect here, but why when I and my child are not out in the streets, and are living off family and friends.
Shade Tree should be the last place you ever want to go if you're fleeing domestic violence. Security is shabby, getting paid minimum wage. You can't pay security minimum wage and expect them to actually want and be motivated to secure the premises. Staff has a very "brush-off" approach, especially administrative staff. The only ones that seem to actually care are the younger staff. Client advocates are outnumbered and short staffed. Overworked and underpaid as many of them say. Shade Tree continues to receive millions in funding and grants but I see nothing done to use up those funds wisely, such as healthier and more adequate food. Sanitation is also another miss. Lastly, I'm familiar with government funding and from the notices on the wall, Shade Tree is abusing HUD and HIP funding. The government should pull their funding so that way they can actually use the external funding they receive rather than dispensing it amongst the higher ups.
i dont know how any one can write a good review on this place but there are a lot of good staff members but ive stayed a shade tree and i can honestly say its nasty and bug ridden bed bug roaches, theres a fight every other night there are people stealing ,while staff have there pick of who to help 3rd floor is for dv. and transtional and second floor is for single woman and familys ,ive been there for 2 weeks i havnt talked to a counslor yet and im not sure what the programs are they give you resources im told ,wake up time is 6.00 ,2 nd floor have to leave the floor at 8 am ,,,they only give you a bus pass if you have an appointment but not to look for housing and jobs ,the food is nasty most time and this morning the sausage was spolied ,,ive watched more then 8 woman get put out and i saw 10 woman whos time wasnt extended and had no place to go there are woman there that has been there 18 months -2 years ,,and some there leaving wth housing due to shade trees help,, but it seems like it depends on if your liked ,,because there are no programs there only class like relaxation ,resume writing orintation and housing on and two ,k,,some of the woman are really beautiful just feel on hard times ,but most are nasdty and crazy the bathrooms are nadty and the rules are dum ive been calling the health department since ive came ,and i wish i coulod get help to leave and get on my feet cause im at my wits end all day the woman smoke ciggaretes back to back ,they sell pills and cigareetes ,people coe back high and drunk ,,all this i swear is true ,,im sure this will fall on death ears but its a shame that ,,outside people come tour the place in the day time see it empty clean and a fe woman there and not no its like a womans prison with children in it ,,but because that the only real shelter in las vegas nevada and woman ,mossstly need a place like this they will always have funding and supporters ,,but if you ask me an out side agency should look at how many times the las vegas police has been there and then you might get the real story
