Pastor Heather Boone, others ask Monroe County board to support Oaks Village Shelter

A local pastor who has been fighting to keep a Monroe homeless shelter open appeared before the Monroe County Board of Commissioners to ask for help.

Pastor Heather Boone, president of the Oaks Village Shelter, addressed the board during public comment time Tuesday at the board’s regular meeting. She first gave some information about the shelter, which is run as part of the Oaks of Righteousness Christian Ministries.

The Oaks shelter recently announced that it would be forced to cease operations in February without additional support.

More:Without support and resources, Oaks Homeless Shelter in Monroe will close Feb. 17

Boone explained that the Oaks shelter offers 75 beds, and people staying there are often referred from police, school districts, probation officers, parole officers and other sources. She said that many have alcohol monitors or other tethering devices, for which Oaks must keep batteries charged. She added that they are the only shelter in the area that accepts sex offenders.

“We get people from the jail who have just been released who have nothing but the clothes on their backs,” Boone said. “Many times, these people are not from Monroe County, but they’ve been told by the jail to come down there. We have to find them transportation back to wherever they came from.”

“We have essentially become a dumping ground for the mentally ill, substance abusers, and those who have medical issues,” she added.

Boone explained that Oaks originally opened as a warming shelter 10 years ago, but its operational scope has since expanded significantly. With more responsibilities to serve people came more need for support.

“People have been so gracious and so helpful, the citizens in the city and county, as far as support,” she said. “But sadly, (for) county board funding, there has been no help to support Oaks.”

More:Randy Richardville resigns from Monroe Community Mental Health Authority board

Boone said that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oaks Village asked for resources to help with quarantining and other methods to help prevent spreading within the shelter and beyond.

“We were promised FEMA trailers,” she said. “We never got FEMA trailers. We never got any support. Sadly, the only thing we did get was two boxes of small gloves from the health department.”

Boone said that, as a result, they were forced to put COVID-positive people in hotels for up to 10 days, based on guidelines at the time from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“All of this was done at Oaks’ own expense,” Boone said.

Boone said that one of the only sources of monetary support for the shelter has been a state grant for $200,000. She said that, with 11 employees at the Oaks shelter, the money has not been enough.

“These employees have worked night and day,” she said. “We have been open around the clock, 365 days a year for nine years.”

Boone said that she has also asked for support from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to no avail.

“When we heard about the ARPA funds, we reached out to the county to ask for support, to give our staff a $2 per hour raise” she said. “We were told, even though the county got $40 million, that only county employees would be receiving those $2 per hour raises.”

Boone said that she has asked for support for Oaks Village’s free medical clinic and other programs, but they were told that these were all “duplications of services,” though she said that no other organizations in the area offer these services.

Sandra Libstorff, who serves as a member and secretary on the Monroe Community Mental Health Authority's board of directors, also came forward during the meeting’s public comment time to offer her perspective.

Libstorff, a former Mercy Memorial Hospital nurse and current nurse volunteer at Oaks Village, said that she was told early on as an MCMHA board member that things were running well at the shelter.

However, she said that she learned of many of the shelter’s issues after talking with Boone.

“As I became more involved, I realized that what they were telling us … was not what was happening,” she said.

Libstorff asserted that the county has a legal obligation to provide mental health services to those in need who are on Medicare, according to a contract with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. However, she said there have been frequent delays and roadblocks that have prevented people from getting timely mental health help.

“It became quite apparent that nothing is working for us,” she added.

Libstorff added that, since the MCMHA board is mandated to speak as “one voice” and not to individually make public statements about board matters, the county board of bommissioners may be asked to remove her from her position.

“If I am going to be removed for advocating for people to get the services that we are legally bound to provide … I’m willing to take that consequence,” she said. “But I can assure you that from now on I will speak out anywhere and everywhere. These people have got to get the services that they are entitled to.”

Following Libstorff’s comments, Commissioner J. Henry Lievens (District 9) suggested that the board could arrange a meeting to help find a way to support the shelter.

“This might be a communication and liaison issue,” Lievens said.

Judy Green, a retired teacher and current volunteer at the shelter, also addressed the board during public commentary.

“I am here to ask you to help us,” she said. “I know you oversee (MCMHA). I’m not here to bash them – we need them, and we’re begging for help from them.”

“We cannot get people any help for weeks and months, and we continually watch people suffer,” Green added. “We have the most wonderful staff, but they are not trained to deal with this.”

Green asserted that if the shelter closes, people will be on the streets instead of getting the help they need.

“That doesn’t take the problems away,” she said.

Green concluded by telling a personal story about a friend’s granddaughter who had sought help for her mental health issues. Green said the young woman was placed on a six-month waiting list to see a psychiatrist. Ultimately, the wait was too long to get her help in time.

“They buried her,” Green said.

Boone told the board that the time is overdue for the county to step in and give Oaks Village the help they need, or it will be the end for the shelter.

“We have done the work for the county for 10 years, yet we have received no support,” she said. “Oaks recently announced that we will be closing unless we receive some resources, and, specifically, mental health help. We are almost a psych facility at this point.”

“I don’t want to close the shelter,” Boone said. “This is a cry for help. There are funds available, and we’re just asking for your help.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Boone, others ask Monroe County board to support Oaks Village Shelter