Unfortunately, this is now my third article in this series (about problems with the person running A-Hope). There was a note on the door of A-Hope today that said if they continue to find cups around the property then they are going to stop providing coffee. I didn’t see any garbage, and I rarely do. Once in a while someone leaves a styrofoam cup by a wall. It takes someone less than two minutes to walk around the building and pick up a couple of cups. The director seems to think that everyone is responsible for what one person does, and everyone else should be treated like kindergartners at some fascist, authoritarian elementary school. It is simply a fact that some people that go there are going to do that. That sign isn’t going to stop it. (A nice sign that says “Please pick up your garbage” might be useful.) The vast majority of people don’t leave any garbage. So the theme of threatening to deny services to everyone continues. I suppose this is an improvement over her previous threat about garbage, which was to close A-Hope. Again, A-Hope is in need of new direction. I wonder what would happen if a Major League baseball stadium threatened to close down if they had to pick up any cups after the game was over, and then threatened to stop serving drinks if they had to pick up any cups. I wonder if the baseball team’s owner would find a new stadium manager. I wonder if Homeward Bound ever reads this blog (they have a board of directors, and A-Hope is one of their programs). If you Google ‘A-Hope Asheville’ these articles are the 7th item on the first page of the results. I hope the right people find out what’s going on there. A-Hope gets it’s money from donations and tax payer dollars, and I think those people want the homeless people to be treated nicely. Having everyone who goes there know that they are not getting drinks anymore because of a couple people is NOT treating people nicely. (And the solution is so simple – it takes less than a couple minutes to walk around the building and pick up a couple cups. Someone who “gets it” and “cares” will just have someone do that occasionally.)
The bottom line is that if the Director says A-Hope will no longer provide drinks, that only reflects on her. It does not reflect in any way on the homeless population as a whole that goes to A-Hope for services.
(This article is my opinion, and does not express any official position of the Asheville Homeless Network.)
