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ACORN Falls from the Tree, Will Abuse
Shelters Come Next?
ACORN, the liberal activist group, was stripped of
its funding by the House of Representatives
Thursday following release of undercover videos
showing lurid and criminal activities.
One tape showed an ACORN employee named Tresa
Kaelke of San Bernardino, Calif. bragging how she
had murdered her husband: “I shot him. And he
died. Right there.” To perfect her alibi, the
ACORN worker declared how she had gone to a local
domestic violence shelter where she “pleaded
my case.”
Following release of the video, a red-faced
Kaelke claimed she was just playing along with the
Candid-Camera gag, and local police reported her
former husbands were alive and well.
We’re relieved to hear the men are safe.
Still, there’s something deeply disturbing
about Kaelke’s boast.
Recently Trudy Schuett of Examiner.com published
an insider account of abuse shelters. She reveals,
“We’ve seen cases where fictional abuse,
contrived for the purposes of leverage in court,
became a reality.” In other words, shelter
workers coached women like Tresa Kaelke how to
fabricate a White Lie for purposes of manipulating
the legal system.
Others have developed a similar jaded view of
shelters’ claims of protecting women from
their villainous tormentors. In July, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced his plan to rescue the
state from the brink of financial insolvency,
cutting all funds for domestic violence shelters in
the state.
Over the years I’ve had occasion to visit
abuse shelters, speak with their employees, and
peruse their literature. Just like the
kiss-and-tell videos reveal fraudulent actions at
ACORN offices around the country, I have found
evidence of widespread malfeasance.
These are some of the more spectacular
examples:
Arizona: A female resident sexually assaulted a
12-year-old boy staying at the Brewster Center
Domestic Violence Services, but shelter staff
wouldn’t allow police on the premises to
investigate. In Phoenix, the Shield Foundation
operates an immigration scam operation that relies
on well-rehearsed shake-downs of alleged
abusers.
Arkansas: A resident made up tear-jerker
accounts of partner abuse and medical emergencies,
duping staff at the Options shelter in Monticello
to loan her $25,000.
Georgia: The Cherokee Family Violence Center in
Canton fabricated an allegation of child neglect by
a shelter resident who complained too often,
causing the mother to lose custody of her infant
for five months.
Oklahoma: The YWCA Crisis Center in Enid lures
prospective residents with the promise, “We do
NOT require proof of abuse.” Cindy Lou Shores,
former director of the South Central Region Tribal
Nations program, now resides in a federal prison
for embezzling $106,000. At SafeNet in Claremore,
the director was ordered to avoid any further
contact with a former resident’s children.
Earlier this month the children’s father filed
a multi-million lawsuit against the shelter.
Texas: The Bay Area Turning Point program in
Houston hosts dating parties, pairing up abused
shelter residents with local dandies for an evening
of schmoozing and boozing.
Virginia: Bethany House of Northern Virginia has
a long record of problems. First, two female
shelter workers were fired for sexual advances of
the residents. Then an attorney appeared at a
client’s house demanding sex for his pro bono
services. Later the shelter waged a six-year
campaign to harass the husband of a
mentally-deranged resident, what the judge later
described as “Kafkaesque litigation.”
West Virginia: The staff of the Hope House in
Charleston lied to police about a woman in their
facility, preventing her from getting needed mental
health treatment. And the director of the Domestic
Violence Information Center in Morgantown recently
admitted under oath, “we do not shelter men in
the shelter even if it’s empty.” Now a
group called Men and Women Against Discrimination
has filed a sex discrimination lawsuit.
Washington: A blind woman was ridiculed and
finally ejected by staff at WomenCare in Bellingham
for requesting basic safety accommodations like
Braille dots on the security keypad at the shelter
entrance.
In Florida, shelters are in a state of disarray.
At SafeSpace shelter in Stuart, a 16-month-old
toddler was run over in the shelter parking lot,
and a woman was later fatally stabbed by a shelter
co-resident. The Shelter for Abused Women and
Children in Naples fired its former director for
harassing and assaulting shelter employees.
At Another Way in Lake City, a four-year-old
girl was vaginally penetrated by an older girl
staying at the facility. Shelters managers drive
shelter vans for personal use. Overt sex
discrimination. Illicit drug use. Employees
convicted of multiple violent crimes. An
astronomical staff turn-over. And more.
No doubt some abuse shelters are providing a
tremendous service to their communities. But
considering abuse shelters take in $1.4 billion
from the government and other sources annuallly,
there are far too many bad apples in this barrel
for Congress to continue to turn a blind eye on
this sordid affair.
* * *
Carey
Roberts probes and lampoons political correctness.
His work has been published frequently in the
Washington Times, Townhall.com, LewRockwell.com,
ifeminists.net, Intellectual Conservative, and
elsewhere. He is a staff reporter for the New Media
Network. You can contact him at E-Mail
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