Lansing homeless executive draws criticism for calling homeless 'undesirable'

A Lansing homeless services executive is drawing criticism from Lansing's mayor Andy Schor, a local housing advocate and others over how she described the homeless population at a recent Lansing City Council meeting.

Critics are saying Nancy Oliver, executive director for Holy Cross Services, insulted the vulnerable population she is supposed to be advocating for when she called them "undesirable."

She was defending her agency at City Council's Monday meeting because a former temporary employee made public allegations of fraud on a public policy website.

"Holy Cross New Hope Center is the city’s only low-barrier shelter, which means that the most undesirable individuals are those that are being housed and attempted to be helped at my facility," Oliver said.

The social media backlash included Facebook user and housing advocate Mike Karl publicly posting on Facebook that "Nancy Oliver just became the MOST UNDESIRABLE shelter director in the city of Lansing." Many in the comments have asked Oliver to resign.

"I deal with these not undesirable people every day," Karl said Wednesday. "I'm not assaulted or hurt. In fact, they're helpful."

Holy Cross operates the New Hope Community Center, 430 N. Larch St., which is known for key emergency services and shelter.

Oliver deferred a request for further comment to Susan Rosas, Holy Cross' president and chief executive officer. Rosas defended Oliver in a statement, saying the executive director misspoke.

"Of course our neighbors at New Hope aren’t 'undesirable'. Our community members are welcomed at our door, with warmth and without prejudice," Rosas said. "We have to remember that Nancy, like every one of us, is human, with nerves, and she misspoke.

"Nancy’s intention was to describe the rejection that folks face in our community – the barriers faced with landlords, with eligibility requirements at other programs, with the roadblocks that contributed to a person’s homelessness to begin with."

"Nancy has dedicated her life to caring for our community. We need advocates like Nancy, just as we need the advocates on Facebook and TikTok who are pushing for systemic change. While Holy Cross applauds the incredible energy on social media in the name of ending homelessness, the energy has caught a committed, passionate, capable, and currently heartbroken advocate in its crossfires."

That statement included an apology from Oliver, who has worked at Holy Cross for more than 20 years, according to Rosas.

"The people we serve are my heart. I am just so sorry that my fumbled words failed to convey that," read the apology attributed by Rosas to Oliver.

More:Holy Cross drops some homeless services in Lansing; housing agency, nonprofit to take over

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement Tuesday that Oliver used an "unfortunate choice of words" and called on her to apologize to the community and people at Holy Cross.

Fourth Ward City Councilperson Brian Jackson echoed Rosas' sentiments and believed Oliver spoke on how other facilities view people experiencing homelessness.

"It was not meant in malice, but in that servicing people who other facilities deem to be that," he said.

At Monday's meeting, Jackson said he learned about allegations made against Holy Cross.

Rosas wrote a letter on Oct. 12 to Holy Cross' partners regarding a former temporary employee who alleged the agency was improperly using federal funds.

"What is already confirmed: as an entry-level temp placed with us for only a few weeks, the individual whowrote the letter had no visibility whatsoever of the organization’s finances, contracts, or compliance measures," Rosas said in her letter. "This individual did not raise her concerns to anyone who did have access to such files. Rather, she shared her assumptions publicly rather than ask questions of Holy Cross leadership or our compliance department.

"We can also confirm the allegations of fraud are categorically false."

Holy Cross Services dropped several services late last year due to budget restraints. Capital Area Housing Partnership stepped in to provide housing assessment and the Lansing Housing Commission took over Holy Cross's rapid rehousing, housing assistance for those suffering from substance abuse and permanent housing vouchers plus case management.

Rosas is investigating how the temporary employee had a negative experience in 28 days.

"It is not lost on us that the allegations and their spread were made possible by our failure to publicize our compliance data beyond our funding partners," she wrote. "Holy Cross has been preparing its inaugural compliance report, to be published on our website in November. Our original intent was to publish this report annually, however, it appears more frequent publications may better serve the mission, and we will make that happen."

Lansing resident and activist Erica Lynn was bothered by Oliver's comments and said people experiencing homelessness are the most important people in the community.

"I think that is extremely unnerving. That is really disappointing. That's really alarming to hear a direct service provider refer to the people they serve in that way," she said.

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Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at (517) 267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing homeless executive under fire for describing homeless as 'undesirable'