TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Moldy pipes, a tub filled with junk and a mattress trashed.
Those are just some of the sub-par living conditions, according to one resident at the Tallahassee Hope Community Center, that she was forced to live in.
"I was sleeping in the cafeteria for a month, and the showers were very hazard," said Vanessa Pastoriza, the resident. "And the bathrooms. There was people, you know, messing up the bathrooms. It was very filthy, and they constantly blamed my children for making messes that they didn't even do."
Pastoriza, a mother of five, says the living conditions at the Hope Community Center are atrocious. She says she loses sleep due to roaches and bedbugs. And, it's gotten worse over time, the last time she took a shower was more than two weeks ago.
"Recently, there's been very cold water, no hot water," she said.
Pastoriza and her children moved into the facilities in January of 2018. In addition to the dirty living situations, she says she is regularly discriminated against from employees.
"Me and my sister were speaking in Spanish, and a RCS told us not to speak in Spanish," she said. "She said we're in America, so speak English."
Pastorizais reported her greivances to the Leon County Health Department in February, and was at that time moved to a shared living area.
"We keep catching them in lies," she said.
WTXL's cameras were allowed on the premises but not in the living dorms.
Hope Community Center Director Sylvia Smith says it's not uncommon for homeless residence shelters to have bedbugs, and that they use a certified vendor to exterminate pests. She also says it's each resident's responsibility to keep the facilities clean.
"There are no custodial staff," Smith says. "As I mentioned, housekeeping is a shared responsibility between the residents and the staff. This is a residential facility. So everywhere the residents live is considered a living environment where they are in their own home. So there is no budget for us to clean the residential areas for them."
Smith says living quarters for their 180 - 230 residents are inspected daily, and that they use professionals for critical maintenance that cannot be performed by staff. The cafeteria is stocked with cots during temporary emergency situations and food preparation is kept separate.
Representatives say that everything is up to par and standard, but these photographs tell a different story.
According to Pastoriza, if the Hope Center doesn't clean up their act, "To be honest, that building is a hazard. It won't last."
