Grand Rapids Home for Veterans - crime in progress, part 3.

Next lets look at the volunteers. This place is driving away volunteers, and as the result, taking away activities from Veterans. Case in point - The coffee episode that is still effecting veterans.

You see, some of the people here need special diets. Some need thickening agents added to their coffee so that they can swallow it properly. Due to this fact, each member has an ID card with a colored stripe on it. Green means they can eat anything. Blue or Red means they have restrictions. Well, one of the volunteers in Kozy Corners gave regular coffee to someone who had a restriction and as such they choked.

Because of that, all volunteers had to sign a paper saying they would check all ID cards before giving anything to any member.

At Bingo,(which is put on by outside volunteer groups such as VFW, American Legion, various church groups, schools, or whom ever wants to donate the funds to put on a bingo game), volunteers would bring treats for the members. Coffee, Juice, donuts, pizza, pretzels or chips or small candies. And after the coffee incident they had to check ID's. But some BellView genius,(BellView is the insane asylum in NYC),in the administration here, decided not to allow the bingo volunteers to give us anything because "We cannot afford to pay a staff member to be present to ensure ID's are being checked." was their excuse for taking away our treats. Bull crud.

Also, Kozy corners is no longer serving coffee after 6pm, or on weekends.

Also as a result of this Coffee incident, all coffee places on the various wards had to be locked up, with coded locks on the doors, with members being given the code only if they had a green stripe. The problem with this is many members do not close the locked doors, leaving them open. So members who cannot get coffee on their unit, are now wandering around other units trying to get coffee without having their ID's checked. So far 3 have choked because they could not get the right coffee. And 4 members got lost going to other units that they were not aware of. Many have been caught on other units, only to "claim they were confused" as they tried to get into locked rooms where the coffee pots were.

Volunteers have had to sign and resign agreement forms to be able to continue to be able to volunteer. Those volunteers that the administration does not like, get their paperwork lost and are threatened with arrest for trespassing if they continue to return to do volunteer work without permission.

Another volunteer, Don Kramer, was a volunteer with the purple heart association who spent a lot of time each day here at the GRH4V. He would bring vets down to the smoking area who were bed ridden and had to use special wheel chairs, and help them have their smoke. He was well liked, and was driven out of being a volunteer because he caught a staff member smoking inside the building in the winter time, when he had to bring his vets outside in the freezing cold. He reported her and politics ended up with him being forced out. The Nurse who he caught has never been disciplined for her violating the smoking law, that a member would be fined 100 dollars or more for violating. In fact several members were issued 100 dollar fines for smoking near doors in the winter time because the state law requires you to be 50 feet from a door, federal law 25 feet, and they were within 10 feet while trying to stay warm. Yet that nurse was never issued any such citations even though security had proof of her smoking inside the building.

Don is just one of over 15 known volunteers that have left because of the administration of this place. And countless others are refusing to return.