St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Shelter for Women and Families, Dayton OH

This place needs to be shut down, this has been the worst place to go to when in need. Dont let the advertisements fool you, this place is like a prison, terrible living conditions, and has severe health code violations, the employees are very rude and need to be fired.

This shelter is the worst. I went through a domestic violence situation and came here because all the other shelters were full. Everyday is chaos and drama. The police are constantly here and they give you dirty linen and it is always freezing in here and I have a 2 year old that got sick being here. They don't provide help with transportation and it is so horrible here. If you need somewhere to go make this your last resort. Oh and the bathroom stay nasty.

I have been here for 5 days and this is my 3rd times here and it has been hell. God is all over me and as I was here we got treated very badly and felt very not needed here and also was told to leave. So having to call the police was needed and that is why I can say it has made me more see brighter days when I leave here but at the same time it is not good at all. It is just a place to lay your head and take a shower. There is so much that the people could have the people go is to thr right place and it can be more peaceful for families that come for a peace of mind instead of chaos. They already have enough problems coming in the shelter and then mental disability has to get a place to go and get the attention they need also. It is only fair for the people here.

The staff here are rude and hateful and should seriously consider other jobs than social work.
You are going to do the work yourself to find you a new home. This is just a place to sleep. Consider contacting Goodwill for actual help.
The government has closed many mental health facilities and many of those individuals are at this location.
Landlords are increasing rent faster than our income raises. There are many individuals looking for homes here. It is crowded and loud.
Call United Way before you lose your home to see what help is out there.
This is a terrible place to be.
They just threw a woman out on lies a woman told them. 12am with no coat or any kind of covering to keep warm.

We had a memorial picnic for my brother in law and ended up with more food than we could use. I wanted to give the leftovers to a homeless shelter. St. Vincent de Paul doesn't take food donations so a lady that came to the door explained where I could take it. The next place was so appreciative. Both people went out of their way to thank me.

You will suffer at the homeless shelter. It is cold and the staff is not good people. You just went to a place worst than jail if you stay at the homeless shelter. You will not get any sleep if you work night shift.

I am writing this in the summer of 2022. The current staff at Saint Vincent is completely apathetic and useless. They order lots of food at the front desk, which is just rude to people who are suffering and wish they had better lunches than a five day old sandwhich. They have outdated information on the walls. They have no rescources for the girls and the staff does not know how their own system works. Mostly the people who work at this shelter are the wrong people to help other people. They are a very apathetic team. They are lazy and not really concerned about helping others, just a paycheck. I would literally fire this entire staff if I ran the shelter with the exception of 2 or 3 people. It seems to me when people's lives are at risk, the would have more reliable and smarter team to help people, but it is Dayton, it must be hard to find good people.

This place is horrible. Majority of the staff are rude. There’s only like two that aren’t. There’s obviously little to no communication because your bed gets moved and stripped without you even knowing. No regards for children at all. People bring drugs inside, there’s no order. I came here to get help and everyday after work and school my kids cry because they are scared to go there. Dayton needs a better program for women and children. There are men inside the building at all times. It’s very uncomfortable.

The staff are rude they talk to us any kind of why they don't wanna be here they don't wanna help us they give you one sheet the room stay cold an the sheet they give you is like the one in jail you ask them a question an they have an attitude about it they make you get up at 530am and if you work they don't care i will NEVER send anyone here

Its actually really sad the "support" they offer!
The idea and promise of the place seems safe, secure and promising but in reality the staff that run the place are rude, overwhelmed, hold back on stuff thats donated to help residents, constantly denying you of services and saying they dont have to explain anything when in fact they actually HAVE to but dont, they dismiss you like a child not like a place of business, the food is extremley iffy until the owner is in the building, the place is so unclean and unsanitary its in humane to children in my opinion, i noticed the family living area was out of soap for four days before anyone noticed.i had to personally find the cleaning crew and address the situation and they apologized and filled the soap. The staff cant handle 100-200 HOMELESS woman and children constantly "needing things" they even go as far as to beliitle your situation by saying things word for word that can be rewinded on their audio cameras saying "yall a bunch of needy adults worse than children" they cuss at us, talk about us loud and clear, they even denied a pregnant woman a lunch and complained when they had to give it to her the complain was word for word "third shift isnt going to have any sack lunches to eat and im not sure if the sack lunches are for the staff or the residents but im sure there is enough food donated and thrown away each month that it shouldnt be an issue especially not to a pregnant woman, there are people with mental illness, lack of guidance, domestic violence, people whos home cought fire or something dramatic that landed them here not everyone is an addict not everyone is completley helpess and we should be treated with respect not judged and put down for being in need of help. Some staff care, some really dont at all its just a paycheck and free stuff for them and discounts for when they shop at goodwill for stuff in their own home. They brag about getting 30% discounts as employee at goodwill but talk down on us residents for needing so much and it just does not make sense. I think people working the desk should be more qualified more patient and more willing to help without acting like its coming directly out of their pay. The opperation of this place is a huge let down yet i have to reside here because i have no other options and that only triggers my panick disorder even more. Its a run around to recieve anything even a simple faxed paper from my doctor. I got the worst "damn i gotta get up and do something attitude" from staff when I asked for my fax paper. The water is never more than luke warm and there are shower times which means when showers are running you are probably taking a cold one, laundry gets lost or stollen way to often bc the way staff decides to go about doing it. People and pregnant women leave after months of recieving the bare minimum and i actually had to get a doctors note bc my protein intake is entirley too low for my child that i am carrying and they still argue providing me a sacked lunch bc no one wants to keep up with making them. Even after showing that i was at work or a doctor ive been denied food & also seen it happen to others more times than i can count and its just so sad. The people donating to these places should be undercover intakes seeing that their help isnt being given to us like they think. I have outgrown all my clothes pregnant and have been asking for two weeks to go into the closet to get clothes for myself and its yet to happen, my shoes are talking and i just want to know if im not getting clothes shoes or the proper food as a pregnant women then i can imagine how much a regular resident isnt getting and if we all are fighting for service just to be denied then where is all this stuff going. As a pregnant woman ive had to walk hours to appointments 8 months pregnant because all of a sudden they dont want to hand out the donated bus passes anymore. There is no real free space to clean up and look presintable if u are clean with semi nice things and no addiction they act like you fake staying in such a place!

They are disrespectful, rude and they say that they help with housing but they really don't

Absolute Worst worst WORST place to be if you need help! This place needs to be shut down immediately. It’s sad how they treat people in need. There’s a 7pm curfew, lights out by 9 pm. Out of bed by 7 am and don’t even think about oversleeping, because you’ll be put outside. You can’t have your charger in the room after curfew, you can’t have jackets, sweaters or hoodies in the room, NOTHING but a change of clothes and hygiene products can be brought to the room. You’re in one room with 100+ people and it’s so packed that if you stretch you’ll hit someone’s bed. No social distancing rules are in play what’s so ever, the employees are RUDE and treat you like prisoners. Bathrooms are disgusting 24/7. Most of the employees make up their own rules as they go. They offer LITTLE to NO HELP with housing assistance because they get PAID by the head count. Even if you’re doing all the leg work, they won’t help you for MONTHS! It’s very unorganized. They literally treat people like prisoners. There’s only ONE BATHROOM you’ll have access to from 7am-7pm, masks are not required and neither is quarantine if you do have Covid. This place is TERRIBLE! You can’t bring in outside food or drinks so you’re forced to eat what they give you which is little to NOTHING. Oh and if you do not make roll call, you’ll be sleeping on the FLOOR because they’ll give your bed away.

This place is BEYOND TERRIBLE! I was in this shelter last year with my kids and ended up back there with my kids fiancé and Sister. All the CA's are crooked except two of them and they know who they are! They serve our kids cold food my girls got a stomach virus bc of the food. Some of it's expired they barley give us little bit of food at dinner time families have a curfew of 5: 30pm which is crazy! The bathrooms are VERY VERY NASTY AND ALWAYS DIRTY THE BUILDING SMELLS HORRIBLE! This shelter needs to be SHUT DOWN IMMEDIATELY SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE! The staff treats people very very badly they all have attitudes they are very rude. They dont do their jobs CORRECTLY.we aren't allowed to bring in outside food or drinks so our children have to starve and be thirsty until dinner which is at 6pm. SOMEONE NEEDS TO SHUT THIS BUILDING DOWN ASAP.i dont encourage ANYONE TO GO TO THIS SHELTER! I've been there 2 month's and still haven't got housed yet they barley give you any help in this place!

I am hearing impaired. It seemed like no one was willing to speak up to where I could hear them properly. So it was difficult from the moment I walked in. I have a 3 year son with non-verbal autism along with an 18 month old son. His autism was made aware of from the beginning, before intake. I was promised accommodations for my son by third party and I never received it. The private area where children with disabilities could go was under construction, and I had no clue about this until AFTER the intake process. I woke up in the middle of my first night and he was GONE! I had to go downstairs and ask for help to find my son because the area was easily accessible, which means he would have no problems escaping the area. Anyone could’ve took my son and I could’ve done nothing about it. Elopement is common in autistic children, especially a 3 year old.

People claim it’s a women and family only shelter, but this shelter is for everyone! Women and families just get first priority. So, that’s very misleading. As if my first night wasn’t bad enough because of panic & anxiety, let’s speak about these ridiculous rules. We were forced to wake up at 6am and out of the sleeping area by 7am. Curfew is 7pm, lights out at 9pm. You can’t even bring in a charger, outside blankets, not even a jacket. Your bag has to be clear. It seems like you do the smallest thing, and you have to find “alternative shelter” and kicked out of here for 3-30 days. As I said, my oldest has autism and sleeps best with a weighted blanket. We didn’t even have a pillow & we was given one blanket for the three of us. I asked to grab the blanket I had for my sons in the car and they said I couldn’t. Like why? It felt like jail. I couldn’t make it past the first night, no matter how bad I needed it. I slept in my car rather than going back. The car was better.

What makes it so bad is we went through it all for nothing. The next morning, it came to my attention that that I wouldn’t even get the help I was looking for by talking to other mothers & families. Many of them had been there for 3 MONTHS+ with no assistance. You might as well do it on your own or go to another facility, especially if you and your child has disabilities.

Nice people if you follow the rules and respect the staff and the other people in the shelter and realize that the people staying at the shelter are dealing with the uncertainty of where they are gonna live or dealing with other stuff as well. Realize that we all are dealing with something in varying degrees. We all need to respect ourselves and and others and appreciate all we have and the help we get. All I can say to the staff Thank You for all you have done and continue to do in these troubled times and know that GOD is bigger than all the stuff that is going on right now.

THIS PLACE IS SO NASTY BECAUSE AIR DUCTS ARE NASTY AND FILLED WITH MOLD. AFTER I WAS HERE 2 DAYS I GOT A REALLY BAD COLD AND LOST MY VOICE. THE STAFF TREAT YOU LIKE A CRACK HEAD. AVOID COMING HERE.

When you have no where else to stay it's a blessing and a curse! Others take your items of which you don't have much when you come and they take what they want and if your sick your put in winter shelter where its cold you get sicker and they people that run it only care about paper verifications if you work see case worker when after their day is over they go home bottom line is we are human and grown woman not to be treated like children and need a monitor we take care of ourselves however we can situations different for each individual respect and concern for the well being of the guest!