Opinion: Shelter workers need a safety net
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Shaquille Sheppard (left) is a homeless shelter security officer in Queens, NY. Photo courtesy of Sheppard
By Shaquille Sheppard
Being raised in the shelter system, I learned to grow up faster than most other people. At an early age, I realized what it means to try to make ends meet.
After being in and out of the shelter system, I knew I could give back to the system that played a key role in my childhood. I set out to become a shelter security officer, and I have been working in the shelter system for over three years.
I was raised by a strong woman – a single mother who always made sure I had a bed to sleep in, no matter what we were going through. Now, as I have the responsibility to care for her, I am calling on the New York City Council to ensure that security jobs at privately-run shelters are family-sustaining jobs with good pay and benefits.
Currently, I live with my mom and work at the Children’s Rescue Fund family shelter in Queens. After a long shift that ends at midnight, it takes me almost two hours to get back home. I have to address violent conflicts every day, make $16.00/hour and have no health insurance.
My mother, who is on Medicaid, has a long list of heart problems and high blood pressure. Because she is disabled, she cannot work. I often struggle to cover a larger portion of the rent for our two-bedroom Section 8 apartment, so she can have some change left in her pocket from her social security.
My story is not unique. As private shelter security officers, we perform essential duties for our city and for shelter clients, yet many of us are on the brink of being homeless ourselves. We have mothers, children and loved ones to care for, yet we do not make enough money to simply care for ourselves. We are still often forced to rely on government services to make ends meet, because our jobs alone do not lift us up from poverty.
As private shelter security officers, we are among the working poor of New York City. Paying my $8,000 student debt, worrying about credit card bills, or saving money for the future, these are luxuries when keeping a roof over our heads is a struggle.
It is within our hands to change this story. The City’s shelter system is the largest in the country. Security guards working at shelters managed by private operators under contract with the City are currently excluded from the prevailing wage law and are not covered by the same standards and training requirements.
Without these standards, there is nothing to ensure that privately run shelters are providing decent wages, benefits and training opportunities to security officers. And without these standards, I cannot promise my mother that I can take care of her, even after she did everything she could to take care of me.
The SOS Act (The Safety in Our Shelters Act, Intros 1995/2006) would raise the standards for like workers like me and ensure that privately run shelters are providing decent wages, benefits and training opportunities to security workers. We thank Speaker Johnson for his support of these bills and ask the members of the City Council to pass them into law. You have the opportunity to change our lives for the better.
Shaquille Sheppard is a homeless shelter security officer in Queens.
