Rinehults and Unity both said they observed widespread substance abuse among shelter residents, including meth, heroin, cocaine and a type of synthetic marijuana called K2. Perez admitted the staff had trouble preventing drug and alcohol use, adding that she came across syringes, bottles and “makeshift ashtrays” in the dorms.
“There was this one client who was actually making his own crystal meth in the microwave,” Perez said. “He caused the microwave to explode, and he ran out of the building.”
As for the security team, Perez said her supervisors at Project Renewal ignored reports of guards mistreating Marsha’s House residents and failed to provide regular “LGBTQ 101” trainings to security staff.
“It’s almost as if my concerns would go in one ear and out the other, because they would just allow them to stay,” said Perez, who lacked the authority to fire guards herself.
When Marsha’s House changed security contractors a third time in July 2020 — from SERA to Winfield — Perez said she pushed to hire fewer guards and replace them with operations staff.
“I didn’t think they needed all of those security guards,” Perez explained, noting that there were as many as 10 guards on duty at any given time. “Yeah, they didn’t listen to me.”
Project Renewal fired Perez in September 2020. Perez said she was dismissed for “being mean” to caseworkers and other shelter employees.
SERA did not respond to NBC News’ requests for comment, and Winfield declined to comment. Project Renewal said in a statement that Marsha’s House has provided quarterly sensitivity training to all staff, including security, since the shelter opened.
‘Justice needs to be served’
The current Marsha’s House director, Jacqueline Luna, took over last January. Luna said she had not received any reports of guards requesting sexual favors and was unfamiliar with the allegations against Grinnell.
“I think that our clients are supported in ways that are culturally competent and sensitive where they are right now,” Luna said.
Luna has been at Marsha’s House since it opened, first as a caseworker and later as assistant director under Perez. When asked if she had ever seen violence break out at the shelter, Luna said, “I don’t want to say violence. I know that people have, you know, argued and tensions have arised.”
New York City Police Department records reveal officers were called to Marsha’s House over 225 times from February 2017 to September 2021 — about once a week — including for at least five reports of felony assault during that time period.
Diamond Wynn, a former housing specialist and case manager, described Marsha’s House as “an extremely difficult place to be, whether you’re a client or a staff member.”
“In my time at Marsha’s House, I attempted suicide twice,” said Wynn, who was hired at the shelter before it opened and quit in 2021. “I dealt with a lot of abuse from clients, a lot of abuse from staff, a lack of support, and it impacted my mental health.”
Wynn told NBC News that escalating complaints at Marsha’s House “ended up being a waste of time more often than not.”
“You report it to a supervisor, and the supervisor just asks the person in question, ‘Did you do this?’ The person says, ‘No.’ They’re like, ‘OK, well, if you did, just in case, don’t do that thing,’” Wynn said.
The New York City Commission on Human Rights has been in contact with Marsha’s House since at least Aug. 23, 2019. An internal document shows the commission led a Trans101 Workshop for Marsha’s House staff on that date, responding to concerns from residents.
“The commission cannot provide details on ongoing investigations,” Alicia McCauley, the commission’s press secretary, told NBC News.
Last June, the New York City Public Advocate toured Marsha’s House after hearing of issues with staff, according to Kim Watson-Benjamin, LGBTQ coordinator for the advocate’s office. In a statement to NBC News, a spokesman for the Public Advocate called the allegations against Marsha’s House “alarming and unacceptable:”
“After our office alerted the Department of Homeless Services, visited the site, and spoke to residents, it became clear that both specific and systemic changes were urgently needed to protect and support the youth there. We have met with their leadership and worked to demand and direct reforms and improvements together with our partners in government.”
Zac Roy, the Project Renewal spokesman, said in his email that the nonprofit “enjoys a good working relationship” with the Public Advocate’s Office and noted that last October, “Project Renewal expanded sensitivity training to include an additional session for each new employee within seven days of starting at Marsha’s House.”
LGBTQ activists said they’ve spent years drawing attention to the problems at Marsha’s House, only to be brushed off by Project Renewal and the Department of Homeless Services. Sean Coleman, founder of the Bronx-based LGBQ nonprofit Destination Tomorrow, described the process as “disheartening.”
“There should have been more LGBT community input once they began to operate,” Coleman said of Marsha’s House. “Now it feels like they’ve gotten the money, so they don’t really care to do any better.”
Tax filings show Project Renewal received an average of $74 million in government funding each year from 2017 to 2019. Its contract to operate Marsha’s House was recently renewed through June 2025 for a total of $25.6 million, according to the city’s Department of Social Services.
When asked about the treatment of LGBTQ residents within its facilities, DHS told NBC News via email in September that the department strives to create a “welcoming and inclusive environment” for all those it serves. DHS also touted having had “several” conversations with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, writing, “We have been open and responsive and collaborative.” Alexander said the nonprofit walked away from talks with DHS in summer 2020 after the agency offered little follow-through.
Alexander is calling on the city to establish “an outside body that essentially holds DHS accountable, because they’re not going to do it themselves.”
While the DHS ombudsman monitors complaints, the reporting system is a “closed loop,” Chinyere Ezie, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said.
“Their policy is to send them back to the shelter and the shelter directors — the very people who are the subject of those complaints,” Ezie said of the complaints.
Ezie represented Mariah Lopez in her lawsuit against Marsha’s House and helped secure a settlement with DHS this past fall. The settlement requires DHS to increase transparency around allegations of sexual misconduct and educate shelter staff and vendors about LGBTQ rights. It will also create dedicated shelters for transgender and gender-nonconforming adults in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx.
“This settlement represents a turning point in New York City’s treatment of trans and gender nonconforming people experiencing homelessness,” Ezie said in a press release in November.
In a statement on the settlement, DHS said, “We thank Mariah Lopez for her leadership on this issue.”
Rinehults and Unity have both secured permanent housing since leaving Marsha’s House. Unity moved into her own apartment in December and said she’s trying to clear her mind of the “trials and tribulations” she endured at the city’s only shelter for LGBTQ adults.
“Justice needs to be served for what they were doing at Marsha’s House,” Unity said.
CORRECTION (Feb. 9, 2022, 12:40 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of a former Marsha’s House resident. He is Andrew Rinehults, not Andrew Rynehults.
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