Update 09/6/2017: New developments regarding the Harbor Light facility flooding again and misconduct regarding staff: The Harbor Light Saga – New Footage
The horror taking place at the Harbor Light halfway house continues. The facility, which is located at 1710 Prospect Ave in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, has officially entered full crisis mode. The events that are transpiring within the building cannot even be compared to some third world country facilities. Recent reports conclude that administrators are attempting to coverup the activities by sequestering information, threatening to remove cellphones and withhold information from loved ones of the deceased. All of which is a sour attempt to prevent any of the activities and decrepit living conditions taking place from getting out.
In the past 90 days there have been an extremely high number of overdoses and related deaths, with one occurring in just the past 7 days. Residents at the facility state that “there is almost an ambulance that arrives to the halfway hosue every single day”. The amount of drugs and corruption taking place within the facility is an indicator of a total fundamental breakdown of the ability to apply safeguards and policy properly, culminated with a serious neglect that spans the course of more than a decade.
The goal of a halfway house is to treat individuals with addictions, keep them off the streets, help them find employment and get them back on the right path. This applies to individuals whom are released from prison and back into society and for some who are seeking drug treatment. However, as you will see, Harbor Light is clearly not conducive towards anyones sobriety or reintegration back into society. This facility, when put into comparison with other halfway houses in the area, is more run down and has one of the highest death rates in the entire state.
Harbor Light Bathroom In Shambles
The video above shows the bathroom within the Harbor Light halfway house, with visible holes in the ceiling and water leaking profusely from the light fixtures. Interestingly enough, the halfway house is currently being audited and is undergoing an active inspection. More than likely, they will manage to pass this inspection again and things will continue just as they have been.
A pattern has emerged and one that can be seen happening all across the country. There is an inherent need to retain contracts, to keep government grants and funds flowing – at any cost. Simply put, money is taking precedent over human lives in this industry and it’s imploding before our very eyes at the Harbor Light facility in Cleveland.
Harbor Light Ambulance Treating Clients
Outside of the facility, the scene which you just witnessed in the video above occurs on almost a daily basis. It appears that the vast majority of administrators and staff have become dulled to the every day occurrences at the facility. This can be the only explanation for the highest levels of decay at a state level. Instead of focusing on the clients, workers are more in tune with collecting their paychecks and going on with their lives. What’s happening is simply business as usual. This is not okay…
COBRA Says: Where’s the Fed’s? Harbor Light urges you to come on down and see 8th wonder of the world for yourselves, discover where all of the ADAMHS funds are disappearing to, as well as the $20+ million in the yearly budget. It’s raining from the ceiling, people are dropping like flies and the only thing that’s thriving at the facility is the cock roaches that are terrorizing the clients that ‘oh so badly’ need someone to just give them a fighting chance.
Unfortunately so many institutions across the country are taking advantage of a never ending supply of income. This is money that flows in virtually no matter what. This is due to the extensive needs placed on these types of centers as a result of the heroin epidemic, money is now more plentiful than ever (the U.S. Government is expected to ramp up spending even further in 2018). Sadly if things are allowed to continue as they are, the people aren’t going to get better, they are going to get worse and more deaths will surely come.
The Family of Jerry McCloud
Jerry McCloud was the most recent unfortunate casualty of the Harbor Light Horror and his family had the following to share on his behalf.
“Jerry was loved dearly by both of his parents and family. He is someone that no one will ever forget. His mother Deborah described him as a healthy, loving-happy young man that truly enjoyed life. Both his mother and father agreed that he was there for punishment and treatment. The system failed him and he lost his life because of it. Jerry’s death has been labeled as an overdose, Jerry’s brother, Billy McCloud, would like to state that Jerry was not an addict. It is unfair and not right to portray him as something he is not.
Funeral Service Fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/rip-jerry-mccloud
Jerry has left behind a loving family. Jerry’s niece, Ariana, loved Jerry dearly. And would like this unfortunate situation thoroughly investigated. We need answers, we deserve them. Jerry would never jeopardize his life, he doesn’t deserve any of this. At 11:53 PM Saturday night, he mentioned that someone had stolen his shoes, he addressed this to an employee at Harbor Light and was told that he had to wait until Monday to do anything. At 12:01 AM, he talked about some of the residents in the facility making a drink called “Foxy”. Which is a drink with Coffee, Kool-Aid and Jolly Ranchers. The last time Jerry was heard from was at 12:46 AM, Sunday. He was supposed to be picked up at 8 AM Sunday morning for a meeting, but Jerry never called to be picked up. At around 5:49 PM Sunday, we were informed that Jerry had died.
Our deepest condolences and heart felt sympathy is sent to the McCloud family. Nobody should have to endure what you’re family has gone through, especially regarding the reluctancy of the facility to communicate the events that transpired regarding Jerry’s untimely death.
SCUMBAGGED Tip: The individuals in charge of this facility should all be fired. Someone needs to be brought in to spend money on the facility for starters. Then a review of the management needs to be put in place, followed by extensive security measures to better safeguard the clients. In addition, proper training and work ethic needs to be coordinated throughout all employees at this facility. There needs to be a joined effort from both the community and those directly involved with the facility to make things better and to make changes happen that achieve results. Until that happens, more deaths will occur and the facility will continue to breed the despair that it is “pretending” to correct.
References:
The Harbor Light Nightmare – Death, Despair & Dilapidation (Cleveland, Ohio)
[…] Update 08/31/2017: New developments regarding the Harbor Light facility and it’s administration, leaked footage from within the facility and words from the family of the deceased. See the updated article here. […]
My brother was at that facility, and he always had things stolen from him ! He was at his lowest because of how that place is ran. Horrible ! Very sad !
My daughter was there about 5 or 6 years ago and it was horrible then. Dirty,roaches in the bathroom for visitors, and she told me all the drug dealers hung out by the back fence. Real easy to keep your habit going. Something needs to be done. It’s also a homeless shelter
Anyone want to hear about what’s going on at Matt Talbot/Catholic Charities….same stuff….
I am Jerry McClouds employer and I can tell you he was not a drug addict. He was a funny guy that liked to joke around all day. I can hear his giggle now. I am thoroughly disgusted by this article and some of the comments. You should not be able to overdose in a facility like this. The people running this place are obviously clueless. Jerry never left the place even though he was supposed to have work release. They never let him out. If he overdosed he got the drugs in there. Jerry mocked people that took heroin and said he would never take shit like that. I’ve never seen him high and I know what it looks like because I used to do it. This place lacks the oversight needed. In short, there’s a bunch of morons in charge and bigger morons sentencing these people to this place. They call the inmates clients. WTF! Are you kidding me. Who treats their clients like this? MORONS do.
A family member of mine is going there currently and we have been incredibly worried about him. He does appear to be getting high again, taking money from family and friends every week, gets his cell phone, and can basically run around wherever he wants to just as long as he’s back by “curfew”. He did say that there are ambulances there almost every single day. He also said that when people come back in the building and fail a drug test upon returning, all they make you do is mop up the bathroom floors or something ridiculous instead of giving you actual consequences or sending you back to jail. There’s no actions being taken, and no one seems to care that people are in there getting high every day which just becomes a huge trigger for someone newly coming into the building. The courts should NOT be sending people there for treatment. Its a f****** trap house, and we are scared we are about to lose yet ANOTHER family member to this disease because of the carelessness and selfishness of that place.
This place is a death trap. Staff doesn’t help you at all. They allow clients to sell drugs within the facility. None of the staff has any kind of first responder training. Some staff members here are even very racist. There supposed to help you find jobs but then why do they only go to the black clients with the jobs. Staff calls white clients junkies and make racial comments all the time. Some staff.memebers even get high or come into work drunk. Prime example of racist staff, a monitor named Mr. Hardy. Was in detox for a crack addiction but calls us white clients white boys and junkies. Is he trying to cause tension between clients. Supervisors know about this yet don’t do anything about it. Case managers and other staff are supposed to be here to help the clients but instead there more concerned about trying to get clients in trouble and have them sent back to prison. Latest issue, a monitor here Ms. Evans comes into work off the clock and has clients take drug tests. She then says clients are dirty for opiates knowing the tests came back clean and those clients are on vivitrol. End result, she had a client sent back to prison all because she didn’t like the client. This is helping people? They need to get rid of the staff here. Or at least get rid of the ghetto scummy ones who are here just to make people miserable because there lives are miserable. Don’t take it out on the clients because your not happy with yourselves. Someone has got to help us here
Record the staff, get specifics and submit an article: https://scumbagged.com/submit-an-article
I was at the Oriana House, the other 1/2 way house in Cleveland. This one has a federal contract, so they keep itup a “Little” better. But the story is the same, actually I’ve heard guys say they would rather be at harbor lights.
My son overdosed at this facility in aug of 2016 he was 20 years old! No one bothered to call me to let me know he was taken to Cleveland clinic, he told me there was ambulances there daily for overdoses ! Sadly this is one of the facilities that Ohio prisons send inmates to when overcrowding is happening and tax payers are bitching ! I was donating personal care products and diapers to the homeless mothers at this faculty and the employees helped themselves to the bags and bags of items I donated weekly! Sadly the Ohio courts will incarcerate a drug addict but send the drug dealers to neocap!
I was there Feb. Of 14′ and I was the Nov. Of 16′ that place is a joke and I seen them mistreat people that was there for drug treatment and in the halfway house facility… they are there to get a pay check they can give 2 shits about the well being of the people there smh… I was in the halfway house for a lil over a month in Nov. And I seen the ambulance out side every night it made me sick to the point if they didn’t release me on house arrest I was going to just leave and go back to prison for my remaining 4 months…. they need to shut down or they need to get on them and fined them and make them get the place under control it’s sad….. I know a dude that was there never did drugs in his life was in the halfway house with me and some how the so called homeless people that can’t afford to live on their own and pay bills was managing to sell drugs throughout the building and someone got him some heroin for the first time in his life and he went home and not a week later he died from a overdose from heroin….
Harbor light is a facility for people who want help can find it there
Its unfortunate that this individual decided to break the rules but you get what u ask for
I was in there there is no help there
It’s been like that for many many years…I worked there in the 80’s and it was terrible them.I have a family member working there now,who confirmed that it is much worst now
12/22/2017 As of today the MCCLOUD family has NO UPDATES NOT A WORD FROM THE detectives or the MEDICAL EXAMINER ITS SO CALLED STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION what a joke NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT WHAT GOES ON IN THIS SHIT HOLE COMPLEX the judges are ASSHOLES FOR SENDING PEOPLE HERE I HOPE THERE FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIEND GO THROUGH THE SAME HELL EVERYONE ELSE THERE GOES THROUGH
I was there back in 2014. I could not wait to get out. My first day there I was offered heroin and spice (k2). There was even a “drug counselor” who was getting high in the bathroom smoking crack. We all use to laugh at her because she’d be walking around all bug eyed and breathing heavily. The roaches in that place are INSANE. Even in just the visitors bathroom, soon as you turn the light on you can see about 10-20 of them scurry and scatter between the cracks and holes in the walls. Once there was a roach about the size of a baby mouse (I’ve never seen one so big in my life!) I smacked it with a shoe…. HARD and it continued about its day unaffected. Harbor light is just completely filthy and nasty. Oh and I could purchase any drug that I desired with ease, for cheap. Which maybe I don’t understand how these places work but doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose of the whole establishment?
I now someone who was recently released to Harbor Lights and was so nicely greeted by the dealer on the 5th floor. the first day The place has a heavy smell of weed but they don
t allow drugs in the building. 2 days in and this person was already in the hospital kicked out and now homeless. I wasn’t even notified of this happening. I know he’s a junkie no one cares, right? He says he was drugged inside by staff that he pulled the fire alarm to get emergency help, you can only believe so much, I know. They say he was doing drugs acting a fool. Nothing make sense and with all the horror stories I keep reading how do all these places stay open and pass inspections? its a scam! The amount of donations they get, money they charge those who live there. Its hard for those who are trying to get help when you have scum dangling that cookie in front of their face and no one wants to snitch because there will be a price tp pay. But again they are just junkies why should anyone care, right?
I just came across this article. I was an employee of Harbor Lights within the last year. I am sad to report that nothing has improved from your posts in 2017. The overdose and mistreatment stories are believable and still going on. Security is a joke. The verbal abuse that is tolerated in the family shelter is horrifying and residents do as they please. Staff is afraid to police it because there is no back up from management. I went to the top of management in Harbor Light with concerns but was met with resistance. The administration building for Salvation Army is just down the street – a lot of people must be looking the other way for many years..😥