It’s disheartening to hear that Bartlett House faces a much more dire situation than we thought. It was bad enough when word was just that the emergency shelter out at Hazel’s House of Hope might have to close; it’s devastating to hear that the entire program — including the long-term facilities at West Run — could close in under 60 days without a large cash infusion. And it was mind-boggling to hear just how much Bartlett House was in the hole: A staggering $745,000 to 23 creditors.
How did it get to this point?
Unfortunately, all we have at the moment is speculation instead of concrete answers. What we do know is that it should never have made it to this point.
By the admission of Bartlett’s Board of Directors president, Nick DeMedici, for over three years, there was no consistent accounting or bookkeeping. That is unacceptable for a nonprofit that receives taxpayer funds (Mon County Commission and the City of Morgantown often allocate to Bartlett House), and it should not have gone on for so long. The buck stops with the highest power in an organization and, for Bartlett, that is the board of directors. Its negligence has undoubtedly contributed to the severity of the situation.
The services Bartlett House provides are too essential to the community to be allowed to lapse. But if its board cannot be good stewards, then perhaps someone else needs to step in.
Since the organization is asking the Mon County Commission and the City of Morgantown for $300,000 to keep it afloat, maybe one or the other should take over operations until Bartlett House is back in the black — or at least not three-quarters-of-a-million-dollars in debt. As much as people complain about the inefficiency of government, at least government agencies are held to higher standards of transparency and accountability.
We, as a community, cannot afford for Bartlett’s shelter and housing facilities to close. That would put roughly 100 people out on the streets as we approach summer, with its blazing day-time temperatures and sometimes severe storms. Since Morgantown has made no movement on a managed encampment proposal, propping up Bartlett House is the only way to help our unhoused and unsheltered community members.
