Shelter in a Storm, Part 2: IRC staff, clients say Will Howard punishes those who complain

June 02--GREENSBORO -- Will Howard's title is assistant executive director and job coordinator at the Interactive Resource Center, a day center for people experiencing homelessness. Liz Seymour is the founder and a longtime director.

But many who spend time at the center say Howard is the de facto leader, ruling every aspect of the center with an iron hand and behaving in ways that threaten and alienate the staff and clientele.

"We used to call it 'our house,'" longtime client Shannon Stewart said. "Now it's Howard's house."

Seymour said she doesn't know why Howard has become a "lightning rod" for criticism of the IRC.

"I really don't understand why there's so much animosity toward Will," Seymour said. "You don't know all the people Will Howard has helped."

Many who use the center, as well as some who work or volunteer there, say the center has become a place where clients face mistreatment, discrimination and harassment. They also say their complaints have been ignored by IRC leaders.

In more than two dozen interviews with clients, volunteers and some members of partner agencies, many of those complaints centered on Howard.

His critics said that Howard:

--Uses his power to reward or punish clients by giving or withholding bus passes, work boots, jobs and other opportunities.

--Is rude, abusive and bullying to staff, clients and volunteers.

--Has subjected female clients and volunteers to inappropriate sexual remarks and conduct.

--Has retaliated against some of them when they have complained to his superiors.

Although he declined to be interviewed by the News & Record, Howard responded by email to questions submitted to him. In those responses he maintained that he has followed IRC policies and procedures, never has been bullying or abusive, and never has engaged in sexual harassment.

"I consider any such claim or statements to be false, baseless and slanderous," Howard wrote.

Many clients paint a different picture.

"So many people have complained about him, but with Liz, it goes in one ear and out the other," former client Melvin Jenkins said of Howard.

If you have a complaint, clients say, you're told to take it to Howard. That's a problem when most of the grievances revolve around him.

One complaint about Howard is that he uses his position to sexually harass female volunteers and clients.

"He's known around the IRC for that activity," said GTCC instructor Dwight Lynch, who has been teaching GED classes at the center since last fall. "You can gather what's going on from the way he shows favoritism for those he wants favors from."

About boundaries

According to Seymour, Hurricane Katrina left Howard homeless. He moved to and began working at the IRC in 2009 as employment services specialist. He was eventually promoted to assistant executive director, which gave him much broader responsibilities.

Despite repeated requests, the IRC would not provide his full legal name and age for a background check, but Seymour says the center is conducting background checks on all employees for insurance purposes.

Many of the clients interviewed by the News & Record said Howard has acted inappropriately toward female clients and volunteers.

Dominique Ferguson, 27, said Howard often made inappropriate remarks, such as saying how her skirt looked nice and tight. When she asked Howard for help one day in the computer room, she said he leaned down behind her and draped his hand over her breast.

"I don't go into the computer room anymore unless someone else is already in there," Ferguson said.

IRC clients Jenkins, Stewart and Sam Kwarteng say that they have heard staff members and clients complain about Howard's behavior, but that Seymour has buried or ignored complaints.

Seymour said there never has been a formal grievance of sexual harassment or assault filed against Howard. She said nothing in any of her investigations has led her to believe Howard is sexually harassing women.

"If there is sexual harassment of any kind going on, we have fired people for that," she said.

Seymour said that she knows of only two incidents, one of which involved Skye Hankins, 22, who was an intern when she was a student at UNCG.

Hankins was on her second internship in January of this year when, she said, she received unwanted advances from Howard.

"He was always in my bubble, standing closer than I was comfortable with for someone I work with," Hankins said. "Then one day he came up behind me in the computer lab and started massaging my shoulders. I just froze. I didn't want him touching me. It made me very uncomfortable."

When he squeezed her shoulder and rubbed her back the next day, she reported those details in an email to Seymour and Tiffany Dumas, the IRC's volunteer coordinator.

"I do not want him touching me at all -- for any reason," she wrote in the email. "No one here should ever place their hands on a student intern, especially a staff member."

Hankins said that she asked Seymour and Dumas to talk to Howard and that she told them if it happened again, she would report it to the school.

In an email reply to Hankins, Seymour apologized for any behavior that made her feel uncomfortable, said she would talk to Howard and offered to meet with her and Dumas.

"And I did talk to him about boundaries," Seymour said. "I told him not to do anything that could be misinterpreted. I said, 'You know you have this reputation.'?"

Hankins said that she never was sure if Seymour talked to Howard, but but he treated her differently after she complained.

She said that he stopped talking to her and that she would arrive at work to find she couldn't print documents because the computer codes had been changed. She started working with clients at 8 a.m., she said but Howard sometimes didn't arrive at the office until noon. So she would have to wait for him, or use someone else's copier.

Hankins said the phone used to call clients on the intercom was removed from her desk. Howard brought lunch for all the interns one day -- except her. One day when she needed the projector, he made her wait two hours before he unlocked the closet where it was stored.

But she said she didn't complain further to the IRC or UNCG.

"I was afraid of getting fired from my internship and not being able to graduate," Hankins said. "I was afraid if I complained to UNCG, they'd remove me from the situation, and I wouldn't be able to get the remaining intern hours to graduate."

T. Costella Graham, who until recently worked at the IRC as a peer counselor, said she believed the touching was egregious enough to warrant disciplinary action against Howard. She said she pushed Seymour to do more.

Graham said Howard retaliated against her by kicking her out of classrooms and removing office equipment. She reduced the time she spent at the center because, she said, the atmosphere and culture had become so negative.

After Graham took her concerns about the incident with Hankins to IRC board Chairman Bob Newton, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan and the News & Record, her volunteer program was canceled.

Graham said it was retribution. Seymour said Graham's presence was having a negative effect on clients and staff.

"We didn't want it to look like we were throwing out the whistle-blower," Seymour said. "But we felt what she was doing was really harmful to people."

'He made advances'

Another incident of alleged sexual harassment involved IRC client Ronda Vincent, 47.

"I was in there one day, and he made advances, talking about my butt and touching it," Vincent said. "I said, 'F--- off, you pervert.' I was told to leave that day. He couldn't stand me after that."

Howard said his interaction with Vincent was limited to enforcing IRC policy after she was involved in a fight at the IRC.

Vincent, a disabled veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, said she was not involved in the fight. Police were called, but charges against her were dropped.

"I went to court, and they dismissed it," Vincent said. "But when I went back to the IRC, he (Howard) said I was still banned. Even when Tiffany (Dumas) stood there and told Mr. Howard I had nothing to do with that fight, he said, 'This young lady can not come back into the IRC.'?"

Vincent filled out the form for reinstatement but said Seymour refused to accept it because it included her grievance against Howard. Seymour said she asked Vincent to redo the form for reinstatement and submit a separate grievance form about the alleged assault, which would protect her anonymity.

Seymour said Vincent has not been banned, but Vincent said Howard will not allow her in the building, not even for the Monday night meal served there by Food Not Bombs.

"He made me take my food outside," Vincent said. "He said that was his building and I was not going to be in there."

Howard said until Vincent is approved for reinstatement, she's not allowed back, and he provided the "to-go" plate as a gesture of compassion.

A different person

The fear of retribution by Howard extends to some of the nonprofit agencies that work with the IRC.

An advocate from another agency who accompanied Ronda Vincent to the IRC because she was afraid to go alone, said Howard was combative and abusive to him as well. This advocate's name is being withheld because of concerns about reprisals against his agency, which sometimes works with clients at the IRC.

"He's off the chain," the advocate said. "I told Liz that he shouldn't be working with the public."

When the advocate subsequently was called to help another client on behalf of his agency, he said Howard wouldn't let him come into the building. The advocate had to meet with the client in the parking lot.

Another homeless advocate said that even though there's no actual evidence, the stories about Howard are too numerous and too similar to dismiss.

"The Will Howard that we work with is a markedly different person than the Will Howard homeless people experience," the advocate said.

"You're dealing with a man who thinks he's God," said former client David Stokes, 61.

Waiting for a pass

The most common complaint voiced by clients at the center was the difficulty in getting bus passes, which are essential for job interviews, employment, and transportation to other agencies.

Stokes said he used to be Mr. Will's right-hand-man and saw how he played favorites.

"He'll make you sit there all day waiting for a bus pass," Stokes said. "He pick and choose who gets what."

Only certain people get bus passes, said one elderly woman: "People who really need them don't get them. I just about begged to get an all-day bus pass to go to my doctor, and he wouldn't let me have it."

Another homeless man said he went to Howard when he had a job interview in High Point, only to learn that clients had to give 24 hours notice to get a bus pass. He gave notice and postponed the interview until the next day.

"So the next day, I'm sitting there waiting, and he got in a car with some friends, and left," said the 32-year-old. "He didn't show up for the next four or five days. So there went that job."

Howard said he follows the IRC policy and procedure on distributing bus passes and other items, and doesn't show favoritism.

But Lynch, the GTCC instructor, said bus passes are not issued fairly, if at all. His IRC students want and need his GED classes more than any population he serves.

"They come to class. They're on time," Lynch said. "But they've got to follow Mr. Howard around for a bus pass."

Lynch started having his class meet at other downtown locations, including the library, because he could never rely on having a set classroom at the IRC.

"I came in one day, and it was covered with clothes," he said.

Despite the problems, he resumed teaching last week.

"I'll try to turn it around for the good," Lynch said. "Because people who need that service really need that service."

High expectations

From bus passes to boots to job opportunities, Howard controls everything, said clients and observers such as Lynch, Hankins and Graham.

"When you're homeless, the IRC is the only place you can go," Vincent said. "He uses that to his advantage."

Howard plays favorites in deciding who gets job opportunities, clients said.

"They have choices of people they help get jobs," Ferguson said.

Seymour and Howard say those opportunities go to those who have completed job skills training, and have the needed skills and tools, such as an ID and Social Security card.

Ferguson has a job, but said she has to walk from English Street to Lee Street to get to work because she can't get a bus pass.

"The resources have been channeled to other places, not toward the homeless people," Ferguson said. "People need the IRC, but they need to get rid of those people or shut it down."

Some clients do defend Howard and the IRC.

"People are basically spoiled," said Walter Jamison, 55. "A lot of people just sit around. You have to do something for yourself."

Howard helped him get a job in the warehouse, Jamison said. "But they are limited as to what they can do."

Another client said Howard helped him get a laptop so he could take college courses online.

"If certain people get help, it's mainly because they're trying to help themselves," said Chauncey Vaughan. "Some of these people expect the world to stop for them."

Seymour said many clients have very high expectations.

"We're where people start, and sometimes people are starting very far back," Seymour said. "We're dealing with a group of people who have tremendous frustrations day to day, and sometimes we become the focus of that."

Contact Susan Ladd at (336) 373-7006, and follow @SusanLaddNR on Twitter.

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