FedEx employees accused of trashing homeless shelter

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. FedEx officials responded to a Southern California shelter director’s claims that their employees had trashed and made her home uninhabitable by overnighting a $30,000 check to help the shelter make the necessary repairs.

Je’Net Kreitner, executive director of Grandma’s House of Hope in Garden Grove, said Thursday that FedEx Ground employees offered to come into the shelter for disabled and distressed women to install new flooring and coat the walls with new paint. But instead, on Sunday, Kreitner was horrified to find the women’s belongings discarded, blotches of paint on the carpet and the house in a complete mess.

Trash bags were piled up everywhere, vegetation was destroyed, kitchen dishes and valuable food was thrown in the trash and even the women’s only computer desk was broken to pieces.

“This is not what I signed up for,” she said. “They were supposed to fix up the place, not trash it.”

On Friday morning, Maury Lane, director of Corporate Communications for FedEx, profusely apologized on behalf of the corporation.

“At FedEx, our effort is to make each and every one of our customers satisfied and happy with what we do,” he said. “Our effort at Grandma’s House of Hope fell way short. We are sorry and apologize for what happened.”

Lane said he hopes the $30,000 donation will help right the wrong and help the shelter make the necessary repairs and complete any other pending projects at the home.

“We hope things will be back to normal soon for them,” he said.

Lane declined to say if the company will take disciplinary action against the employees who were involved.

“But this is not our culture,” he said. “And we are going to be culture-consistent.”

Kreitner said she is grateful for FedEx’s attention to the shelter’s situation. She said work had already begun Friday morning.

“We have professionals, some who have volunteered to help us out, and others whom I have hired to get some things done,” she said.

Kreitner said the team of more than 50 volunteers from FedEx Ground in Anaheim was supposed to remove the carpeting and replace it with laminate flooring. They also agreed to paint the six-bedroom house, Krieter said.

But when the volunteers were “done” Sunday, Kreitner says, the house was in far worse shape than she had ever seen it and “completely unlivable.”

Kreitner said it was FedEx Ground that approached her seeking volunteer opportunities. She was told that the company had a budget of $4,000 for the weekend project and could spare 50 volunteers to do the job.

The team began work Saturday. Kreitner had moved the women from the home to another one of the organization’s facilities in Anaheim, Calif. One of the women is going to have breast cancer surgery Friday and won’t have a home where she can recuperate, Kreitner said. Other shelter residents are recovering from addiction, are victims of domestic violence or are physically or mentally challenged. At any time, there are about 10 women in the home, she said.

On Thursday, the house was in a state of disrepair.

White paint was splashed on to new laminate floors. There were also drippings of paint on carpeted areas, on furniture and fixtures. Paint pans with paint and rollers were left in different parts of the house. Trash bags filled with sundry items were plopped atop the rose bushes in the front yard. Branches were chopped off from an orange tree in the backyard. An entire bed of ice plant was ripped off from the ground.

“They never asked us for permission to cut down those branches,” Kreitner said. “Growing plants and trees is one of the ways our women heal. This is going to be devastating for them emotionally.”

All of the women’s belongings were under piles of lumber and paint cans in the garage.

Kreitner said when she came back Saturday afternoon to assess the progress, she saw the computer desk the women use out in the front yard, broken to pieces.

“I was simply told that the desk snapped when they were moving it, no apology, nothing,” she said.

On Saturday, the team finished early in the evening and left all the items they had moved out into the yard just as they were. And it rained that night.

“Our washer and dryer were also left out in the rain and I don’t even know if they work any more,” Kreitner said.

What was most upsetting, she said, was volunteers’ callous attitude toward the home and their possessions. They threw out all the food from the kitchen including unwrapped vegetables, salads and cheeses that the women had bought with their own money.

“It’s as if they had absolutely no respect for anyone or anything in this house,” Kreitner said. “This was somebody’s home. Now, it’s been ruined and trashed.”

She said group members left Sunday and that two team members returned Monday to work, but left in the afternoon saying that they would return the following weekend. Kreitner said, Ortega had initially told her that they would have the project completed in two or three days.

On Friday, Kreitner said she is optimistic the work will be completed soon and the women will return to their home.

“To them, this is their only secure home,” she said. “I want the house restored to its peaceful and healing state and move the women back into their cozy beds.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

The new Crucible Brewing owners Johanna Watson-Andresen and Erik Andresen inside the south Everett brewery on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
South Everett brewery, set to close, finds lifeline in new owners

The husband and wife who bought Crucible Brewing went on some of their first dates there.

The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it's one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mukilteo council passes budget with deficit, hopes for new revenue

Proponents said safeguards were in place to make future changes. Detractors called it “irresponsible.”

Andy Bronson/ The Herald 

Everett mayor Ray Stephenson looks over the city on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2015 in Everett, Wa. Stephanson sees  Utah’s “housing first” model – dealing with homelessness first before tackling related issues – is one Everett and Snohomish County should adopt.

Local:issuesStephanson

Shot on: 1/5/16
Economic Alliance taps former Everett mayor as CEO

Ray Stephanson will serve as the interim leader of the Snohomish County group.

Molbak's Garden + Home in Woodinville, Washington will close on Jan. 28. (Photo courtesy of Molbak's)
After tumultuous year, Molbak’s is being demolished in Woodinville

The beloved garden store closed in January. And a fundraising initiative to revitalize the space fell short.

Lane Scott Phipps depicted with an AK-47 tattoo going down the side of his face. (Snohomish County Superior Court)
Man gets 28 years in Lynnwood kidnapping case

Prosecutors also alleged Lane Phipps shot at police officers, but a jury found him not guilty of first-degree assault charges.

The sun sets beyond the the Evergreen Branch of the Everett Public Library as a person returns some books on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘A brutal hit’: Everett library cuts will lead to reduced hours, staffing

The cuts come as the city plans to reduce the library’s budget by 12% in 2025.

Justin Roeth lies on a bed on Monday, Dec. 2 at the Marysville Cold Weather Shelter in Marysville, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
‘I feel safe here’: Marysville shelter saves lives as temperatures drop

Snohomish County has six cold weather shelters. As winter rolls in, they’ve opened for guests.

Lynnwood
Son of Lynnwood woman killed in bomb cyclone also injured

South County Fire previously said no one else was injured. Brian O’Connor has undergone two spinal surgeries.

The Snohomish County Jail is pictured on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
First bills drop ahead of WA’s 2025 legislative session

Permanent standard time, immigration policies and fentanyl penalties were among the proposals pre-filed Monday.

Federal agents seized many pounds of meth and heroin, along with thousands of suspected fentanyl pills, at a 10-acre property east of Arlington in mid-December 2020. (U.S. Attorney's Office) 20201223
Final member of Snohomish County drug ring sentenced

An operation centered on a compound in Arlington in 2020 turned up huge amounts of meth, fentanyl and heroin.

Two people walk a dog along the Snohomish River on Monday, Dec. 2 in Snohomish, Washington. A regional trail, set to be constructed nearby, will connect Snohomish and Everett. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Future trail could connect Everett to Snohomish

Construction is slated to start in 2027. Eventually, the trail could connect Everett and Monroe.

Teslas charging in Victorville, Calif., on March 11. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and one of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest supporters, has said the government should eliminate all subsidies for electric vehicles. (Lauren Justice / The New York Times)
Once a must for wealthy Seattle-area liberals, Teslas feel Elon backlash

For many, Tesla has changed from a brand associated with climate action and innovation to something “much more divisive.”

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.