Outside of the hospital that has become home to hundreds of homeless men, women and children in Southeast D.C., about 100 people rallied in support of these residents, who say that living conditions at the shelter are unacceptable. It also marked the nearly 100-day anniversary of when eight-year-old Relisha Rudd, who lived at the shelter, was last seen.

A handful of residents spoke about rats, the poor quality of the food, lack of support and the inability to get out of D.C. General. “What is going to be done?” a resident named Bre asked as people in the crowd shouted support.

These complaints are nothing new. At a February hearing, residents of D.C. General spoke of a lack of hot water and heat, major bugs issues and other quality of life problems.

“Why hasn’t the committee been informed about this?” Councilmember Jim Graham, who heads the Human Services committee, said at the time. “I’m dismayed that this has not been brought to our attention.”

D.C. General is run by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness at a cost of $1.4 million a month. Representatives from the Washington Interfaith Network, the group that helped organize the rally, met with officials from the Community Partnership this week. According to notes from that meeting, which were shared with the crowd, the representatives said that Relisha was not kidnapped or abducted, and expressed an unwillingness for residents to meet with Community Partnership Executive Director Sue Marshall.

There were also whispers that some residents did not attend the rally for fear of retribution, as WIN express in a May letter to Marshall: “It has also disturbed us that at times residents have expressed their disquiet about DC General in hushed tones or while looking over their shoulders. Residents repeatedly expressed fear of reprisal from staff if they spoke out loud about their concerns. If history is any lesson, places where people are afraid to speak up tend not to be safe places.”

Rev. Michael Wilker, who was at the meeting, said it was clear to him that the Community Partnership did not want to take responsibility for conditions at the shelter. There is a hotline shelter residents can call, and the Community Partnership says the door to the office of D.C. General’s director is always open. A representative yesterday declined to say if there are any open investigations into living conditions at the shelter.

Graham was the only elected official in attendance. He again called for D.C. General to be shut down by the end of the year if sufficient housing is created, low-barrier shelter is replaced and Mayor Vince Gray’s 500 Families, 100 Days program is a success.

“I’m very disturbed by the report I heard tonight,” Graham said of the allegations against the Community Partnership, adding that Marshall is “good of heart.” “If what we heard tonight is accurate, we have to change that attitude real fast.”

When asked if he’s pleased with the Community Partnership’s and the Department of General Service’s work at D.C. General, Graham replied no. “Not at all,” he said. “Who could be pleased with that? … That’s no way for people to live.”

Graham said he’s spoken to the DGS’ director “many, many times” about problems at the shelter, but “we’ve got to stop thinking in that direction” and focus on closing D.C. General. “That’s the answer.”