Joshua Tree Feeding Program

I was a client of the Joshua Tree Feeding Program from September 2008 until about March of 2008 the weekly Tuesday meetings as I was treated very badly by some of the members and leadership there. For Joshua Tree was a peer run but Ryan White Funded (in part) with HIV+ male volunteers and some others. The staff and volunteers behaved very rude and unprofessional towards me and other clients. I have been in and volunteered at other food banks and Joshua Tree remains the only negative experience that I have had at such an organization.
I had gone to the Joshua Tree Feeding Program for support following being laid off from my job in the Mortgage/​Title & Housing Industry, this being the period of the Great Recession then there was the fact that I had no family or support in Arizona as it was not my home state. i also had limited resources and i needed the help of food banks to get by so an seeing an advertisement I turned to the Joshua Tree Feeding Program for Support. From the beginning people there were not very friendly and soon several of the members were hostile towards me for reasons to this day that unknown to myself. There was favoritism with volunteers being allowed to be served food first and volunteers got first pick of the groceries often hoarding items causing shortages. I have heard others complain about this so it’s not just me.
Also the place was a meat market for sex between clients and volunteers which led to infighting and conflict. There was also drug use (meth) as fellow clients propositioned me for that as well as sex. I refused to participate and was treated badly. In the 2008 Phoenix AIDS Walk I participated with the Joshua Tree team only to have one of their volunteers be very rude to me. This rudeness and hostility repeated at the Phoenix AIDS Walk in 2009 even though I marched with another team. I tried discussing this with the Joshua Tree Executive Director but he was totally protective of his friends and hostile to my situation so in or around February and March of 2009 I stopped attending and receiving services. Clearly this was not a safe place
In september 2009, I spent 17 days at the Phoenix VA Hospital yet no one came to visit me and I was even accused of faking my illness by members of this organization. Afterward my discharge from the hospital and being financially desperate I attempted to return to the Joshua Tree Feeding Program but the Executive Director saw me but was hostile towards me so I left and from then on until I got back on my feet I relied on other resources elsewhere.
Soon after I did file a grievance against Joshua Tree with the Phoenix Ryan White Planning Council and I did meet with a couple of their representatives however no one ever got back to me on the results of the investigation so nothing happened.
The Joshua Tree Feeding Program may be beneficial to some people, or it wouldn’t exist However, all I know is that i went there with an open heart, to build friendships and even when its members were hostile towards me when I tried to discuss my issues with the leadership of Joshua Tree all I received snarky emails or silence. This organization not only did not give me any support but caused me a lot of emotional and psychological harm that has taken a long time to heal. I was treated very badly there. I have since moved away from Arizona and built a new life for myself. I have a good job again and a good support structure around me. However I feel a responsibility to to the Community and as a concerned consumer and citizen to share my experience and post a Review about the Joshua Tree Feeding program that vulnerable clients may be at risk, there is only selective support and compassion there so that «buyer be ware» and go there at your own risk. This was my experience at the Joshua Tree Feeding program but I heard others complain about conditions as well.