GEORGETOWN, Del. - On Monday, Jan. 27, a former volunteer with Higher Ground Outreach spoke out at the Town Council meeting and shared what he believes to be mistreatment of homeless individuals and a lack of cleanliness. One claim was confirmed unfounded.
Steven Moran is a homeless individual living in the Rehoboth-Dewey Beach area. During public comment at the end of the meeting, Moran stated that he believes Lou Hernandez is turning a blind eye to people doing drugs on the property. He also says there is no food safety being practiced. Lastly, Moran brought up Hernandez's prior conviction and alleged that he is not allowed to be around his step children.
Before he spoke at the meeting on Monday, he filed a report with the Georgetown Police Department on Saturday, Jan. 25, stating almost the same exact thing he said at the meeting.
Hernandez says everyone that comes to HGO is warned against any illegal drug use and says it is not permitted anywhere on the premises or in the building. He says they are told that if they must use them, they should not come to HGO that day. He shared that they always offer to assist people with getting into rehab when they are ready.
Hernandez says these rules are told to everyone during intake.
A woman came up to speak after Moran and says she lives in Millsboro. She claimed that there was mold, mildew and clumps of hair in the bathroom. According to Hernandez, the woman was not a volunteer at HGO. He says she was a visitor that did intake in September 2024. Hernandez says he has had very little interaction with the woman.
Due to the seriousness of the accusations, Georgetown's code enforcement went to inspect the facility. CoastTV spoke with the Georgetown Police Department and says most if not all of the issues code enforcement found were taken care of on Tuesday.
Some of the repairs included fixing ceiling tiles, installing new smoke detectors, setting up new fire extinguishers and adding a fan in the bathroom as per the code enforcement's recommendation.
Town Manager Gene Dvornick could not confirm or deny much from code enforcement's report but says he has good faith that code enforcement was thorough as they checked the facility.
"I trust my code enforcement officials, they usually are very accommodating to work with the individual to make sure whatever is identified gets addressed in the appropriate time frame," said Dvornick.
CoastTV spoke with the Georgetown Police Department about the claims that Hernandez is not allowed to be around his step children. The police concluded that the claims were unfounded and Hernandez is allowed to be around his step children.
Higher Ground Outreach told CoastTV they have no comment on what was said at the meeting, but they do say they are focused on their mission and caring for the homeless and they invite anyone with any questions to visit their facility.