Blog: What a sweat: Surviving Maryland Housing

Douglas Winslow's internet home page

What a sweat: Surviving Maryland Housing

August 28, 2021 at 11 A.M. Eastern Time

In helping people with autistic disability, it is my goal to document the chain of failings that has been 'holding me underwater' for the past five years, so to speak.

I am still writing a recap of my experiences during a homeless crisis that the State of Maryland experienced in 2018 and 2019. If you can think of a bird getting knocked out of the sky while flying, you can understand how important it is for me to communicate this. The autistic are not here as your playtoy.

Matt Knauer - Mr. Knauer rented his house to someone who was not happy with me being quiet due to being busy looking for work. This led to neglect and problems with pre-existing mold in Mr. Knauer's basement causing chills and diabetic conditions. Financial insecurity is not what anyone wants to deal with, so with a pending eviction action from Mr. Knauer's house, I went to look for employment at B.W.I. Airport.

Maryland M.T.A. Police - During my homelessness experience, I applied for and was granted and mailed an M.T.A. riders' disability I.D. card. It was mailed to the Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh's Office of Homeless Services. M.T.A. Police caught me riding the Light Rail to get food with a valid I.D. card on file. My position still remains that the police do not have the right to assault someone for taking a picture of them.

Deion Caison - Mr. Caison was the owner and operator of the "Everybody Cares Assisted Living Facility #1", in operation in 2018 and 2019. During my stay at 662 Cokesbury Avenue in this Maryland Department of Health licensed assisted living facility, I was bitten by insects, starved, bullied, and also neglected. Medical staff showed up less than 2% of the entirety of what was expected during my stay. I had to go outside and exercise every day to escape toxic air conditions in the house. I filed complaints, and the State did not follow through to resolve my complaints. In 2021, my health has recovered substantially and my heart no longer feels to be in danger.

Arame Richardson - Ms. Richardson operated an Airbnb house for rent in Halethorpe, Maryland. As I continued to fine-tune my diet and exercise, Ms. Richardson attempted to sell me a liquid diet. I refused. She staged a health incident with her pet dog, feeding it raw chicken, and I called the Baltimore County Police when she tried to have me leave before the end of my lease. Airbnb's response was to re-enable their community support hotline and then to raise rental rates and place people out of housing. (These are A/B tests that are not humane and not appreciated in app design. Airbnb has a monopoly on rental visibility in some areas.)

Binh Nguyen - Mr. Nguyen suddenly closed his Airbnb house during an eviction moratorium. There were three rooms rented, and one of the non-Airbnb customers was not paying him and was causing trouble for me with audio and visual 'mind games'. In what was the coldest shock to my system that I can ever recall, in January 2021, before the end of my rental term, Mr. Nguyen turned off the heat, then the water, then the BGE electric meter was removed. BGE did not respond to my phone call requesting them to send a technician. The Baltimore City Police Department was called. My rent was paid in full every month.

Timeline of events

December 18, 2018: Mr. Winslow went to several local hospitals attempting to get treatment for chest pains and symptoms of stroke.

Christmastime 2018: Entry of Mr. Winslow into B.W.I. Airport for employment purposes. One of his goals was to reach his grandmother.

January 24, 2019: After waiting for employment decisions from several employers, Mr. Winslow attempted to get funded with a development demonstration.

February 18, 2019: On Presidents' Day, Mr. Winslow was written a citation for using B.W.I. Airport as a hotel/motel.

March 5, 2019: Departure of Mr. Winslow from a transitional care facility arriving into Deion Caison's Maryland health facility.

May 9, 2019: Chapel Valley Townhomes again attempts to hold Mr. Winslow to a yearly lease that their computer auto-renewed while Mr. Winslow was hospitalized. This was a closed case that is now reopened as Maryland Case Number "D-08-CV-19-015144". Chapel Valley Realty (C.V.R.) was paid in full at the time of Mr. Winslow's departure at the conclusion of his lease in 2017, and Mr. Winslow was not evicted.

May 7, 2020: Departure of Mr. Winslow from Deion Caison's facility for arrival into Airbnb's rental system.

June 8, 2020 until September 8, 2020: Mr. Winslow used Airbnb to stay at Arame Richardson's facility.

September 8, 2020 until January 29, 2021: Mr. Winslow used Airbnb to stay at Binh Nguyen's facility.

January 28, 2021 until February 26, 2021: Mr. Winslow used Airbnb to stay in Charles Village. (Douglas' grandmother passed away during this stay.)

February 25, 2021 until July 13, 2021: Mr. Winslow used a hostel in Charles Village near Johns Hopkins University.

July 13, 2021 until July 30, 2021: Mr. Winslow attempted to move his upcoming transit-focused startup company into a 24 hour co-working space.

August 28, 2021: This update is posted to Mr. Winslow's website.

This is not the dog mentioned above; it is a popular meme photograph called 'Doge', however it reminds me of the Baltimore Orioles logo.