Tony Messenger | Post-Dispatch
Metro columnist
Yusef Scoggin was trying to head off a surge in homelessness.
It was April and the presiding judge for 51黑料 County Circuit Court, Michael Burton, had announced that evictions would proceed following a long moratorium during the coronavirus pandemic. Burton and county officials later agreed to a delay, but at the time, Scoggin was worried.
Scoggin is the county鈥檚 director of family and community services and co-chairman of the . That group helps coordinate services among government and nonprofit agencies in the region. He sought volunteers from various nonprofits to help identify folks at the highest risk for eviction, to help them know there were still millions of dollars in rental assistance available.
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One of those volunteers was Shana Poole-Jones. You might have heard about her. Early in the pandemic, she received local and national media attention for her big heart for helping others. Poole-Jones had lost eight family members to the scourge of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, many tied to an outbreak in Albany, Georgia. The Maplewood woman, a Navy veteran, channeled her grief into a movement to help others with a simple act: She set up a table in her front yard and put food on it for people in need. The 鈥済rab-n-go鈥 effort grew, donations flowed in, with Jones鈥 spreading her faith and her goodness to others who wanted to help.
“I’m broken, I’ll be the first to tell you,” says Shana Alicia Poole-Jones, “Inside of me, I am torn-up, from the floor.” She says she has lost 11 family members and friends to the coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the nation and world. Through all of her grief, Jones has found a form of therapy in the Grab-N-Go food and necessities table outside her Maplewood home. The table started as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for neighborhood families, after the local school stopped providing sack lunches when two workers tested positive for Covid-19. The project quickly grew when she saw the need for food and other necessities within the community. “A broken person can help a broken person.” she says through tears, “Your struggle is different than my struggle, but we’re going to grab some pieces and make one whole.” The community has rallied around Jones. Those that can, drop off donations in the form of supplies or money to help keep the table going. Others wave, honk or shout thank-you as they drive by. Her biggest concern is making sure everyone take as much as they need. She often encourages people to take more. “What good is one box of noodles if you have four kids at home,” she says. Her story has gained national attention. It has been picked up by CNN and People magazine among others. Jones says that hasn’t sunk in yet though. “I’m just a regular Shana that has a passion.” (Video by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com)
The complex accused the woman of invasion of privacy, emotional distress and other charges after she circulated information on rental assistance.聽
Poole-Jones started a nonprofit in 2019 called . She helps feed people in need and find homes for the unhoused. When Scoggin called her, he knew that she would do anything she could to help. And she did, knocking on apartment doors of addresses Scoggin provided from existing eviction cases that had been put on hold, handing out fliers with phone numbers and emails to various agencies that could help people facing potential homelessness.
One landlord didn鈥檛 take kindly to the do-gooders getting in the way of putting people on the street. So the landlord鈥檚 company filed a lawsuit against Poole-Jones and her nonprofit, accusing her of trespass, misrepresentation, 鈥渋nfliction of emotional distress鈥 and a variety of other allegations seeking to stop her and others from helping people facing eviction.
If the lawsuit was intended to intimidate Jones, as her attorney believes, it did its job. She was served the lawsuit while she was standing in her front yard operating her grab-n-go table.
鈥淭his ain鈥檛 right,鈥 she thought, as she read the papers. 鈥淚 was trying to understand why I was being sued for trying to help somebody. All I want to do is help.鈥
The lawsuit caused several days of stress. She shut down her grab-n-go table. She shut down everything, until Scoggin helped her find lawyers Robert Swearingen and Lisa D鈥橲ouza of the nonprofit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
鈥淚t鈥檚 totally egregious,鈥 Swearingen says of the lawsuit, which was filed by lawyer Randall Reinker on behalf of a limited liability company called Norwood 2020. That LLC was formed in 2020 by Herbert Baumann, whose company, Baumann Property Co., manages apartment complexes throughout 51黑料 County. The north 51黑料 County property in question is owned by Norwood-Redfield Apartments Limited Partnership, whose general partner, according to Missouri Secretary of State records, is Norman Codo of Boca Raton, Florida.
Reinker said in an email that he was out of town and couldn鈥檛 comment until next week.
Swearingen and D鈥橲ouza have filed a motion to dismiss the case. A court hearing is scheduled for next week.
鈥淧laintiff Norwood 2020鈥檚 claims are frivolous,鈥 they argue in their motion. 鈥淭hey lack merit on their own terms and are an attempt to infringe on the Defendants鈥 First Amendment rights. 鈥 the First Amendment does not permit Norwood 2020 to leverage injunctive relief or the threat of damages to prevent tenants from learning about the CDC eviction moratorium and their rights as set forth in the CDC order.鈥
As she waits for this legal cloud to pass, Poole-Jones, leaning on her faith and the support of others, is getting her mojo back. She has reopened her grab-n-go table on Tuesdays and Saturdays. On the day we met, she had driven a truck of food and other donations to Festus, where she found the need to be greater than she imagined.
She said she wanted others to know from her example, that such intimidation won鈥檛 work.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand why I鈥檓 being attacked,鈥 Poole-Jones says. 鈥淏ut people need to know that I鈥檓 still standing. I鈥檓 still fighting. I鈥檝e got to stand up. I can鈥檛 let them push me down.鈥
Messenger: Activist takes round one against 51黑料 landlord; another legal battle brews
