SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The director of a homeless shelter in Shelbyville has been arrested. She is accused of taking advantage of the people she was supposed to be helping.
But she maintains it's all a big misunderstanding.
"Do you think you’ve done anything wrong? NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Brenda Knight, the director of Castle Ministries.
"No, ma’am," she replied.
The organization runs the Open Hands shelter for men, a separate shelter for women, a thrift store and Bible classes — all in Shelbyville.
"We are all volunteers. We are just a small ministry. We are serving the Lord. We are just trying to show compassion and help the ones that are transitioning to a housing program," she said.
But police arrested Knight last week and charged her with financial exploitation of the homeless and elderly and theft over $1,000.
"We don’t take pride in taking down a homeless shelter and its director," Shelbyville Police Detective Samuel Campbell said. "That’s not what we come to work to do, but if they’re taking advantage of the vulnerable, the homeless and elderly, I think we have a responsibility to them to make sure that they have justice."
Campbell said the department has been investigating a series of complaints from both current and former residents of the shelters who have told police that before they could move in, Knight required them to clear out their bank accounts and give her all of their money. She apparently told them she would manage it, but according to police, she did not always give it all back.
Knight also reportedly has charged people to stay in the shelters.
"They are referred to as bed fees," Campbell said.
"She charges them to use a bed?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked.
"Yes," the detective replied.
"At the homeless shelter?" we asked.
"Yes."
"And how much does she charge?" we wondered.
"It varies. Some have paid $150 a week. Some have paid $640 a month," Campbell said.
"That almost sounds like rent?" we suggested.
"Yes," Campbell agreed.
But Castle Ministries is a nonprofit. And Det. Campbell said financial records seized during their search of its various properties showed the organization takes in tens of thousands of dollars a year in donations from local businesses, individuals and churches.
And then, there are those bed fees.
"$35,000 in bed fees in the last year," Det. Campbell revealed.
"$35,000?" we asked.
"Yes," he confirmed.
"Just in bed fees?" we inquired.
"Yes," the detective said.
"I don’t wish bad on nobody, but I’m glad she got caught. I really am," Lauren Kernen said to NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Kernen said late last summer, Brenda Knight refused to let Kernen's 84 year old grandfather stay at the shelter.
"Because he couldn’t work for her. Those were her words. 'He was too old, he can’t work for me, so he can’t stay,'" Kernen recalled.
She also rejected Kernen's son.
"She still wanted him to give $500 of his disability money. He is legally blind, and he refused," Kernen said.
Kernen said she stayed at the shelter for several weeks and while she does not remember paying a bed fee, she said Knight insisted on making a copy of Kernan's EBT card.
"She did want $50 a month of my food stamps to buy food," Kernen stated.
"And she was going to use your food stamp card?" we asked.
"Yes, my food stamp card," Kernen said. "This is supposed to be a homeless shelter to help people that are homeless, that are in need for help, and it seemed to me like she was just trying to help herself."
Knight agreed to talk with NewsChannel 5 Investigates at the women's shelter where she also lives.
"The truth is, we love people, and we are trying to show them compassion. We have helped so many people not just within our program but within this whole community," Knight said.
She didn't deny collecting money from the residents.
"But that goes to pay all of the expenses of running a business," she said.
But she didn't want to talk about using the residents' food stamps.
"And you require the people who are living with you to share their EBT cards with you?" we asked.
"No, we don’t require. We do ask them. We never take their cards," she responded.
"What do you do with their cards?" we wondered.
"OK…" she said as she made it clear she was no longer interested in talking about the EBT cards.
And she also cut us off when we asked about the bed fee.
"How much is this bed fee typically?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Knight.
"I don’t want to answer any more questions right now. I just want people to know that we love the Lord and we love people and we are doing the best we can to serve," she told us.
While Knight insisted bed fees are pretty common, we checked with two homeless organizations in Nashville, the Nashville Rescue Mission and Safe Haven. Both told us they never charge their residents for any sort of service, not their food and definitely not their bed.
If you feel you have been a victim of Castle Ministries, the Shelbyville Police Department would like to hear from you.
