Bed bugs halt Stamford non-profit's clothing collection

STAMFORD -- St. Luke's LifeWorks has stopped accepting clothing donations, because the organization suspects this has been bringing unwanted visitors into its residences.

St. Luke's is the fifth Stamford address this month to show evidence of bed bugs, said city health inspector Amy Lehaney. This year, the city has seen an average of four bed bug infestations each month, according to city data.

The organization, which houses 400 people annually, provides education as well as emergency, transitional and permanent housing to families and individuals, including those living with mental illness and HIV/AIDS.

In early October, clothing for babies, children and career-wear was accepted only by appointment.

Bob Rimmer, St. Luke's LifeWorks chief residential officer said because of ongoing struggles with infestations, St. Luke's had to shut down its in-house clothing exchange. The organization halted the furniture collection some time ago, Rimmer said, after a donated couch caused an infestation in the South End campus.

According to data from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the nocturnal bloodsuckers, which measure about 5 to 8 millimeters, reemerged in the past few years after almost two decades.

No one knows what caused the resurgence, but some experts believe it coincides with the banning of powerful chemicals such as DDT, which killed the insects but were harmful for the environment.

New York City received roughly 900 complaints in 2005, and 9,000 complaints last year, according to the EPA.

There are no precise numbers of reported complaints or confirmed bed bug infestations in Connecticut, said Dr. Gale Ridge, an entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.

"It's a pandemic worldwide," Ridge said. "New England is having issues, because of old construction. There are more nooks and crannies for these to hide in."

Ridge attended the EPA's first "bed bug summit" in April, which discussed spreading awareness of the problem and creating a reporting system to document cases.

"Primarily we hope to educate the public to eliminate the social stigma, which if we did start a reporting program, would never be accurate because people would never admit they had bed bugs."

Anyone can get bed bugs -- "we're all lunch," she said.

It's more of a concern in a place where residents frequently come and go, Rimmer said, like the residential program, or the city' STD clinic on the first floor of LifeWorks' Franklin Street headquarters.

That's where bed bugs were discovered two weeks ago, when one was seen crawling on the clinic wall, city nursing director Olga Brown said.

"We took it very seriously, because they can multiply so easily," Brown said.

St. Luke's immediately hired an exterminating company and the first round of treatment occurred last week, Lehaney said.

The organization, which sees annual foot traffic of roughly 40,000, has taken further precautions, paying for each new resident to launder all their belongings in hot water before moving in. For a family, this can cost upwards of $60, he said.

Even though the precautions exist to protect their clients, Lynne Menon, the director of communications, said long-time clothing donors are upset about not being able to gift clothing to the program.

Dana Low, the chairman of the organization's board, said unfortunately, in this infestation, St. Luke's is "not all that unique."

"We don't think this is going to keep from doing what we need to do," he said.

Sourced By: Staff Writer Devon Lash