Mesa restoration company, insect expert, others eradicate bed bugs from men's center

by Jim Walsh - Dec. 22, 2010 10:06 AM
The Arizona Republic

Inspired by a leadership training class, Mesa business owner Shane Orlando used his construction skills to help others and learned about the East Valley Men's Center through a Google search.

Orlando had no idea that residents had complained about bed bugs at the shelter in May, or that University of Arizona entomologist Dawn Gouge had inspected the facility and compiled a list of recommendations on how to eradicate the annoying pests.

But within four days of touring the shelter in September, Orlando had developed a plan for gutting the building, removing wooden bed frames where the bugs were hiding and breeding, and custom-building new metal bed frames.

Orlando's efforts not only helped transform the center into a prime example of how to eliminate bed bugs, but his efforts in guiding the extensive $200,000 overhaul inspired six other Valley construction companies to donate hundreds of hours of work.

Orlando Restoration and a body shop joined six partners in volunteering an estimated 426 hours of work valued at more than $20,000.

"It seemed a little overwhelming when I first walked in. It looked like it would be more work than it really was," said Orlando, a former custom homebuilder.

The other companies' contributions made the work go more smoothly. Most of the job was completed in about five days.

"We found a lot of people wanted to help. They were just looking for someone to take the first step," Orlando said.

It was first in a series of surprises.

He soon realized that many shelter residents had been construction workers before the economic downturn left them unemployed. Orlando put some of them back to work as temporary employees and found satisfaction from counseling them about their lives.

"Most of the time, people hold themselves back. They are their own worst enemies," Orlando said. "We plan to help them more in the future, to boost morale and give them hope."

Residents lived in a tent behind the shelter while the renovations were under way, said Torrie Taj, A New Leaf's executive vice president for marketing and research development. They were required to wash all of their clothes to avoid reintroducing the bugs. A New Leaf is a non-profit that runs the shelter.

Taj said Gouge and Orlando offered to help without being solicited, but their efforts combined in a spectacular fashion. Taj lined up federal grant money from Chandler and the Arizona Department of Housing, but an estimated $60,000 is still needed to complete the project.

Mesa United Way is calling several benefactors, asking them if they would be willing to make a contribution, Taj said.

The renovations include two new buildings, one containing a modern kitchen and dining room, the other for storage of donations. An open house to showcase the renovations is planned for Jan. 26.

Along with the makeover to eliminate the bed-bug problem, the new buildings turned the old bingo hall into a virtually new campus. A new roof and air-conditioning were installed in 2008, and the electrical system was repaired.

The shelter opened as Margie's Place, named after the late advocate for the homeless, Margie Frost, in 1998 at 2345 N. Country Club Drive, in the Salt River's bottom.

Gouge had read a newspaper story about the shelter's bed-bug problem or been made aware of it by a colleague.

"It took us seconds to locate a hot spot" during an inspection, Gouge said.

A New Leaf was "totally on top of it," Gouge said, noting "they were taking steps in the right direction," but needed help to eradicate the bugs when pesticides and other procedures failed.

Gouge's suggestions included removing the wooden bed frames, eliminating a hiding and breeding ground for the bugs, and installing a new seamless floor that got rid of the space between the floor and walls where the critters also could hide.

She praised A New Leaf for acting on her suggestions.

"Most importantly, they had management and staff dedicated to solving the problem," Gouge said.

Orlando said he used Gouge's suggestions as almost a blueprint.

To this day, he and Gouge have never met.

"Her recommendations spawned my vision," Orlando said. "We took her report very seriously. We took anyplace where they might live out of here."

Mesa shelter's renovations aim to fight bedbugs

by Jim Walsh - Dec. 22, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

With bedbug complaints multiplying in Maricopa County, extensive renovations at a Mesa shelter are being cited as a prime example of how to attack the problem.

A University of Arizona entomologist and a Mesa construction-company owner are combining their talents to overhaul the East Valley Men's Center, replacing wooden bed frames where bugs hide and breed with specially designed metal frames.

A seamless floor was installed to prevent bugs from hiding in cracks. White sheets will be used so that any bedbugs will stand out.

"It would be a huge benefit to everyone in the Phoenix metro area if every shelter used the same approach," said Dawn Gouge, the entomologist whose suggestions became the guide for the renovations.

Gouge and her colleagues are pursuing a federal Environmental Protection Agency grant for $190,000that would attack the bedbug problem at shelters and public housing in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State.

Gouge said her working theory is that attacking the bugs in highly transient shelters would prevent them from spreading elsewhere.

But regardless of whether Gouge lands the grant, she is offering to inspect any shelter in the county and make recommendations, just as she did in Mesa.

"I believe we are at the point where we need a bedbug task force, especially in the Phoenix metro area," Gouge said, following the lead of other states.

Although other states with higher humidity tend to have worse problems with bedbugs, there is little doubt the problem is growing in Arizona, she said.

Craig Levy, an epidemiologist with the Arizona Department of Health Services, agreed, saying a communitywide effort is necessary. He said bedbugs are "equal opportunity hitchhikers" that can be spread virtually anywhere. There should be no stigma attached to them, he said, and they should be reported as soon as possible to management at apartment complexes, shelters and hotels to limit infestations.

"It's increasing here, and, given time, my guess is it could become as bad as other parts of the country," Levy said.

A review of Maricopa County Environmental Services Department records show that bedbug complaints rose from 96 in 2008, to 285 in 2009 and to 458 through Dec. 15. That amounts to a 377 percent increase in three years.

Ed Girard, a county environmental-enforcement supervisor, said he's not sure if the bedbug problem is growing or if people are reporting them more after media coverage about the issue.

The records show complaints at some very prestigious addresses, including the Arizona Biltmore, a Radisson hotel, a Residence Inn by Marriott, along with low-budget hotels and halfway houses.

"It's hugely underreported," Gouge said, because many people don't know where to make complaints.

The bedbugs aren't picky. The bloodsucking bugs feed off humans and are considered a perfectly adapted parasite. The bugs do not spread disease but often leave bites, skin rashes and other irritations.

Gouge said most hotel chains do a good job attacking the bugs, but shelters and other facilities for the poor often don't have money to attack the problem.

A New Leaf, the non-profit agency operating the Mesa shelter, was spending thousands of dollars on pesticides and other measures that failed to eliminate the bugs, said Torrie Taj, executive vice president for marketing and resource development.