Marcus Clark said that he and his children faced severe health issues after moving into a city-run homeless shelter in Baltimore
Credit: WJZ/YouTube
NEED TO KNOW
- A Maryland family faced severe health issues from toxic mold in a city-run homeless shelter
- Father of three Marcus Clark said that he had “symptoms that felt like a heart attack,” while one of his kids had a wet cough that made his lungs sound “like they were collapsing”
- The shelter, a former hotel, reportedly had mold, sewage in bathtubs, and mushrooms growing from carpets
A Maryland man who stayed in a city-run homeless shelter with his family is recounting his harrowing encounter with mold that left four people hospitalized multiple times.
Speaking to CBS News Baltimore, Marcus Clark opened up about moving into a room at a city-operated hotel-turned-homeless shelter, located in a former Sleep Inn, with his three children.
“I started experiencing symptoms that felt like a heart attack,” Clark told the outlet, sharing that the family’s medical issues only got worse from there.
“[My son] had symptoms that would be like a really, really terrible case of RSV, and his lungs sounded like they were collapsing. You would hear his breath catching and it sounded like something wet,” Clark said. “And when we brought this to their attention, they told us it was nothing.”
According to Clark, the city-operated building — one of several downtown hotels purchased by the city of Baltimore to house the homeless for about $15 million as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act, per CBS — didn’t act until Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming became involved.
A report from Cumming’s office last week showed that mold was found in multiple rooms across the former hotel — as well as possible sewage makings its way into bathtubs, mushrooms growing from the carpeted flooring and non-functioning vent fans.
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“We found spores — growing spores in our air conditioning unit where he was sleeping,” he continued. “We brought this to their attention. They did nothing. They said they were putting in a work order. Nothing happened.”
Clark told CBS that his family’s room was tested as a part of the reporting — and results showed than 1,000 toxic mold spores in his family’s room.
Credit: City of Baltimore
Clark’s three children were hospitalized, and they now live in another shelter.
“It wasn’t just once. It was multiple times for all of our kids,” he shared. “It’s very scary. We wouldn’t even know if the same thing is going on where we are now, because they wouldn’t tell us.”
Another resident of the former Sleep Inn, Quinetta Cooper, told the outlet that her children also got sick from mold when they lived there in 2025.
“I have a kid who suffers from severe asthma. I had to take him to the hospital due to him having an asthma attack. It was bad,” she told CBS.
Credit: City of Baltimore
“To the mayor, it’s not fair that people have to live this way in these shelters,” she added, when asked what she might say to local politicians. “We are children of God.”
Ernestina Simmons, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services (MOHS), told the outlet that Cumming’s findings have been noted, and the office is working with contractors at the homeless shelter to ensure that residents do not have to deal with safety issues.
“MOHS agrees that stronger preventive maintenance, clearer accountability, more direct on-site oversight, and consistent resident feedback mechanisms are necessary to protect resident safety and dignity,” Simmons wrote, adding that the office has begun monitoring the buildings more carefully via maintenance plans, and will take action when the buildings aren’t kept up to “the established standards.”
PEOPLE has reached out to MOHS for comment.
The Cleveland Clinic recommends anyone who encounters mold to clean it using products like bleach, using an air conditioner or dehumidifier and turning on exhaust fans among other measures. Anyone exposed to mold should speak with a healthcare provider if they have symptoms of mold exposure, such as coughing, a runny or itchy nose and throat, bleeding from the mouth or nose or shortness of breath.
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