NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) – The manager of a Family Dollar Store has apologized for referring to homeless people as “scummy.”

Residents and employees of the First Step Homeless Shelter are considering boycotting the nearby store.

In a memo to staffers, store manager Lance McCullough had outlined policies to keep prices low and the store presentable.

In the “Time Management” section, which addresses how to keep the store clean, McCullough wrote, “… there’s a homeless shelter and a methadone clinic where a lot of scummy people reside.”

Copies of the memo with the words “From Family Dollar Store!” written in large print were distributed in the shelter, Heather Herrick, an employee of the shelter said Tuesday.

“Things happen in life to people, good people,” Herrick said. “We have a wide range of guests at the shelter. To categorize them as scummy is not right.”

Herrick said many of the people who depend on the shelter are employed and frequent Family Dollar. Also, the shelter buys supplies such as paper plates, cups, napkins, plastic wear and toilet paper from the store.

McCullough apologized for writing the memo and said he did not intend to insult people. He said he has written a letter of apology and will try to make donations to the shelter to make amends.