Very poor management from the top down, low pay resulting in staffing shortages which forces advocates to turn victims away even when there are many available rooms. This was incredible disheartening and sad. These victims often were in very dangerous situations with no where else to go. We were forced to lie to them and tell them we had no rooms.
Shelter advocates are required to clean badly trashed rooms which often included drugs, paraphernalia and even feces and vomit without proper safety gear. When an advocate expressed safety concerns, they were told strongly to go get the job dine. The rooms are inspected weekly and should never be allowed to get in this condition.
The worst was disability and age related discrimination and being blindsided with termination after disclosure of a disability. I had only received positive feedback about my performance. I had almost no training and support in my new role. The firing was done in an incredibly humiliating and dishonest way in which I was accused of lying about my previous experience which was absolutely not true. I felt like I was treated like a criminal when they asked for my security badge and escorted me off the property.
I shouldn't have been so surprised because I was aware of discrimination with other employees and people were regularly fired unexpectedly. I consulted with an employment attorney and was told that I likely had a good discrimination case, however I decided not to pursue this because I wanted move on from a very horrible and degrading experience.
I have 30 years of professional experience and have worked at dozens of organizations, including nonprofits, mental health organizations and law firms. This is my first and only termination and I'm still traumatized by the way it was handled.
