First Stop Reviews

Salary is capped on experience

Too focused on "incentivizing" their participants to be involved in their self-improvement. These folks live in tents, shelters, and under bridges. They HAVE an incentive to get out of there... What they don't have is the supportive environment necessary to make the immense changes needed in order to sustain the lifestyle preferred by First Stop leadership. As someone who's lived homeless, I really bristled at the amount of contempt management seemed to have for the people we served who were any variety of different. Conflict between participants was a given. However, I witnessed personal issues influence management's decision-making about participants' access to services more than once. Again, there were times that this was necessary, but not nearly as many times as I saw this happen just because someone on the care team had a personal grudge. Many of the basic rules of conduct are rigidly enforced... I guess that's great news... Until you see how disproportionately enforced those rules are ... I'm not saying it's about race, or gender, or sexuality - because it's not from what I saw (but I wouldn't be surprised if someone else experienced such things there). It is definitely about the personal whims of those running the place. -- Basic COVID masking guidelines weren't enforced for staff but were *strictly* enforced for participants, despite our close contact with these folks as well as each other. Here is your reminder that these are people who don't have access to the most basic of hygiene items, running water, and who live in very tight quarters. COVID, Hepatitis, and any number of communicable diseases are rampant throughout the homeless camps, BUT - the people who live there cannot be the only ones using PPE to protect against the transmission of viral and bacterial infections. It's disgraceful and creates a visual division between "us" and "them." It's discriminatory, and most importantly it's NOT EFFECTIVE. -- If you're in the bestie club, you're good. If for whatever reason, you are persona non grata, you better just go ahead and quit, lest you risk being fired without cause. In my best estimation, being a broke, trashy townie with great rapport with the participants, but no loyalties to the police or any religion is NOT the way into the good graces of my former employer - but then again, I wouldn't be part of any club that would have me, so there's that... Basically, don't go to work there if you intend to create meaningful connections with the people for whom you are working (not the ones who sign your checks, no... the REAL reasons you're there... hopefully.) and wish to advocate for them on a level that is beyond a belt-driven cog/wheel production machinery pumping out minimum-wage workers on a waiting list for subsidized housing.