shelter supervisor

Homes First Society

Homes first is a difficult place to work. Your consistently stressed; they say they are client focused but they are not. The don't train you for the position. The first day I started I was shown my desk and left alone very unwelcoming. The rumor mill is strong at this place....No direction, you have to learn on the go but with no support. And consistently being told you wont make it past probation...You get thrown to the lions that is the management that could not care less about you. When you request support, they refuse and when you do it on your own you get a coaching email saying you should ask for support. Some staff are great but they leave quickly ...and the bad staff treat clients like they are less than human... Your mental health will suffer! It's a toxic work environment that will cause you to suffer. They ridicule you at every corner. Management bullies staff, high turn over rates. Promotions are done with favoritism not on actual ability. You can't trust your coworkers. They have taken pictures of staff not wearing ppe and sent it to a supervisor telling them to send an email threatening your job for not having googles on while sitting behind plexiglass. They will belittle you. When you bring up an issue with them or hr they will target you. Staff is underpaid and treated like dirt. They do not care about your time but their time is sacred, if you have to stay late to support a client no problem but if request personal time for a dentist appointment they will ask a million questions and make you feel terrible for the request. I see mimimum 1 staff crying every day. ...some staff target clients to get them kicked out ...they dont repect gender identity of clients and will blatantly misgender clients or make fun of them for things they cant control due to mental health...when you advocate for the client because its wrong they target you and go out of their way to target that client even more...If you advocate for a client you will get a email about your tone. You simply can not win, they will have 2 staff do the work of 5 ...they pit the Frontline staff against the ICM team and the supervisor against both. Get used to sending emails for every discussion you ever had because you'll get approval to do something and after doing it get an email from the supervisor stating you weren't granted the go ahead ...after they verbally told you to do it ...its a minefield of bureaucracy.... It's micro management + no direction +bullying =burn out and PTSD  SAVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH AND WORK ELSEWHERE. 

HomesFirst is always hiring, so if you’re desperate, it appears to be a lifesaver. The clients can be great. You can start making relationships soon after you start working there with them. You’ll never get any feedback about your job performance until the day you’re fired. Like other dysfunctional agencies, it can be awash in staff and other service providers  during the weekdays, and virtually nobody there when the real work goes on- weekends and evenings. In those instances, there might be just two staff on shift supervising as many as 65 beds. 
Unfortunately, there’s already been a tragedy there for which there were few repercussions, when a client broke a staff’s arm. The staff unfortunately died afterwards due to complications. The labor board investigated and the agency got away with it, pretty much. 
The probation period is twice as long as it should be-about 6 months of full-time hours. If you didn’t work that many hours, you could get fired after several months of working there, as many of us were before we had a chance to find other work.
Don’t work there. Spread the word. Look elsewhere for work, and fight for better work conditions in social services.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The feeling of fulfilment I get when I put a smile on someone's face gives me the morale to wake up and go to work at Homes First.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My most stressful part is when an individual calls looking for a space or bed and there is none. I have to put them through the central intake, which most of the time has a long line. I also realize that I cannot help everyone or permanently solve the homelessness crisis in our communities.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture here is that every individual deserves to be treated with respect as well as deserves a place to stay.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My typical day is being there for the residents, attending to their daily needs, and maintaining a calm and welcoming environment. Answering incoming calls and updating relevant data.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Pay and benefits are superb, best in the sector after City of Toronto.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Micro managing, having top management staff whose jobs are primarily to spy on staff using cameras installed everywhere except perhaps the washrooms.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Majority of the workforce are from a particular African country not Nigeria, these staff take advantage of the bargaining agreement to make frivolous complaints to the union when they are being coached due to lackadaisical and lazy work attitudes.
Management micro manage staff. Cameras installed to monitor staff other than for safety and security purposes. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Toxic work environment, management always looking out for faults instead of supporting staff to optimize output

What is the best part of working at the company?
The staff is great, always helping clients above and beyond their duties, satisfaction, great hospitality and respectful to other staff members and clients.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Persons that not cooperative, only about themselves 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone is taught everything, everyone work together, everyone always assist each other.  Staff do not discriminates against different cultures, they operate as one.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy, motivated, jovial, giving advice, always available for staff or clients

Homes First is a good place to have hands on experience, the diversity of the clients and co-workers makes it a perfect mix for job growth and professionalism, the politics aspect determines job tasks and micro managing of staff especially at the Lakeshore sites, some supervisors are unnecessarily high handed and see their roles more as a "servant/master" relationship instead of serve as assistive, support and mentors to the frontline staff and agency workers. There are cliques at some sites  Management is firm in applying company policies and try their best to make the work environment conducive for staff.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
Pay is good for a starter but I guarantee you that there is no professional expertise you will get from the job.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with usually people with addiction and mental health issues 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very hierarchy oriented and bullying supervisors.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It is a job between a security guard and a server. Nothing special

Social service work which is generally underfunded. Not enough training for management which leads to poor leadership at times and chaotic work environments. This is the luck of the draw -  win some lose some. Upper management don't take time to understand the workings of each site and make decisions that aren't necessarily in the best interest of the staff at those sites. Hierarchical work environment. Sometimes toxic.

While on this job you do learn a lot about the types of people you work with. This can be a stressful job and can take a toll on your own health. The job pays pretty well for a full time staff. 

Upper management is terrible. They are unsupportive and unreasonable.  They fail to understand the job descriptions of a front line staff. They only care about the company and not their employees. 

The Management act like demigods and treat the frontline staff unfairly. They fire their workers unjustly thereby making the work environment the type where members of staff are boxed to a corner where they can't voice out their thoughts on issues. The moment you do, you become a target for reprisals. Many staff have been laid off in bad faith making the company an undesirable place to work. The Management needs a complete overhaul.

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