This place is the worst non profit in the state. I worked there for a year and saw neglect and was told of abuse. If you are thinking about applying please save yourself. The upper management only cares about themselves and treats DSPs as if they are expandable dispensable robots. The program managers will lie to your face and hide what they do in the slimiest way possible. If there is any other way to say it I would. My mental health and lively hood deteriorated while working there. The only reason any good DSPs stay is because they care so much about the clients and the clients rely on them to be there and support them. However clients need people who are supported themselves and that’s not what management does. They have illegally fired people at one point or another and cut corners when audited. They do their absolute best…to screw everyone over. NEVER WORK HERE, unless you are interested in burning yourself out until you feel like collapsing.
"We have worked closely with Village Community Services for almost 9 years, as we have a client of theirs working here for us for almost 9 years. All of the interaction I have had with Village Community Services has been outstanding, as they have supported us and their client extremely well. Their staff has always communicated well with us and they have always been very professional in all situations." --Bill Arnold, Area Supervisor, McDonalds
The above is a quote from an employer testimonial sent to VCS by one of the employers we work with in the community. I too have worked with Village Community Services for 9 years. It is the best place I've ever worked. When fully staffed, we employ 80 people. Most are compassionate, dedicated employees whose skill level far exceeds the pay offered by this field. (Those who are not qualified and refuse to improve don't stay with us long.) VCS consistently earns high ratings in our program audits and has a long record of annual financial audits that pass with "unqualified results" (That means there were no concerns found by the independent CPA firm.) We are also CARF accredited for Employment Services. Most importantly, our clients are happy and safe and we are committed to serving them for their lifetime. This is a stellar organization and I am proud to work here.
I would be very, very careful before considering giving VCS your money or time. This company does not train its employees. It has a very toxic problem with long-time employees yelling at and abusing clients. New employees who try to get abuse to stop end up getting retaliated against and let go.
This company has too many clients and not enough staff people. This means that the work experience can be very brutal and overwhelming. New employees are often overworked and end up having medical errors because long-time staff did not want to train or watch them. THIS COMPANY HAS A LOT OF MEDICAL ERRORS DUE TO HORRIBLE STAFF TRAINING AND UNPROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT.
I have never worked for a company that was so chaotic and unprofessional. We had urine and feces covered sheets and had NO bleach to wash them. I would routinely find face cloths and dish towels being washed with feces and urine drenched bedding. This company does not train its employees and the clients suffer because of this.
This was the first non-profit I worked for and I was shocked to see how blatantly discriminatory they were. Supervisors and long-time staff were very vocally anti-gay. Also, one manager teamed up with staff to sabotage and get rid of a Wiccan employee. I learned this because staff bragged that they weren't going to have a Wiccan working for their company and described how they worked to get her removed. This company also have staff that tried to sabotage the career of an employee who had a facial defect because staff said he looked "creepy" and that he was "scary looking." Again, this goes against government requirements concerning discriminating against people.
Lastly, this company has a real pervasive problem with staff who yell at and try to overly control the lives of vulnerable clients. I routinely witnessed long-time staff shouting at, scolding and a few times even physically pushing vulnerable clients. When I went to management I was scolded for trying to report the abuse. I was absolutely warned not to call the mandatory reporter line and was told that I would not be working for the company if I did.
On the positive side: The clients were wonderful people. There is a band called Voices of the Village that creates some magical moments for the clients. It also has plenty of hours for staff people (due to the fact that people constantly quit due to the toxic negative work environment.
Working with the clients can be a chore but it was also my favourite part of the job. I loved brightening their day, making them laugh, helping them broaden their horizons. My pro-client values of respect and empowerment did not work well with the negative structure of the company. Unfortunately the "environment" at VCS is one where the clients are limited and contained. Where choices are made FOR them by smothering, controlling staff, and where their money is spent by managers and supervisors with disregard for the clients likes and power of choice.
If you are a philanthropist or donor I would steer clear of this group.
Review from Guidestar