For nearly seven years, I have been honored to serve San Diego's most vulnerable children and families by working at Home Start to prevent child abuse. There are hundreds of tragic headlines that never happened and thousands of bad stories that never ended up ruining children's lives thanks to the dedication of my colleagues who serve local parents and children each day. From housing, therapy, and employment assistance, to parenting classes and hunger relief, we are helping local families have brighter futures.
Just last week, we served over 160 of our families at our annual Toy Distribution event. All morning long, the smiles of the infants, toddlers and children, and the joy on the parents faces knowing they would have gifts for their children for the holidays, reminded me how critical our programs are. Please consider being a part of the Home Start family of supporters by visiting our website today to sign up for volunteering, hosting a donation drive, or making a gift.
I worked at Home Start for several years and was optimistic about moving up the ladder. Once I reached a management position, it became clear just how dysfunctional leadership was above me. Staff are penalized or retaliated against for challenging leadership or filing any complaints. Leadership is not interested in feedback or change, and many of their practices are borderline unethical. I tried my best to put up with it because of how much I cared about the mission, loved my work, and the staff, but the stress from those above me and the lack of support became too much to handle. The way leadership treat staff is just awful. I wish I would have left sooner. I left Home Start earlier this year and only decided to write this review after hearing some disturbing updates from some of my former colleagues.
Many of my former colleagues continue to have awful experiences. All of them are job searching due to the CEO's negligence and the CFO committing financial fraud, with approval from the CEO. Employees are retaliated against when they file complaints or bring attention to the false invoices sent to grantors. Some employees have also been asked to falsify timensheets because the organization is struggling financially and are scrambling to pay people. Staff are underpaid in comparison to other organizations that do similar work. When staff are asked for feedback, it is either shut down or not incorporated at all. When the CEO is questioned or challenged, she shuts people down and/or becomes condescending. She is also engaging in unethical and illegal practices that go against her license. It's all truly shameful how she is running what used to be a great organization into the ground. And HR is a complete joke. The HR Director is complicit with the CEO, condoning poor communication, unethical practices, and not advocating for employees.
Amazing organization that has been serving San Diego's most vulnerable since 1972. Tens of thousands of families helped through their many programs. Maternity Shelter program houses and helps assist young single mothers and their children. They just opened their first social enterprise with the thrift store on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights (Repurpose for a Purpose). Donations are used to fund needed programs and provide job training.