Dysfunctional/hypocritical management undermines meaningful peer support work
Pros
It is meaningful work to get to support people in crisis by creating a safe space. I also had some great co-workers, who really cared.
Cons
Management is a joke. They don't live up to their own ideals and are total hypocrites. They tell you they love you one day, then talk about you behind your back (a big no-no in peer support), and punish you for questioning their sloppy safety practices and lack of actual trauma-informed care. They seem to think that the adaptable nature of peer support means that they don't need to have any protocol or infrastructure, or job training, that give employees clear guidelines and support. Everyone just does the job the way they think they should instead of any training or constructive co-creation of the space. This means there are those who slack and leave all the work for the others who naturally step up and do what needs to be done. The people who don't rock the boat and challenge anything are rewarded and coast while those who actually work hard, try to inprove things and actually try to make sure everyone is being heard and supported, get punished and fired. It's a clear pattern. It's really a shame this place is managed so poorly because the idea is a good one and very much needed in this world. Be wary of their invitations to be yourself and bring your ideas and concerns. They don't actually want to hear them. If you work here, just put on a happy face for the management who don't want to change anything, and do your best to help the people who come there for support. I became aware of multiple managers smiling to my face, and even telling me they loved me, and then saying horrible things in email and text threads I became aware of. (So much for nothing about us without us.) When I tried to bring attention to safty issues and inappropriate things in the workplace, the martyr of a manager (who works themselves to death and doesn't sleep and the upper management takes advantage of it) was on my side at first, but had 0 time to actually support any changes. They then flipped like a light switch when I confronted an inappropriate coworker who they had a special relationship with, and I was penalized by them changing my shift to something I couldn't work. Then a week later I received a curt text telling me my at-will employment was terminated. No explanation. No chance to learn what I could do better. They ghosted me. They don't live up to the tenets of peer support at all. It's clique-y and poorly run. They run on dysfunction and act like that's how peer support should be, because our lived experiences are meant to be an asset, but I'm sorry to say, people in power need to have reached a point of self awareness about their dysfunction in order for it to be an asset. At Folk Time, you'll just find the dysfunction running the show without self reflection. Be ready to be blamed and shamed for being yourself, even though they've explicitly told you they want you to be. They unfortunately seem to have a monopoly on much of the state funding so now I've been terminated for no good reason from there, it's really hard to find another job in the peer support world.
