The Refuge Reviews

many. I LOVED this place and the message the refuge tries to reinforce to its clients, the keyword here being 'tries'. I was put in a position I didn't apply for, because I'm not educated in disordered eating. I applied for the trauma and recovery side position, as that is what is in my scope of education and experience. the reason: the ED employee new hire walked out of orientation, so they dissolved the trauma position between 3 people, instead of hiring a 4th trauma employee as planned, then threw me at the ED side. no logic. About 9 months into my position with the ED realm, I was unprofessionally pushed out, ostracized by my entire team, because my former manager encouraged the team to cease communication with me to make it look like i wasn't completing my work. my manager was actively trying to get me fired after she reprimanded me from a techs cell phone, not her phone, a techs phone. this paved the way for all staff in this dept to disrespect me, which they did. I experienced WORKPLACE HOSTILITY AND BULLYING which was voiced to human resources, the CEO, and anyone who seemed to care. I documented EVERYTHING, nothing was done. for 3 months, I was experiencing panic attacks daily, and was pushed into completing my 2 weeks notice when I told HR I mentally couldn't endure any additional workplace abuse. originally, I was asked to stay until they hired someone else. that could be 3 weeks, 3 months....no way was I putting my mental health on the back burner any longer than 2 weeks. its funny, because my reviews with this manager were GLOWING up until I reported her behavior to HR. it was nice to see my work acknowledged while I was still on her good side. I remember another employee who left just weeks prior to me. y'all put that employee's workload on me, an employee in a different dept, with no chance of a raise at any point I was told directly by my manager; although my scope and my workload was essentially doubled overnight. when I asked if I could get a raise a couple of months down the road if I could successfully operate both sides, my manager laughed and said "good luck. you're one of the highest paid employees in this department, you'll be lucky if you're making $20 an hour in 3 years" and there i was, trying to build a life, paid in peanuts. still paying off student loans. would love to be able to afford kids someday. I work to live, I don't live to work. I had this backwards when working for the refuge. I was staying until midnight to do intakes when that's not in my job duties. I was training tech staff how to preform thorough intakes and client property searches in the early hours of the morning, i was running groups although this was not in my job description. this was the ED managers job, but i did it anyway, because she was overwhelmed and i wanted to help. anyway, when that employee from the trauma side left, you threw a party for them, said a bunch of nice things, and had a cake. When I left, I sent a heartfelt email that was hardly acknowledged 2 days prior, then I boxed my stuff up in silence. that's when I knew something was up. I was being a problem, exposing the neglect, malpractice, workplace bullying, and I had to go. this manager is still employed by the refuge and nobody understands WHY. IT IS WORTH NOTING that the day I left, one of the therapists came to me, whom I was very close with up until my manager directly told her to stop communicating with me about work, or at all. this therapist unloaded the whole truth, disgusted at our manager's actions. ashamed she had to choose between keeping her head down and join in on the WORKPLACE HOSTILITY in order to keep her job, or to keep a genuine friendship that could get her fired. Had we not known how capable this manager is of manipulating her entire team, we wouldn't be talking again, and I wouldn't have had my suspicions 100% confirmed. she experienced similar issues after I left. every time someone quits from that department, someone says "I'm next". SO rewarding after years of working hard to earn a degree, so you can feel like THIS while paying off your loans. I felt like a ghost most of the time I worked there, but that moment in my car, with all my personal belongings, about to leave for good...I thought that I was free from her abuse. I didn't realize how much of a negative impact this experience would have on my mental health. I pray that this traumatic work experience does not follow me throughout my career in life. I have to work on trust again. I have to manage my panic attacks more. the couple of times when I see my old manager in public, I shake, I hide. I pray she doesn't see me. I put my heart and soul into this place, not realizing the hideousness lying just beneath the surface. I left with workplace trauma, but my big heart and undying ability to empathize, listen, care, provide compassion, and work my tail off for people who need me, will NEVER leave me. Coworkers on the trauma and recovery side begged me not to leave, but when you're feeling like the team you're working for is pushing you out, it's time to go before things get worse. what's also strange, is that I was told the refuge owed me money on my taxes from the year prior, after filing my tax documents this past year. then seconds later, I was told otherwise. I'll be looking into this more, as i have no reason to have such a low return 2 years in a row. there is a REASON why the refuge is losing a ton of employees right now. this, my fellow readers, is MY story. there are many, many others who are not as open to share their experiences out of fear of retaliation by the refuge. perhaps someone will listen to me now. I'm glad I left. I am actually HELPING people now, I'm not scared of my supervisor, I'm not scared of getting fired because someone's trying to make me look lazy. I'm not scared about walking into work anymore. let me repeat that last one, because it's important... I AM NOT SCARED ABOUT WALKING INTO WORK ANYMORE!!! to those who are still working there and you're feeling how i did, know you are valued, and freshen up that resume.