Hello community,

Thank you Jen for stepping up.  I thought it was just me seeing this trend.  As a community servant trying to assist people become stable in the community through resources after reentry from prisons/jails, has been a hair puller for sure.  Not a silver fox yet, but approaching rapidly.  ☹ The Dept of Corrections has made a huge change in how we case manage those on community supervision and community resources plays a HUGE part.  Please, please, please let’s work together to truly help those in need.  It’s too often I see WHOLE families on the streets because there are no resources.  Community, please help me help those in need.  Thank you!

Yours in community. 

Respectfully,

 

 

Nanette Borders

Community Corrections Officer 3

Pierce County Sexual Assault Unit

Parkland Field Office

10109 S. Tacoma Way Bldg C-4

Lakewood, WA. 98499

D: 253-983-7157

M: 253-312-8490

Nanette.borders@doc.wa.gov

 

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is:  What are you doing to help others”? 

                                                                                                                       ~Martin Luther King Jr.

“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”

                                                                                                                       ~Nelson Mandela

                                                                                                                      

  

 

From: fullcoalition@list.pchomeless.org <fullcoalition@list.pchomeless.org> On Behalf Of Nathan Blackmer
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2024 12:19 PM
To: Jen Carlisle <jen.carlisle.333@gmail.com>
Cc: fullcoalition@list.pchomeless.org
Subject: Re: Homeless Coalition - In the interest of transparency...

 

External Email

All too common an experience in the non-profit industrial sector. 

 

There's a reckoning coming for this industry, and I'm glad that you came forward. Too often the bad actors in the community are shielded from exposure for stuff like this - they'll hold *committees* and engage in *workgroups* but ultimately they're positioned to profit from poverty. 

 

Good luck with the job hunt. 

 

On Fri, Apr 12, 2024, 12:09 PM Jen Carlisle <jen.carlisle.333@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello everyone,

 

I hope you're all enjoying your week so far and thank you for all of the amazing work you do as individuals and as a community.

 

I recently reached out to this wonderful community to solve a problem that I was misled to believe was a non issue, until I saw it for myself and realized that either everyone has rose colored glasses on at Family Promise, or they are trying to save face.

 

On March 30th, I reached out for help from this community via email from the address cm2@familypromisepiercecounty.org (I lost access immediately upon being fired) asking about shelter availability for a parent with a one year old after figuring out that the space that I had been told would be ready was STILL under construction and involved many potential health and safety risks, including broken floors, exposed wire, raw materials and construction debris all over the place.

 

I was not scheduled to work on the 31st but received numerous calls from clients asking for use of the day center kitchen to cook holiday meals. Despite working our scheduled holidays being part of an agreement to switch to salary, no staff was at the day center on Easter, leaving families to fend for themselves and throw away perfectly fresh food due to nowhere to cook or store it. Several families were frustrated by this and I was on the phone a number of times throughout the day.

 

When I arrived at work on April 1st, I was immediately terminated for sending that email. The reason cited was confidentiality (I obtained the client's verbal consent prior to writing the email and did not include any personally identifying information to my knowledge, that should be in the message archives) and that FPPC policy is to "always" utilize our shelter first if there is "availability."

 

No warning. No conversation. No questions to clarify what happened or whether it even was a violation of policy. Just termination.

 

From my perspective, not only was I trying to make sure my client was ok, but I was told that if "intervention" was needed that it was "up to me" by the CEO, and to have the client "look for other options" by the Program Director, a conversation I had already beaten to death with said client in the weeks leading up to this and had already gone over with everyone I was supposed to because I was trying to get ahead of the issue and thought I had successfully done so and that everyone was on the same page. I was very wrong, apparently.

 

I don't think it's right for an organization to talk the talk on so many vital aspects of how they supposedly operate, only to completely and utterly fail when walking the walk matters most, especially when it comes to making sure employees are valued and treated with a trauma informed approach after specifically seeking out that perspective and boasting the ability to "do things right."

 

Please, please, please... Treat your people well. Those of us who have lived experience and practice a lot of empathy need time and space to replenish our energy. We need patience, understanding, and to feel like we are being heard and our perspective is valid and considered. And we need you to ask and engage as supervisors because we may not know what to ask for or what's possible or realistic. Why am I expected to go 3/4 of the way when we should be meeting halfway, at the very least?

 

I don't do well in breakneck speed schedules with only one day off at a time and getting the brush off treatment when I state my needs and concerns or ask questions to gain understanding. If something doesn't make sense and seems suspicious and I am ignored when I try to clarify and understand, that makes it look even more suspicious than if someone took the time to explain. Why avoid the conversation if there's nothing to hide?

 

I can't tell you how many times I have had conversations with clients where they tell me they see me as more approachable and understanding than most, and during our first five weeks at Family Promise, of the 5 families who achieved their housing goals, 4 of them had been assigned to me.

 

I will never lead by an example of diminishing a client's perceived value as a human by offering solutions I wouldn't participate in myself. If I wouldn't eat it, I won't ask anyone else to, and the same thing goes for all other basic needs and safety. Family Promise talks about all of these aspects extensively in training... Unfortunately, I can no longer believe anyone to be authentic and aligned when they say they are. Mental health has absolutely destroyed me in a lot of ways, and never because of anything having to do with clients. It has taught me that the best wolves wear the sheep's skin like it's their own, and they don't like it when someone threatens to expose their true intentions.

 

So yes, Family Promise helps families. But the goal posts change depending who you talk to and even if it seems like a done deal, they might flip a switch in a split second and put an employee and their family at risk of becoming homeless by finding a reason, even if it seems ridiculous, unfair, suspiciously sudden, and potentially illegal.

 

I firmly believe that the mental health sector has the potential to change the world for the better and save humanity from self-destruction. However, if the values and training never make it past knowing the right things to say superficially, and never make it to being implemented for employees and everyone, then we might need to rethink how all of this works because right now it's a circus and even the guy who trained the monkeys doesn't want to claim them.

 

I'm looking for a job that's completely different but anticipate that this work will wrangle me back somehow. But I don't think it is healthy or sustainable to keep wading through so much bullshit when we should be figuring out how to clean it up and systematize the process to be simple enough to stop interfering with our ability to make time to truly understand the complex, multifaceted, complicated individuals we are privileged to serve.

 

Thank you for your time in reading this. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and thank you for all you do to help our community. If we are to truly make positive changes a reality, we should be encouraged to collaborate and ask for help when we need to, not be punished for it. After all, aren't we more powerful when working together than when we're fighting against each other?

 

Sent With Appreciation from
Jen Carlisle's Mobile Phone
Have a beautiful day!
   

This listserv is part of the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness.

  • E-mail the full coalition by sending to fullcoalition@list.pchomeless.org
  • Remember, this list is distributed to over 700 people - send no information that can identify a client and avoid unnecessary e-mails (a thank you is polite when sent to 1 person, but a nuisance when sent to 700). This listserv is open to everyone.
  • Click away to subscribe to the list, unsubscribe from the list, or take a gander at the message archive

This listserv is part of the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness.