All it took was one meeting.
We worked at a peer-run mental health respite, pretty much an unlicensed, unregulated place where people could go after leaving a psych ward or to get away from stress at home to focus on recovering from their stuff, for a few days, totally free. Noble idea, questionable execution, since we had super inadequate training.
Well, we were open 24/7 because people would stay/live there for a week or so, and supervisors were on call at all times. Because of this, plus shit pay, we couldn't get anyone to take the supervisor position. We were left to deal with multiple crises without any supervision or oversight or proper protocols in place. Things like people sneaking in drugs, starting fights, etc. So we requested a meeting with the higher-ups. We organized a list of concerns and suggestions along with an agenda.
Well, the CFO or something, she shows up late, and we offer her a copy of the agenda. She gets so offended, saying that she scheduled the meeting, so she sets the talking points. She refused to even acknowledge our talking points. By the way, she called the meeting on 9/11. At a mental health center. In New York. Yeah.
Then she spends FORTY FUCKING MINUTES berating us for being shitty employees, demonstrated mostly by the fact that none of us went to the company barbecue. Seriously. We had people end up in dangerous situations because she couldnt staff us properly, but her concern is us not wanting to go to her party? The location across the river showed up, the location 1 county over showed up, but we're so ungrateful for ~everything she does for us~ and all the effort she put into her fucking BBQ that it was ~shameful~
And then, she went on to talk about how profits were up (at a nonprofit) and bragged about all the grants she was getting. We asked about maybe using some of that grant money to hire a set of supervisors or update our facility to be less shit (and ideally wheelchair accessible), and she said “she'd look into it” and quickly changed subjects to focus on the organization's financial success.
She went to go leave and end the meeting, but we asked her about the incidents, visibly frustrated that she didnt address any if our concerns about staffing and possible changes to safety protocols. She yelled at us, like, YELLED with spittle flying, for 20 minutes more for being incompetent and telling us it was our own fault for having to deal with the crises on our own. Like, she was *yelling* at us for the company's failures, and we were all in tears. After she left, I emailed over my 2 weeks notice and was immediately locked out of the system and taken off the schedule. My request for an exit interview was denied. Seeing how the company responded, the rest of the team also quit. They had to close that location due to everyone straight-up quitting due to this hellish monster.
Eventually though, she got fired, so haha. Sucks to be her, I guess. I ended up quitting the nonprofit sector because so many higher-ups have these hero complexes where they want to save people/change the world… at the expense of their entry-level, underpaid employees, while earning nearly figures themselves. “Non profit” only refers to the lower-level employees not being able to earn any sort of personal profit after paying for rent and other necessities.
Also, at that place, it seemed like everyone who ever got promoted was related to the CEO or married into his family. Some workers who were part of the family would do horribly incompetent things and never get even slightly reprimanded, including letting clients get locked out or leave without realizing it, or watching pr0n on the company computer during work hours. There definitely were a LOT of red flags I ignored for far too long, in hindsight.