direct support professional

direct support caregiver

retail sales associate

life skills trainer

registered nurse

AbleLight

Working on the thrift store side of this business is very eye opening not only to the world of thrift/second hand stores, but eye opening to what it means to a larger corporation. I think the mission behind this non-for-profit is amazing. I think the work that happens (from the little I was told/could see) on the health care side of the business serves a great purpose. The reason I stayed at this job for as long as I did (two years), was for two reasons. 1. The mission, and 2. the coworkers who worked alongside me each day. Being a nonprofit I understand that they cannot pay like the larger corporations in America can. However, seeing all the work and effort it takes to keep a store open and running each day and experiencing the lack of support we received from corporate for it- was dissapointing to say the least. It felt like as the months went on, the expectations kept raising and the support kept lowering. When I first started I was constantly told about how often it is they experience turnover at the store. After working there for as long as I did and experiencing it first hand, I finally understood why that was the case. The opportunity to build great connections within the store is certainly there, and I was able to have that. That was the most enjoyable and greatest blessing I received from working at this job. However, working in leadership and management on this team had some of the greatest challenges I have ever experienced. The lack of support, lack of training, and lack of healthy communication was exhausting beyond belief. It was very eye opening to see how those on top were being rewarded for their work, while those of us in the store working day in and day out were hardly recognized for any of it. I did not care for how upper management talked about employees, volunteers, etc. I did not care for the politics, and how every decision felt like it was for someone else's gain with little regard or care to how it would affect everyone else. I came to a breaking point and knew it was time to leave. I think the most heartbreaking part of it all is leaving behind the connections I built there. It is no easy job, and it is certainly not just a "mom and pop local thrift store" that most of our clients believe it to be. It is a much larger corporation and we are simply there as an avenue for revenue. Nothing more.

In the beginning of getting the job i was really excited, but after going through almost 3 weeks of training, i realized that there were some major issues that did not settle well in my heart. Those issues were, When i began shadow training there was a racist resident who said some nasty things about a staff and that really bothered me because the staff at Bethesda in lenexa are primarily African american. I talked to people about my issues and they basically told me to not take things so personally, but honestly how can one not take that personally? I know for one that has to be a learned behavior and i feel like if they respected the staff that work for them then they should do more about it, not just say "don't take it personally". Second issue i had was DSP staff always work every weekend and it did not work with my schedule or life, so i asked  if i could get alternate weekends because i have to go do things for myself which i had no time to do during the week because i was also working during the week and Saturday and Sunday were the days i could go do the things i needed to. I expressed this with the director and they did not seem to care that i needed time to reboot and do things i needed to do. Also the pay for dsp is only 10.60 an hour and I originally asked for 11.00 an hour and i feel like the pay is to low for what i had to deal with on a daily basis. I like what the company stands for but the upper management are not the best and they should care about their employees personal life, due to the fact that, if i cannot take time to calm my mind and take care of myself, how am i going to take care of someone else. All in all i am sad that this was my experience at this place because my heart was in this job and they just did not care it seemed like.

I had great worked relationships and earned a lot of experienced working with Bethesda Lutheran Communities so called Good Shepherd Home. I learned a lot working with the company about different organizations that support the programs in helping the developmentally adult living in the facilities.Learned about medical aspects  in working with the disabled population from working with the professional doctors, dietician and nurses everyday. I have so much knowledge in medical now that I know nothing about until I join  the company as a Direct care staff for 5 years work my way up became as a Program Manager. I learned about the financial working with a budget. Excellent in creating a great team gave staff the proper training in all the areas in meeting their goals giving the best care for all the clients. I build a great team dedicated and caring staff went over and above job expectations. I worked and gave my all to the clients best care, my staff and superior. I stayed within budget, keep staff no turn over for 15 consecutive years, awarded zero compensation claims for10 consecutive years. I brought in more than $100,000.00 donation to the company from my contacts.



Due to politics, favoritism, no appreciation to longevity staff and corruption had to leave the company and the clients I adore after working with the company for 30 years. Human Resource, Regional Director and Area Director worked under were corrupted.

Upper management do not listen to their staff. They turn a blind eye to the real problems that are going on regardless of the fact these issues are repeatedly brought to their attention. They prefer to spend their time writing useless policies and procedures, while continuing to repeat the same problems and offering the same solutions that never work.  They say they have no money and budget issues, but somehow have money to keep hiring more chiefs and creating fancy positions at the corporate level, all while downsizing nursing so that each nurse has to do the amount of work of about 2-3 nurses. They change their expectations and rules constantly and staff turnover is horrendous. Oh yeah, you wont ever get a raise or performance review. I used to enjoy this job now it takes everything in me just to survive each day and keep my sanity..  Staff continue to be disrespectful and ignore instructions and managers care more about putting bodies in DSP roles and filling positions, then actual staff performance issues brought to their attention.  They fail to follow up with staff who continously have performance issues. They would rather keep lousy staff then manage their staff and make sure they are actually doing their job.   Communication here sucks from the top level down and they have a track record of being reactive vs proactive. They dont ever have any backup plans in place for emergencies that can arise in daily operations and the only solutiom they seem to have is dumping more work on everyone trying to put out fires. It’s a complete mess, very disorganized company in a state of perpetual disaster! Dont work here.

One of the biggest issues at AbleLight is leadership culture at the executive and senior operational leadership level. Employees with years of operational and institutional knowledge can be discarded surprisingly easily if they fall out of favor personally with the COO, regardless of actual performance, reliability, loyalty, or contribution to the organization. The people who understand the day-to-day realities, compliance processes, funding systems, and operational history are often treated as expendable instead of valuable assets.

What makes it worse is the sense that this behavior is not only enabled by CHRO and HR leadership, but also echoed and reinforced by certain AVP-level leaders who appear more focused on aligning with executive narratives than advocating for fairness, operational stability, or experienced staff. Rather than protecting strong employees or promoting transparency and accountability, the focus often appears centered on protecting executive leadership, internal politics, and preserving turf within the leadership structure.

I am leaving Bethesda because I have MS and am no longer able to do the driving.  However, it grieves me deeply because the culture is one of concern, acceptance and encouragement.  My supervisor was generous, encouraging and providing consistent, wise counsel and guidance.  My training partner in Springfield was kind, effective in his position and an excellent partner.  I was accepted by the other staff people and allowed great latitude to develop a training program based on the requirements of the state yet designed to accommodate staff needs and new employee concerns.

The best part of the job was the opportunity to share Christ's love and concern with new staff people and to help them understand their value to Bethesda and the individuals we supported.  It is a wonderful position and I encourage anyone interested in teaching, providing guidance and quality service to apply.

Bethesda offers excellent benefits, including PTO, Extended Illness Benefits, 403K cost sharing up to 3%, competitive costs for medical and dental, life insurance, short and long term disability and a cash out option for saved PTO after a year's employment.  There is tuition reimbursement and a host of opportunities to grow with the company.

I have rarely met such a lovely group of staff people, from managers on down.  This is a position you will never regret seeking.

if you want a job where the staff and management are horrible go here. They pick people and overwork them and don't treat them fairly nor give the hours that you were originally hired for nor give you the pay you were hired for. also give you get sexually harassed or assaulted they will not investigate they will just say that the person has been known to do it and it is ok that she does. Then on top of that when you ask for for days they still force you to come in, call you 5+ times a day or better yet DENY every pto day you need. They also force you to find your own coverage no matter if you take pto or a sick day (which i understand sick day) then on top of it if you get the one manager i had she over takes everything and went to a corporate position and gave hers to another but STILL micro managed and would leave nasty notes. poor communication and poor support for staff members on all accounts and they literally will justify firing you over someone else who didn't train the person correctly. oh and you are not allowed a paid 15 min break nor allowed a lunch. you also are alone to take care of 3+ people with very little time to do anything like use the rest room. Also if there are family emergencies they will literally blame you for things that happened when you WEREN'T there even though you called out. Also they higher thieves who stole money and multiple items of residents and staffs 

Hurting for help but dont want the good people

Ablelight is one of the worst companies I have every worked at. The management workers including HR are the worse people. You make a formal complaint due to other staff members not wanting to work, or telling them that certain staff members are being neglectful. All they do is sweep everything under the rug or changed them to another house. The over work you and expect you to pick up slack from the other employees that don’t do there job. The pay rate sucks for all the work they make you do and don’t want to give you a raise. THIS IS THE WORSET PLACE YOU CAN GO WORK TO BECAUSE  ALL YOU FEEL IS STRESS AND ANXIETY. Once your in their eye sight, they will not let you go and always get in trouble for everything even if you work a lot to help them out. They try to promise you all kinds of things but when your working you realize you made the worse decision ever and stay around maybe because you need the job and try to get the experience for a different place. Think twice before applying. THEY WILL ALWAYS EXPECT YOU TO WORK ON YOUR DAYS OFF IF CALLED IN AND THEY EXPECT YOU TO BE THERE MORE FOR THEM THEN WITH YOUR FAMILY BECAUSE THEIR SO UNDER STAFFED ALL THE TIME AND ALWAYS NEEDING HELP.

Management is honestly the worst! They are constantly changing and hiring people who are definitely not qualified to be a manager. The individuals get the terrible end of the stick because of management because they treat their employees terrible and cause many staff to apply else where and that causes there to be staffing shortage. At first everything seems great but once you actually get the hang of your job you start realizing that individuals are being neglected over night because the NOCs aren't actually doing your job. Management hires anyone who applies because they don't want to work on the floor and the individuals are treated poorly by those staff members. When multiple staff complain about staff not doing their job or how higher ups aren't doing their jobs, nothing gets done about it and nothing changes. They don't care if there are individuals in the home that require two staff present while they are awake because that would mean management would have to work and heaven forbid that ever happen. DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY! Staff does so much and gets paid so little and are never appreciated for anything you do.

I loved working with the clients in a Residential Group Home setting.  The major Downfalls working for this company was with Management.  When you would mention a valid concern directly to the Program Manager or to Corporate it was slid under the rug.  The lack of concern they had for the clients direct care was so sad.  I believe the Direct Support Professionals were the advocates for these client'son a daily basis, we went above and beyond. I worked with great staff everyday that cared, and had wished management would of cared the same.  The classroom training was some of the best I have ever experienced and then it fell apart when you were placed in the home. My Program Manager was clueless when it came to Client Personal Cares, Medication Management, following Healthy Menu planning. She also lacked the skills and care to have a full understanding of each client's ISP plans. When county agencies and guardians would come for meetings, she would look at us Direct staff to answer all the questions. Its sad when you see a Program Manager bad mouth a resident right in front of them, and you report it and nothing happens. Very little pay for all that you do in a shift. The set scheduled hours was a plus, but the staffing shortages was a downfall.  No compensation given back to staff when taking client's on community outings out to eat.  We lost $$ in our own pockets coming to work.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Direct support professional 169 salaries reported	$18.91 per hour
Direct support caregiver 571 salaries reported	$19.23 per hour
Retail sales associate 95 salaries reported	$11.55 per hour
Life skills trainer 42 salaries reported	$20.01 per hour
Registered nurse 22 salaries reported	$38.96 per hour

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