case manager

realtor

porter

leasing manager

housekeeper

Breaking-Ground

I've had the privilege of working at this company for some time now, and there's no doubt that it's doing a lot of good in the community. The dedication to making a positive impact is evident throughout the organization, and the work we do truly makes a difference. The sense of purpose and the commitment of my colleagues on the front lines are admirable, and it's what keeps me motivated to be part of this team.

However, I do have some reservations that I believe need addressing. One of the most glaring issues is the apparent favoritism when it comes to hiring and promotions within the company. It's disheartening to witness a pattern where upper management consistently hires individuals who are friends or friends of friends, even if there are more qualified candidates available externally. This practice sometimes leads to underqualified individuals being placed in roles where they struggle to keep up, while more experienced candidates from outside the company are overlooked.

Moreover, the fact that upper management appears to be comprised mainly of "lifers" can be a source of frustration. While experience is valuable, a lack of fresh perspectives can hinder growth and innovation. It's crucial for any organization to be open to new voices, ideas, and approaches, and a healthy turnover in leadership can help foster this kind of growth.

I believe in the potential of this company and the positive impact it can continue to make. To truly maximize this potential, it's imperative that upper management reevaluates their hiring practices and is open to diversifying their leadership team. By considering external talent and giving new professionals a chance to contribute their insights, the company could evolve even further and ensure a sustainable legacy of positive change.

In conclusion, this is a company with a strong mission and a lot of heart. However, for it to reach its fullest potential, there needs to be a shift in the hiring and leadership practices at the top. It's my hope that, with some adjustments, this company can continue to grow and succeed in making a meaningful impact on the lives of those it serves.

One of the most frustrating aspects of working here is the consistent lack of support from Payroll and HR. In my experience, these departments are slow to respond and rarely provide clear or timely resolutions. Addressing even simple questions often requires repeated follow-ups, and payroll discrepancies—such as missing hours or incorrect amounts—can take weeks to resolve. HR is not as accessible or employee-focused as one might expect, and in many cases, concerns feel deflected rather than addressed.

It is also worth noting that setting up or updating direct deposit takes an unusually long time. The company informs employees that it requires two to three full biweekly pay periods to process any changes. This timeline feels unnecessarily drawn out, especially compared to standard practices at other organizations where similar updates are completed within a few business days.

There are ongoing workplace concerns that many employees feel are not taken seriously. It can be difficult to get meaningful follow-up on sensitive issues, which contributes to a lack of trust in internal processes. When concerns are raised, they are often met with vague responses or delays rather than clear action or communication.

Turnover is noticeably high, and based on my observations, staffing decisions often appear rushed. This contributes to a work environment where consistency, training, and professionalism can vary significantly across teams. Overall, while some coworkers are supportive and committed, the broader organizational structure lacks the transparency, responsiveness, and leadership accountability that employees need to thrive.

Working here has been an incredibly frustrating experience. The pay is absolutely terrible, far below industry standards, and it's clear that the higherups have no regard for their staff. They seem completely uninterested in actual qualifications or in ensuring that people in management positions know how to lead effectively.

The only decent benefit is the vacation time, which starts at three weeks. Beyond that, everything else about this company is disappointing. Concerns are routinely ignored, and whenever you reach out to the appropriate departments for your issues or concerns, nothing is fixed or improved.

Working here will make you depressed. While the mission statement is amazing, and most people come to work here to make a difference, it is clear the core staff do not align with the mission. The disconnect between the mission and leadership's actions not only undermines the organization's goals but also leaves employees feeling disillusioned and undervalued.

A specific example of this disconnect is when Human Resources visited each work site one year to gather staff concerns. Employees raised important issues, including increasing wages that hadn’t changed in over a decade, more support and resources, reinstating the annual company outing, and improving benefits. And to no one's surprise, none of these concerns were ever addressed.

Before you apply, take a look at the tax returns for the past years, as they are public record, and decide if you really want to work somewhere with such an extreme wage gap for a nonprofit. Executives receive significantly higher compensation, including bonuses, while frontline staff continue to struggle with stagnant wages.

This isn’t just a job that pays poorly; it’s a job that compromises your well being and ideals. Think carefully before applying. Save yourself the trouble and look elsewhere

This company is a textbook example of dysfunction and mismanagement at every level. The systems used to complete even the simplest tasks are outdated, clunky, and poorly implemented. There is no organization, no standard operating procedures, and no real effort to create efficient workflows. Employees are expected to navigate chaos daily, with no tools or support to make their jobs easier.

Payroll and HR are two of the most consistently unhelpful departments I’ve ever dealt with. They routinely give conflicting answers, frequently mismanage employee files and paychecks, and seem completely out of touch with their responsibilities. If you’re looking for a masterclass in how to waste time and deflect accountability, these departments have it down to a science.

Upper management is just as problematic. Many in leadership roles appear to be close friends or family members of the CEO. Nepotism is rampant, and it shows. These individuals often lack even basic understanding of the roles they’ve been given and are unqualified to lead teams or make strategic decisions. Their presence creates a culture of entitlement at the top, while frontline staff are left underpaid and overworked.

Raises are almost nonexistent beyond minimal, mandated cost-of-living adjustments, even as new high-salaried executive roles are created regularly. Meanwhile, essential staff are expected to do more with less and smile while doing it. Morale is beyond repair, and employee turnover is unsurprisingly high.

This organization prioritizes appearances and internal loyalty over integrity, competence, and results. If you care about professional growth, fair compensation, or basic respect in the workplace, I strongly advise looking elsewhere

Since starting at Breaking Ground, I can honestly say I've gained invaluable insight and have built upon certain skills and knowledge that will serve me, my career, family, and my community. I've learned a lot about the mechanics behind how services and resources are allocated to the needy and how they can be acquired not only by the people who directly need them, but also by people who are advocating for them. 

My writing and documentation skills have certainly gotten stronger since starting here as well. I'm inspired by the talented and hard working people who I work with. One of the more challenging aspects is of course the pay vs the amount of responsibility. I feel like we are almost always understaffed and everyone is overwhelmed which hinders our ability to provide a quality of service that I would find ideal. 

I also feel like this also hinders adequate training for newcomers in a fast and stressful line of work, which can lead to ambivalence, which ultimately hurts our clients and true results that lasts. There are also some things you learn about the industry and how it works and how it can feel problematic as far as leadership, lack of cultural competency, and making donors happy even if it means trading in real results.

As a person and professional, I still feel like Breaking Ground would be an ideal place for a person to work and try and make an impact while they are still learning about how the housing crisis is affecting the community, and how the mechanics of  public assistance works

Breaking Ground was an experience. I believed in the mission but believe the organization suffers from an identity crisis. They’re confused as to if they’d like to be building management or building people. It was very eye opening as I progressed to a higher management position just how little care was held for staff who lacked guidance and were burnt out. They were quick to add additional, “as assigned” duties but did not offer much guidance to newer staff and/or offer comp days when you were involuntarily added to on call weekends and nights. The environment of each site differed due to the ever changing Standard Operating Procedures, they also treated staff as numerical values and not people, they emphasized managing out rather then building leaders which cultivated a toxic work environment. You were lucky to be assigned to specific locations where they had a unified team. There HR teams approach to situations was abrasive and lacked the care that should be associated with Human Resources. I found it concerning how openly they mocked staff when communicating to leadership, it displayed a level of comfort that should not have been associated with an organization based in supportive housing and within the clinical field. With the amount of Social Workers present there was a deep disconnect. They hire primarily through temp agencies due to the high turnover rate. 

Working at Breaking Ground is far from good and diverse. This is the worse place I have ever worked. Theres a of lack of respect and care from senior management and a lack of accountability from all levels of management. They act like the popular high school kids who have nothing better to do but to but ridicule and belittle their lower frontline staff. Theres no support or regard for regular and frontline staff and no actual training for your position; the work load is outrageous and you are expected to “figure things out” with outdated manuals and procedures. They absolutely REFUSE to raise wages even though many of the staff are in poverty and live in shelters or low income buildings managed by Breaking Ground. Many of the VPs and Head Directors are amateurs or have no actual skills to do their job and it shows. The Vps and Head Directors are highly unprofessional as they were hired by family members or are related to/are friends with the CEO. It is impossible to express your complaints, concerns or suggestions since everything that isn’t “working here is phenomenal and the pay is great” is regarded as a personal attack to Senior management and HR. The organization as a whole is outdated, unprofessional and useless to the very people that perform their grunt work and uphold the actual mission of the company. 

Working here has left me speechless. The pay is significantly low for the amount of work and stress required, and there is very little room for financial growth. Leadership often appears disconnected from the daily realities of staff and has not made noticeable efforts to improve working conditions.

Support for employees is lacking. When concerns are raised, they are frequently overlooked or dismissed without meaningful resolution. This leaves staff feeling undervalued and unsupported, contributing to low morale across the organization.

While the company offers some positive aspects, such as vacation time, the overall experience is overshadowed by these ongoing issues. High turnover rates seem inevitable unless pay rates improve and management roles are filled by qualified professionals who are invested in supporting the organization’s mission and its employees.

Ultimately, the organization needs to address these systemic challenges to create a better workplace for its employees.

My first supervisor and I were not a good fit (little instruction or assistance with challenges, poor communication, quick to assume ill intentions), but the next one was much better. Work is routine and straightforward, but with enough chaos to make interesting - it wasn't always clear what was expected of me though. Culture can be cliquey and snarky at times, but most coworkers are kind and fun people trying to do good things in a flawed system. I actually really enjoyed interacting with clients; some were difficult but others were the highlight of the day. Pay is better than many other places in this industry but still not a living wage (it's better for management though). Overall I learned a lot and had some important moments, but I think I would have felt safer if things had gone better with my first supervisor

Similar to any other case management job duties, but no onsite nurse to assist with client medication. The pay rate is fine, but you only work 35hr/wk because they do not pay for lunch. Benefits package not very impressive and expensive (given 35hr/wk). High chance of picking up bed bugs or other pests during client interactions or walking through upper floors of facility where clients live. Not uncommon to hear slurs from clients (but that should be expected). Management limited in assisting staff with clients who act rudely. Certain policies can be confusing. Not uncommon to find yourself alone in office with clients. Training inadequate.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Case manager 1 salary reported	$24.73 per hour
Realtor 1 salary reported	$162,500 per year
Porter 1 salary reported	$17.86 per hour
Leasing manager 1 salary reported	$32.00 per hour
Housekeeper 1 salary reported	$29.75 per hour

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