residential coordinator

case manager

housing specialist

program director

program aide

LifeMoves

I worked at LifeMoves for over a year, and my perspective comes from more than just one site. In addition to my primary location, I helped cover callouts at six different LifeMoves locations. I also worked every shift, including day, swing, and graveyard.

My biggest advice to anyone considering working at LifeMoves is that your experience will depend heavily on the location, the program manager, and how that specific shelter is operated.

From my experience, graveyard shift paid the highest differential and involved far less active work compared to day shift and swing shift. Day and swing shifts usually come with more resident interaction, more interruptions, more documentation, more cleaning and operational tasks, more conflict management, and more pressure overall. Graveyard still carries responsibility, but the workload can feel very different because most residents are asleep.

The most important thing to understand is that the program manager has a major impact on how the shelter operates. At a well managed location, the job can run the way it is supposed to. Policies and guidelines are enforced, staff meet regularly, case managers keep floor staff updated, communication is strong, and the team works together. When a site is organized and consistent, residents understand expectations, the shelter stays cleaner, operations run more smoothly, and the work feels more manageable.

At a poorly managed location, the job can become exhausting very quickly. If there is a lack of accountability, constant resident misbehavior, inconsistent rule enforcement, and unacceptable behavior being excused or tolerated, it becomes almost impossible to know what is actually allowed. That puts front line staff in a difficult position. You may feel unsupported, the workload may feel unfair, and occasional staff meetings may not be enough to fix the deeper issues.

My advice to future employees is to pay close attention during your first few weeks. Notice whether policies are actually enforced, whether case managers communicate with staff, whether residents are held accountable, whether the shelter is clean, whether staff work as a team, and whether management supports employees when problems happen.

If you end up at a strong location with good leadership, clear expectations, consistent enforcement, and real teamwork, the job can be meaningful and rewarding. If you find yourself at a location where things feel chaotic, unsupported, inconsistent, or unfair, I would recommend transferring to another shelter as soon as you are eligible. If you have to wait six months before transferring, decide honestly whether you can safely and reasonably hang in there. If not, it may be better to start looking for another job.

LifeMoves has an important mission, and there are good people who work there. But mission driven work still requires strong leadership, fair workloads, consistent rules, accountability, and real support for front line staff. Your experience there will depend almost entirely on whether your specific site has those things.

This job has the potential to be better. As an RSC, you are essentially at the bottom of the hierarchy within LifeMoves. The pay for the position is less than what many other organizations pay for the same role. On top of that, many, if not all, sites require working at least one weekend day. During onboarding, they say that moving up within the organization is encourage and simple. However, it is so difficult to actually hire and retain RSCs due to lack of pay and support that when many RSCs bring up changing positions, Program Directors discourage or prevent them from doing so. Many of the clients who have been being placed in the shelters suffer from mental health issues. There have been many instances where clients are creating an unsafe living environment for others and RSCs must stop the fights, clean up the bodily fluids, take the screaming, etc.. If an RSC reports these behaviors, they are often criminalized and nothing is done to change them. It is very understandable that this field of work comes with dealing with clients who have a large variety of struggles. However, when their unsafe behaviors are not acknowledged staff and other clients are put in difficult positions. The organization sometimes has cool offers like free tickets to events. Unfortunately, many of these freebies are hard to attend due to them taking place during swing and grave shifts or competitions to win free tickets take place in the middle of the day when most people who work grave shifts would be sleeping. When staffing gets difficult, RSCs are guilted and manipulated into staying in their low paying positions. This is often effective because many RSCs go into this line of work in hopes to help others and many come from a background where unstable housing has personally affected some aspect of their life. I think it would be a good place to start when trying to be introduced into what it is generally like to work with the homeless population, but it is definitely not great for the long term. I also think that there would some benefits to work in the administration office, but RSCs definitely get the short end of the stick.

Initially when I started working with LM in 2018, it was great. The work culture is great and being able to help clients is by far a great experience. Although, management sucks and Program directors are barely onsite. The day to day operational staff basically run the site (at least, at my location)   I have been doing a lot of training to become a CM and have received zero support on what I need to work on. It almost feels like they don't want me to grow. Lifemoves has definitely changed my life, but it almost feels like you have to "know" someone to really get promoted. I've been doing CM training for a year now and have been rejected from positions I applied for (CM), but was never informed what I need to do in order to be one. I know several colleagues who started at the same time as me, and were already promoted to CM. Without, the intensive training I've gone through. I also would like to see more diversity within the agency, such as more people of color hispanic and blacks. They pay could be better but it is an entry level position. Nonetheless, I love what I do, and I will continue to grow and learn, as much as I can to move on from this agency. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
I love my team! My leadership is supportive and always open to hear our feedback as employees. Our CEO Nick is humble, always says hi with a smile that motivates to you be the best you can for the organization. I’m grateful to be here and I will learn and grow as much as possible. When I joined LifeMoves I was convinced I wanted to stay and grow here and I am convinced by that every day. Thank you team! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No stress! We know what to do and execute every day. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly and always fun! All staff we deal with always has a smile and greets you with respect  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Focus on my projects and work with a purpose everyday.

My day entails the overview and responsibility of the accounting department.  It is challenging and I enjoy that.  The senior leadership team is a great group to work with as we all question, engage and coordinate with each other to make Life Moves a more productive organization.

The workplace culture enhances the work/life balance.  We have a mission to help the homeless and that carries over into our work attitudes and activities.

The hardest part of the job is not being able to help as many people as we want.  We are constantly working with our grants teams to apply for and request additional funding for our mission.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the people.  Life Moves has a great staff and the work environment is very supportive and engaging.

The people are great to work with, majority of the time. Most do it for the right reasons, I mean who else would work at a Non-Profit getting paid way less in the Bay Area otherwise. Management has had a lot of changes in the past year, some good and some they're still figuring it out. There's a lot of ways to move up with in the organization if you know someone to be honest. Only thing I don't like, seems like favoritism at times. Hardest part of the job is seeing the positions some of these people or families are in when they come to our shelters and the most enjoyable is helping them and seeing the final outcomes of what you've helped them accomplished.  Overall, it's a great place to work at, make connections and build your resume.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The environment and people I worked with was the best part of the company. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working with the homeless population can be taxing for some people. Time management plays a very crucial role in this position. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
While I worked there, I was given a hybrid-remote position; however, I don’t believe that’s offered anymore. The culture is surprisingly corporate feeling but with a nonprofit flair.

I worked (part time) for lifemoves as program data analyst.
People were really nice and cooperative.
I worked for contracts and compliance department- there was immense lack of transparency.
It will be an excellent place to work if it becomes more inclusive and encourages more face to face communication than too much remote work.
Little bit of accountability from departments will be helpful too.
Remote work is good for people's lives but not when it affects the organization.

I have worked for the company for multiple years and multiple positions based on shelter sites. Overall, working for LifeMoves has been the most fulfilling job I have ever done in addition to giving me the opportunity to meet some amazing people. The company overall is 3.5/5 stars in terms of how it personally felt to be in situations where my workplace was hostile and unwelcoming due to fault of a coworker and lack of response from HR and upper management, due the wonderful people i've met, the amazing management I have had and the purpose of my job it is a 5/5.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They are very understanding and work well with you in mind 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The situation we come across with helping people can be stressful at times 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Helping people transition from homeless to a working into society again

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Depends on the people and if they’re having a good day or not

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Residential coordinator 153 salaries reported	$21.97 per hour
Case manager 69 salaries reported	$31.96 per hour
Housing specialist 18 salaries reported	$31.17 per hour
Program director 15 salaries reported	$96,289 per year
Program aide 18 salaries reported	$25.42 per hour

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