custodian

Melwood Horticultural Training Center

Working at Melwood was a horrendous experience for me. During my tenure there I had several panic attacks and fell into a state of depression from having to work in such a toxic hostile environment. Every morning I dreaded having to go to an infested building that had rodents (raccoons and mice) and insects (fleas). The project manager ran the site like a stern dictator, he would stalk employees in the morning from his office window and would see if anyone came to the office a minute late he would have a complaint via email sent to their supervisors to get them written up for tardiness. He talked so disparagingly toward the company CEO because she was a woman and he felt he could do her job better and he also spoke very unprofessionally about the company COO, his boss, and the Melwood executive team as a whole. He prided himself in running a million dollar contract and bragged to anyone with a listening ear of his accomplishments of running a "successful" site. He was very very very manipulative, calculating,  and would send the most dic-ta-tor-like condescending emails to his management team. If he didn't like you he did whatever he could do to make your life a living H-E(double L) by nitpicking everything you did so that you would eventually re-sign or he would secretly send complaints to his boss and human resources via email about you behind your back to get you fired. Unfortunately I had no support from Human Resources or the Melwood Executive team and I was forced to re-sign due to my health and the stress brought on from the Fort Meade Project Manager. I wouldn't wish that experience on my worse enemy. I still to this day don't understand why Melwood supports such bad unprofessional dictatorship behavior from a project manager of their site. I wanted to work for Melwood because I believed in their mission of helping people with disabilities obtain jobs. Never in my wildest dreams would I think the job working under that project manager would have me depressed with panic attacks about coming into work and having to deal with him. And then also needing to seek a therapist due to my sudden panic attacks and depression. I had none of these issues prior to working at Melwood.

Supervisors assert their authority to promote good work habits.They group text even after work ours. Threatening employees to complete their work by a certain date “or else”, in other words you get written up  and laid off. Often employees experience retaliation for reporting harsh work environment. Eventually find themselves in the unemployment line.  Promotion are given to outsiders before insiders. Taking a personal leave or vacation you still receive calls from supervisors concerning problems they’re having with your client. Pre approved vacation time are cancelled if they can’t find someone to cover your position, or for mandatory meetings. Regardless if you have non refundable plane tickets or family vacation plans. They often remind you that the clients comes before your family, and health. Especially during COVID where they have no mask mandate for clients riding in your personal vehicle that your family also are being transported in. No reimbursement for the money spent to  sanitize your  vehicle. You literally have to pay to work. If the Clio wants to go to the movies or an event that involves money for entry, you have to pay your way. There is no petty funds for the employees and the clients can’t go without you being present. The morale at this job is low and have high turnover.

Working at Melwood was a very stressful, hostile, and toxic work environment mainly due to the Project Manager of the site. The Project manager is the main reason for 90% of management issues that go on. He prefers managing employees that work under him in a domineering, spiteful, and berating manner. He will never accept or admit fault and will take credit for his subordinate managers team ideas and resources and present them to the government and corporate office as his own ideas. Working there I had two life and death unfortunate circumstances. Instead of showing compassion, the project manager tried to use those circumstances against me and manipulate the situation like I was not able to do my job because of the unfortunate life and death circumstances. What the real issue was is that he didn't like that I had an Engineering degree and he didn't. The project manager didn't like anything or anyone that he felt would be a threat to his position. So he created a hostile work environment where my health starting deteriorating because of the stressful work environment, in hopes I would quit the job and he could replace me with someone in his network circle. I would not recommend anyone to work under the project manager at that site because he is an unscrupulous project manager.

Melwood has a great mission and majority of the employees truly support and believe in it.  However, there is a gap in connecting the workforce with the decision makers i.e, management.  Often the services we provide are taken for granted as if there are no consequences for not meeting deadlines and deiverables. Some here believe that the government contracts awarded cannot be terminated without going through what Melwood considers to be a hassle with paperwork.  I had employees working on contracts that have not received raises in years. Let's not take them for granted!! Also, if you are thinking of rolling over a 401K into their retirement plan, please note that they do not allow you to take loans on your own money, which is not the norm.  Also, this is something they should discuss during the multi-day orientation. If you are looking for an organization to bring fresh ideas and to implement new workflows- this is not the place due to the culture.  I suggest finding another NPA that not only focuses on the bottom line but really care about ALL employees not just those with differing abilities.

Working at Melwood is a steady place to work. the income does not match the work and efforts put into the job by the employees but if you are good at your job and are respectful (as a lot of co-workers seem to lack and then frustration arises) you will be fine. The benefits are okay, its a great place to work if you want a reliable income and to build on your work history. There is not a lot of room for advancement so you might feel like you are in a very stagnant position career wise, but you're not worrying about checks coming in and out. You will be covered by with insurance, its not top of the line but you're covered! 

The management team overall doesn't seem to get the different programs they are managing, but your direct managers are great, they are your life line and your direct co-worker - if you manage to get a crew that work as hard as you do, you'll enjoy your job. Pretty basic stuff---for a basic employer.

Working at Melwood has its ups & downs, it has taught me to have Patience and Understanding for all people regardless of their situation. It has opened my eyes to see just how blessed & fortunate we all are. Working with the special needs population gives me a sense of giving back, but this job is very demanding mentally and at all rewarding financially. Sometimes its hard to give you all and be in the best of moods when you get here because you are so stressed from the lack of pay and barely being able to make ends meet. But the smiles on the clients faces some days make it all worth most times. Often the employees are put last. We know the clients should come first but us as employees are left most of the time feeling as we don't even matter or exist to upper lever management.

What is the best part of working at the company?
  Helping people with disablilities/differing abilities.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Interior politics and bad managers that are not supportive or concerned.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Depending on location and management,  the environment can be good or bad. The culture can be good when you have concerned and caring management that treats the individual employees and supervisors with respect and dignity, otherwise the environment can be very stressful and unappealing.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
See previous responses. Not a consistent positive experience.

There was guidance in the tasks conducted day to day, interacting with clients / participants 
A lot of knowledgeable staff and good people working despite contingent things that would happen with participants or unwilling staff.
At times there was some workplace drama i.e. finger pointing about certain issues. 
Pay however is not the best, it would get better for long tenured employees, and those holding more substantial occupations i.e. foreman's, mechanics, people working in corporate, DDA 
However, the benefits packages were a nice perk i.e. retirement, med insurance.
Overall a decent place to work

A typical day was about 12-14 hours overseeing various sports, adventure, and arts programming. I was responsible for maintaining an inclusive attitude amongst the staff and help them adapt activities as needed so that individuals with and without disabilities could participate in them. The hardest part of the job was that due to the large numbers, I was not able to dedicate a great deal of attention to all of the kids. The upside of the job was that I was also able to have a large effect on a large group of kids on a day to day basis. I enjoyed being able to help people exceed their potential and do things that they had never done before, such as traversing a high ropes course or travelling down a zip line through the woods. 

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