So last week, June 17th, 2020 I got terminated from my job. I’m a little confused, very angry yet also a little relieved. There were only 2 paid staff members and we were both terminated. We have 89 clients that we service and I’m confused about what will happen to them. I know the business is not closing. #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmm. Instead of eliminating our positions or whatever they want to politically correctly call it, why didn’t they put us to work doing fundraising, getting a plan together to do that? No fundraising has been done in decades!
I have been there for 13 years, been through 3 different president’s, witnessed some amazingly lackadaisical business practices and “management” and heard the most incredible amount of gossip and back-biting ever.
I reckon I’m a fairly good employee. I follow rules, I go the extra mile and I’ve never had a bad evaluation. Work ethic in the USA is very different to what I was used to in South Africa. Even job hunting in the USA is very different. Here, if you don’t have a degree (any degree) you are placed on the “nah, not now” pile of resumes. In South Africa, experience does count. Secondly, if you are not American it can be a little sketchy. Then add the fact that you may be over 50 – they say they can’t discriminate, but well, you know how that goes!
Everything about this termination annoys me, the timing of it (during the Corona pandemic), the way it was handled (telephonically) – incidentally I was on my way to the post office to collect the office mail when I was called, and the total ignorance as to how the business will be run going forward.
Nonprofits are made up and run by a Board of Directors. You’d hope that this Board of Directors would have a ton of business knowledge to impart or have business connections in order to solicit donations, have major fundraising experience. They are volunteers who are unpaid with no other aim except to govern and direct the running of the business. In order to remain in operation, they HAVE to do fundraising, solicit bequests and donations and of course, meet the needs of the clientele they are serving. Has this Board done any of that? Oh hell no!
What will I miss (besides a pay cheque and health insurance)? Well, I will miss my book club group the most. I’ll miss the Christmas shopping day, I’ll miss decorating the Christmas tree for every occasion during the year and I’ll miss having a laugh with my colleague. What won’t I miss? I will not miss the gossip, back-biting and the indecisive decision making and lack of business skills, lack of ethics, laziness, ignorance and the attitude that “someone else can do it”.
Unfortunately the blind community seem to be their own worst enemy. It’s a catch 22 situation. They have some good ideas but due to lack of education, business and experience, they deliver it poorly and are not taken seriously. Their expectations are irrational. Most blind people who want to study further and gain business skills are not given the opportunity due to discrimination or an unfair assumption that they are unable to perform a duty. Missouri is a state that chooses to give a “help out” instead of a “help up”. Even the Missouri School for the Blind does not seem to provide adequate social and living skills to their students. Gone are the days when blind people would be taken seriously and do everything and anything to provide for their family. I’ve heard stories of blind people going door to door selling brooms and mops, take many forms of transportation to get to work that was located miles away and get involved in making a difference. This is how the Service Club for the Blind was formed in 1934. It had the potential to do great things and be well known and appreciated in its neighbourhood. Instead, when I mentioned where I worked, I’d hear “I never knew it was there and I’ve lived here all my life”. I had so many ideas and thoughts of what I would have liked to see us do there. Fundraising ideas that are always knocked down.
So why are they terminating us? Who knows! We were told the Board was restructuring. That could mean anything. Personally, I think they wanted to get rid of the sighted people. I know the Board members are not very computer literate or business savvy and few (if any) of them have had jobs in the corporate or business industry (or any real job). It’s very much a self-serving Board, reeking of conflict of interests. Their hearts are in the right place. They want it to work, they want it to prosper, but they want someone else to do it. For many years, they’ve gone round and round making decisions that are irrelevant to the general running of the place, due to their lack of experience.
2 years ago with new leadership I thought we were starting to head in the right direction and I could see change on the horizon, but then fear and panic kicked in and too much “he said, she said” started to raise its ugly head, and I could see once more, that the renewed positivity was taking a downward dive. When you’re dealing with blind Board members who have seldom held down a full-time job in the business world, they do not understand how an office is run. In the 21st century everything is done on the computer. EVERYTHING! So, when I sit at my desk, I’m working.
To terminate the only 2 staff members while the business is closed during a pandemic with no severance package, when they have done nothing wrong, is vindictive, personal and irrational. It’s a 501(c)3 Private Foundation. Go look online at their investment and financial documents. You’ll see they are not hurting. We, the ex-staff on the other hand, are.
Unfortunately this is the last charity I will ever support. I know their background. I know they do nothing substantial for their clients. I would advise you to do the same. Please make sure you all lose my phone number and email address. Don’t ask me for anything.
#peaceout
Farewell Service Club for the Blind
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