My name is Ashley and I’m the Executive Director of a shelter and supportive housing organization in Amherst, NS. I wrote something (sounds like an OP ED in my head but it’s more 3am ramblings of an Executive Director who’s hated loudly for trying to just do my part in the world. I thought I’d send it to you, in hopes you’d read it, maybe it would be something you’d want to bring to people’s attention.
Love Us Loud
Every day our staff walk into work knowing someone will probably tell them they’re doing it wrong.
Not because they stole something.
Not because they hurt someone.
Not because they failed to care.
Because they fed someone. Because they handed someone a blanket. Because they gave someone naloxone. Because they believed another human being deserved one more chance to see tomorrow.
That’s become controversial.
If you’ve never worked in homelessness, it’s hard to explain what that feels like.
Imagine spending twelve hours trying to stop someone from dying. Imagine helping someone get their ID back after years without one. Imagine celebrating because someone finally slept indoors. Imagine talking someone through detox. Imagine convincing someone that they are still worthy of love after years of hearing they weren’t.
Then you go home, open Facebook, and discover hundreds of people who have never met you explaining why you’re the problem.
People who have never worked one shift. Never cleaned blood off a bathroom floor. Never sat beside someone while they cried because they lost custody of their children.
Never had to tell a mother her son overdosed.
Yet somehow they know exactly how your job should be done. That part doesn’t hurt because people disagree. Disagreement is healthy.
What hurts is watching strangers become experts on people they’ve never met while the people who know the work best stay silent.
Our staff are not paid the big bucks, hell, they aren’t even paid the medium bucks!!! Most of them make about $22 an hour.
$22 an hour to miss holidays. $22 an hour to work nights. $22 an hour to be screamed at by people in crisis and criticized by people who have never stepped through our doors. $22 an hour because they believe another person’s life is worth showing up for.
People often ask how burnout happens. It isn’t usually the work. The work is hard, but it is also beautiful. The burnout comes from feeling like you’re standing in the middle of a storm while the people who care quietly watch from inside.
Here’s what I know.
For every angry comment online, there are ten people who tell us privately they support the work. They send kind emails. They stop us in the grocery store. They whisper, “Don’t listen to them. They thank our staff. They tell us they couldn’t do what we do. Those moments matter more than you’ll ever know.
But here’s the thing. The criticism is public and the support is private. One is visible and the other disappears. That creates a world where good people begin to wonder if they’re alone. They’re not alone. We know they’re not.
Our community is better than that.
So this isn’t a request for people to argue online, It’s not about defending our organization every time someone disagrees, It’s about something much simpler.
If you believe people deserve food, say it. If you believe housing matters, say it. If you believe addiction deserves treatment instead of shame, say it. If you believe every human being has dignity whether they’re housed or unhoused, sober or using, successful or struggling, say it.
And if you know someone who does this work, tell people, share their posts, thank them publicly, write about them and stand beside them. Because the people who dedicate their lives to helping others should never feel like they’re standing alone.
Our spouses need to love us loudly, our parents need to love us loudly.
Our children. Our friends. Our neighbours. Our community partners. Our donors.
Not because we’re looking for applause, because compassion deserves company and the loudest voices should never belong only to anger.
If you believe in this work, don’t whisper it to us in private, say it where the world can hear you.
Love us loud.
