Unprofessional, not trauma-informed, shaming posture
The Executive Director joined the interview in extremely casual attire (like barely above pjs) and continued to eat her lunch on screen. They claim they want parents or siblings of people with special healthcare needs, which I am. They claim they want a Bachelor's degree, which I have in a related field. They claim they want someone with a passion for the families they serve and advocacy experience, which I have in abundance. Yet, when I spoke about supporting my adult child, who has ADHD, learning disabilities, and trauma, with very real struggles that are common for adults with these diagnoses, the interviewers (who have only young children) responded with audible disapproval. As a trauma survivor myself who works so hard to support my children, it was all I could do to keep from crying and get through the rest of the interview after hearing that response. A significant portion of the interview was dedicated to trying to get me to be very self-deprecatory and talk about what a flawed, weak person I am, something that is common in religious spaces. The ED even said "nobody's perfect" at one point, as if that were how I was presenting myself (it wasn't). I greatly regret being as vulnerable as I was in the interview. After being rejected within 24 hours, I was scrambling to find answers. I had felt like I had finally found somewhere that I could make a difference and use my education and personal experience for good. As I tried to understand, I looked up the ED and found that her political and religious views differ significantly from mine (my views are publicly available online and pretty easy to find), which leads me to believe that this was a political/religious decision made by an organization that claims to be non-partisan. Finally, from my experience, this organization is not trauma-informed or educated on what higher-level diagnoses look like in the real world. It's great to support people with the greatest healthcare needs, but, like every other organization I have encountered, that seems to be the extent of their mission, while families like mine, that have significant struggles that aren't as visible, fall through the cracks.
