It takes a certain kind of person to work at Tides Family Services Inc.
The employees have not gotten raises in 10 years – not even cost-of-living increases. They don’t have a nice office building or get perks like profit sharing. But the nonprofit is still one of the Best Places To Work in Rhode Island.
The 100 or so employees of the West Warwick-based social service agency know coming in that they have to offer a level of dedication above and beyond the typical job, one that requires a positive, supportive attitude toward co-workers and clients, said Heather Ferro, a clinician and vice president of quality management at Tides.
“The mission piece of our work is enormous. It has sustained me through difficult times,” Ferro said.
In lieu of those raises, the social workers get job satisfaction from carrying out the organization’s purpose, which, in tradition with the De LaSalle Christian Brothers, means providing social services for troubled youth and families in Rhode Island who need their help.
The employees at Tides meet with youth ages 9 to 21, wherever they are, whether in the streets, Family Court, homes or at schools. They work from their cars most of the time to provide prevention and intervention through Tides’ programs, including Tides Learning Center, Tides Outreach Project, Youth New Futures, Day Reporting Center, Youth Diversion and the Latino Outreach Project.
Ferro, who has worked for the 25-year-old social service organization for 15 years, said the support system at Tides is a big part of employee retention. “People … can talk to anyone – their supervisor or someone else’s – if they need to,” Ferro said. “We are all in the same boat, and we all share a philosophy, a unity. So even though we might have different levels of expertise, there isn’t that feeling of hierarchy.”
In fact, even the highest level managers carry caseloads so they are on the same wavelength as the social workers in the field, Ferro said. “It’s important for everyone to keep their hands dirty and stay in the trenches, so we know what is going on out there.”
Michael Capalbo, director of human resources and educational programs, has worked at Tides for the past 11 years. He came to the agency after retiring as director of special education for Coventry schools, and concurred that the level of support at Tides is second to none.
Because of that family-style environment, employees at Tides freely express concerns and offer suggestions about ways to improve the system, Ferro said. “Our staff knows they are stakeholders in this organization – they are the ones out there – so we constantly focus on how to make things better.” •
