CASSELBERRY, Fla. -- A Casselberry assisted living facility is supposed to help the poor and homeless, but now a worker there is accused of doing drugs and abusing the patients. The state is looking into several disturbing allegations against a worker at Pathways to Care in Casselberry.

The worker is accused of smoking crack cocaine on property, stealing medication from residents and verbally abusing them. Former resident Anita Thompson said she saw the mistreatment of patients and was herself a victim.

"Her last statement was, if I wasn't standing right here, 'I would beat you're a** all over this patio,'" Thompson said.

The center is where homeless people come from hospitals to recover and transition their way back to self sufficiency.

"They've drug tested this employee in question and they've also put her on administrative leave until the disposition of the drug test comes back," said William Teague, Florida Department of Elder Affairs.

Teague said there's no evidence the unnamed employee stole prescription drugs from the 40-bed facility, but she does have other past problems.

"When we reviewed her file, there were documentation in there indicating she had been counseled before about the way she talked to residents or treated them," Teague said.

Jean is the head nurse at Pathways to Care.

"I don't have the authority to talk to anybody on TV, so you're gonna have to go through Catholic Charities," she said.

Eyewitness News tried, but the CEO referred WFTV to the diocese and the communications director is on vacation.

Thompson said her story needed to be told.

"I don't want to give the impression that I'm ungrateful for places like that that exist to help people, but there is a process and a purpose to it," she said.

Pathways to Care has been investigated by the state for various complaints 17 times since it opened in 2004, usually for releasing a patient who had no where else to go. They were found in violation four of those times.