Tag

work

Jul 25
0

Make Jobs, Not Bombs

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | 2 Comments

Work experience is the most important part of your resume, so why would previous employment prevent someone from being hired -especially if the new position was less dangerous or stressful than the work the applicant had already completed?

This is just the situation faced by many unemployed veterans, who are increasingly unable to find work. While it is illegal for companies to discriminate against veterans in the hiring process, veteran’s advocates fear that employers automatically equate time spent in military service with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, and are afraid to make a hire. In reality, not all – or even most –veterans return from overseas with emotional problems. Furthermore, PTSD does not necessarily prevent an individual from working.

This discrimination isn’t limited to small misinformed business owners, some veterans report being passed over for positions in government, including being told in 2010 that a company did not want  “disabled veterans and the problems that come with them.” This was at the Federal hiring level. Unemployment among veterans decreased slightly in 2013 from 9.9 percent to 9 percent, but still remains higher than unemployment among civilians.

Without employment, the cycle of poverty begins. Besides supplying income, working can help a veteran return socially and psychologically to civilian life, yet often this opportunity is denied to the men and women with military backgrounds.  The never helpful but often – heard advice thrown at people experiencing homelessness is to  “get a job.” For those that are physically and mentally able to work, this advice is increasingly frustrating. Somehow, we deem these individuals qualified to enter combat internationally, but not to work in an office.

The justness of this discrimination is overwhelming, but luckily veterans are not a population who give up easily. Groups for veterans are leading some impressive advocacy work, including a military campaign aimed at employers. One organization I’ve raved about in past posts is The Mission Continues, a Missouri based group that deploys post 9/11 veterans to do more than just desk jobs, connecting them with service projects in their home communities. This structure both utilizes a veteran’s existing skill set and creates leadership opportunities for returning veterans.

Veteran unemployment contributes directly to veteran homeless, and no person who has served our country should return home to find themselves with nowhere to go. Opportunities to use their skills in new settings can change the cycle of homelessness and poverty among veterans, but only if employers can step away from fear and stigma.

Nov 21
0

Holiday Canned Goods

By | Homelessness, The Race to End Homelessness | 2 Comments

I started at my job this summer, so I’m excited for the holiday season in a new place . Some of my more festive coworkers have already organized both Secret Santa and a holiday potluck. I was a big believer in workplace holiday spirit, until I heard about the tradition of an Ohio WalMart. The Cleveland store asks staff to donate not to a potluck or a dinner — but canned foods to other employees in need this season. To many people, a practice like this one might seem shocking, but let’s not pretend we haven’t all heard the horror stories about the working conditions of the country’s largest retailer.  Working a minimum wage job hardly leaves an employee enough money for a lavish holiday celebration, especially if they are supporting a family.

One study reports that more than twenty-eight percent of individuals experiencing homelessness do work — but a paycheck isn’t always a ticket out of the shelter. This number might seem small, until we consider that many factors that lead to homelessness also prevent an individual from working —  disabilities, mental illness, domestic violence. Many who can work, do work, but as WalMart demonstrates, the income doesn’t always cover every expense, especially around the holiday season.

While every WalMart employee has their own budget and their own expenses, it is worth noting that the donation boxes are placed in staff locker rooms, not the corporate lounge. The company is asking its employees who are slightly more financially stable to steady their coworkers. This is heartwarming in a community-building, lean-on-me kind of way, but it is far from a sustainable way to put food on the table.

Except that maybe it is.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that the middle class give and donate more frequently and more generously as related to their income than more wealthy individuals. States with lower household incomes — Utah and Mississippi — gave more than twice as much of their annual income away than more wealthy northern states. This might not make much financial sense, but — as WalMart and many other groups that target lower income individuals realize — those who understand poverty are the most likely to offer help to get through it.

If only that generosity and knowledge could trickle up. Maybe the best way to make this a happy holiday is for the canned goods — or even fresh food — to come from those with the means to provide lasting, sustainable services to hardworking individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness.