Homework and hope

My friend and Harvard educated business mastermind, Brant Bryan sent me this "stat of the day" from the Harvard Business Review.  I find it most interesting.

Students Do Less Homework When the Jobless Rate Rises


An uptick in the jobless rate from 5% to 6% decreases the amount of time high-school students choose to spend on homework by about 19 minutes per week, says Steven McMullen of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That's because a higher unemployment rate diminishes expected labor-market returns, thus reducing the value of human-capital investment. For similar reasons, a $1 rise in the minimum wage in a state increases students' homework time by about 21 minutes per week, McMullen says.

Source: How do Students Respond to Labor Market and Education Incentives? An Analysis of Homework Time

Sunday: Catch CBS Special on Faith Communities and Unemployment

This Sunday, April 10, CBS will broadcast a religion special about how the unemployed are being helped by faith communities. The program, Unemployment: How Faith Communities Help Job Seekers, features an interview with Rev. Paul Sherry, Director of IWJ's DC Office and Campaign Coordinator of Faith Advocates for Jobs.


Check your local CBS station for the exact time of the broadcast (in some areas, it's being broadcast later in the week, or the following week).

From the CBS website:

Given the current jobless rate and overwhelming numbers of unemployed workers, many faith communities have created programs to assist people with their job searches and job retraining. Programs are conducted by experienced professionals free of charge and most do not require job seekers be members of the church or religion. Faith communities acknowledge that faith and prayer have to be aided by training and greater market awareness to help increase employment rates. As UNEMPLOYMENT: HOW FAITH COMMUNITIES HELP JOB SEEKERS shows, many experienced and compassionate people are helping today's job seekers.

The CBS special visits the Career Transition Center of Chicago (CTC), where one such program offers professional, spiritual and emotional support to those looking for work or undergoing a career transition. CTC was founded in 1997 primarily by the United Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Episcopal communities. The program features interviews with Executive Director Anita Jenke and David Kaiser, a life coach volunteer at the center, as well as those currently using the CTC's outplacement services.

In Chicago, the special visits St. Chrysostom's Employment Council, which dates back to the 1980s. Viewers will see a workshop entitled "Improving With Improv: Presenting Your Best Self through Humor and Spontaneity" and led by Bina Martin, a teacher at Chicago's famed Second City Improv. While there, viewers will also hear from Rev. Larry Green, a Deacon at the church, and Michael Cade, a parishioner and volunteer who oversees the Employment Council's monthly meetings.

Up next is New York City's Riverside Church, which offers a free six-week barber training program. Since 1997, master barber Dennis F. Thomas has trained nearly 2,000 people in the basics of barbering. The special explores the church program's practical results by visiting with some of its graduates at work, and speaking with Debra Northern, Director of Social Services for Riverside Church.

The special's final stop is St. James, a Roman Catholic Parish in Stratford, Connecticut, where Rev. Paul Sherry of Interfaith Worker Justice talks about the realities of unemployment, lending a deeper sense of need to the practical efforts now offered by local churches. His is an advocacy group that addresses related issues of wages, benefits and working conditions. The individual local programs help support job seekers with new skills as well as insights as to what employers are seeking today.

The special is produced in cooperation with the National Council of Churches, Consortium of Roman Catholic organizations, the Islamic Society of North America, the Union of Reform Judaism and the New York Board of Rabbis.

To learn more about Faith Advocates for Jobs or to get your congregation or group involved, e-mail Paul at psherry@iwj.org or call him at 202-525-3055.

Faith Advocates for Jobs has produced a toolkit for congregations that want to get involved with the campaign. Standing With the Unemployed: A Congregational Toolkit can be downloaded here (it's a PDF).

Danny Postel
Communications Coordinator
Interfaith Worker Justice

Work--Part 1

What follows are case notes, three stories to be presented in three parts, about students who participated in CitySquare's Build4Success construction skill training program.  The difficulties folks face and the bravery them employ to create better lives keeps me going.  The pathway forward and upward seldom turns out to be built along a straight line!  But progress happens!

Sam Griffin – Sam has struggled with a number of issues since completing the Build4Success program in 2009. When he originally enrolled in B4S, he had been out of prison on parole only a few months after having served 17 years of a 45 year sentence for armed robbery. He got his driver’s license and then landed a job with Ed Bell Construction; after he went to work he was doing well. He saved enough to buy a truck (a deal through Ed Bell, they arranged for him to purchase one of the trucks their company was selling and he got a great deal from them). After working at Ed Bell for about 9 months, he was offered a better position with Azteca-Omega. The job at Azteca-Omega would provide him with benefits and training. He left his job at Ed Bell on the Friday before last Easter and was to start with Azteca-Omega on Monday following Easter (2010) when he was shot early Easter morning in the eye, it was a case of mistaken identity. I think most of us are somewhat familiar with Sam’s story surrounding the shooting but to refresh – Sam lost his eye. The CitySquare family rallied around Sam, even taking up a collection to help him out; Project Access worked with him getting his medical needs met, SWS helped him get moved out of a bad living situation in a bad part of town (he was forced to keep all his clothes in his truck so his brother wouldn’t steal them). CitySquare's Social Work Services (SWS) has helped Sam get into an apartment he found in the Junius Heights area and through donations he has been able to furnish it and SWS has helped him with his rent. Sam has endured several surgeries to repair damage to his eye socket and now has a prosthetic eye; he still suffers hearing loss as a result of the shooting. This past fall, Sam enrolled in the Path2Success course offered by WorkPaths and graduated in December just before Christmas. He has not been released to return to work yet but we anticipate that happening soon. My Sunday School class is going to purchase the hearing aids he needs, this should be the last step in being released to work. He will be part of the initial crew on the Habitat project in which CitySquare will be framing 50 new homes.

Through all of this, Sam has kept a positive outlook and has worked hard at recovering from his injuries, both physical and emotional. He has spoken at orientations about the opportunities afforded through WorkPaths training, he participated as an evaluator at tryouts, and most recently came to the DFW Education Center to talk to the current training class about ‘taking the course seriously’. He is very articulate and one of the other evaluators at tryouts told us he should be a motivational speaker. What he says comes from his heart. He is a great example of "hope."

Workforce training gets cut in US House budget proposals

Here's the latest from Washington on the current budget discussions and workforce training/development.  

The Continuing Resolution passed by the U. S. House of Representatives last Saturday de-obligates, rescinds and removes the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) from any current or future funding.

This action comes as a surprising development, and hardly logical considering ongoing unemployment and underemployment in the nation.  It is, however, a fact of the current House Bill.


By any measure, this is unprecedented. Here in Dallas our workforce commission has operated without decline or interruption for more than 27 years. The nation depends on the workforce system for retraining, remediation, re-employment, national emergency re-employment and youth workforce preparation.

Although the House has determined that the system is expendable, provisions to fund the WIA remain in the budgets developed by the Obama Administration and the U. S. Senate.

The removal of workforce would cut Dallas capacity and space by half.

More of the same:  penny wise, pound foolish. 

We may perish by movement to the extremes. 

We all fall down. . .

This has to be in the running for "ad of the year," if there is such an award!

Everyone understands the beauty of and the need for recovery and redemption after failure.

Community depends on both.

Congratulations, GM!

Portfolio at the bottom. . .

Almost thirty years ago I realized that, if I bought into an IRA, I could save about $1,200 in tax liability for that one year. 

At the time I served a church in Richardson as its Senior Pastor.  I had no financial advisor.  So, following my usual "best practices," I opened the Yellow Pages and thrust my forefinger into the book where it landed on a broker named Scot Smith.  Best choice I ever made!  I have very little money, but Scot has stuck with me through it all and he has managed my funds very well.  Whatever retirement income I end up with will be in large part due to Scot's hard work on my behalf. 

So, I've been wondering.  If I have the benefit of a financial counselor near the top of the economy, why shouldn't folks nearer the bottom enjoy the same guidance benefit? 

My options orbit around a good job, 401K investments and a little inheritance income.  

Those at the bottom have the prospects of an entire range of public benefits designed to lift people into self-sufficiency.  Part of the problem though has to do with connecting eligible persons to the options and opportunities that they could enjoy.   

Take our entry level employees at CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries).  These are hard working individuals.  Our minimum wage at CitySquare is $10 an hour.  That translates to an annual wage of under $21,000, a pay scale that equals poverty status according to current federal poverty standards. 

What if we offered financial benefit counsel to these employees and to others who come to  us seeking assistance?  What if we trained and offered the services of "financial counselors" for the bottom of the economy? 

My question is necessary for a number of reasons. 

First, most people don't know what benefits are available for putting together a plan for a better life.  Overcoming a lack of basic skills is a major challenge for low-income wage-earners.  During that time of crucial learning, either in a classroom or on the job, people need assistance and support.  Connecting people to the resources can mean the difference between success and failure, as in continuing life at the bottom.

Second, obtaining the available benefits is not easy.  In fact, the longer I work in this sector the more I believe the system is set up to block eligible individuals and families from obtaining the benefits needed to be successful.  In short, it is hard to be certified for most of the assistance and human lift programs that are available.  For example, in 2008, Dallas County left over $500,000,000 of SNAP benefits (food stamps) on the table by not enrolling all qualified residents in the nutrition program that benefits individuals, families and retail grocers!  A competent counselor makes all the difference in the world to the process and to success. 

Third, an effective financial counselor often becomes a friend.  Most of us higher up the economic scale tend to forget the importance of supportive friendship.  Scot is my friend.  I trust him.  He gives me sound advice and clear direction.   Why would we expect things to be different among low-income persons?  And, this raises an important issue.  I believe that there may be a need to shift away from a classic social work/case management approach to this work.  What's needed will involve an approach more nearly like a financial advisor whose goal is to see a customer achieve maximum return on investment of time and effort. 

While the financial opportunities for low-income workers vary rather dramatically from state to state (with Texas ranking near the bottom on most public benefits), there are numerous resources available designed to advance people out of the underclass.  Included in this "portfolio of benefits" are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, Supplement Security and Disability Income, utility assistance, Women, Infant and Children program (WIC), Head Start, Free and Reduced School Food Program and various housing assistance programs. 

By weaving together a plan or linking up with applicable public benefits, a person with the assistance of a thoughtful financial advisor can begin to move forward.  At the same time, each of these possible investments in the lives of low-income individuals and families puts additional dollars into the economy where they are utilized. 

There is hope to be found here.  The question or the rate-limiter for impact relates to public will, as well as a willingness to view the various resources from a fresh, new perspective and without shame or reservation.  After all, lifting people in our economy is the purpose behind each fund opportunity.

The poverty trap. . .

One of our organizational goals is to move toward the day, as quickly as possible, when the minimum wage inside Central Dallas Ministries is a "living wage." 

But, what exactly does that mean in real dollars? 

Often, in such discussions, people will throw out a range of $12-$15 an hour. 

John Greenan, Executive Director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, sent me a link to what follows as it appeared on Aaron M. Renn's provocative blog, Urbanophile. 

Poverty is complicated when you are living in its midst.  Poverty is awfully hard to escape, harder than the vast majority of Americans can even begin to understand. 

What follows should give us great pause.

Megan Cottrell: Don’t Fall in the Poverty Trap – You May Never Get Out

[ Megan Cottrell's One Story Up blog might be one of the most important in the United States. It is certainly a must-read for anyone in Chicago. She covers housing and poverty, two un-glamorous subjects that have all but been abandoned by newspapers. These aren't topics beloved of urbanist blogs either, but they are critical to understanding our cities and building successful lives for all citizens. As Megan notes, the phenomenon she describes affects up to 40% of all Chicagoans. I encourage you to check out her work. ]

Until you earn about $40,000 a year, you’re pretty much stuck in poverty, an economist’s numbers show.

In fact, until you get past $40,000 a year, any raise or higher paying job you get might actually sink you deeper into poverty.

Take a look at this story from economist Jeff Liebman, who now works in the Obama Administration.

The poverty trap is still very much a reality in the U.S.

A woman called me out of the blue last week and told me her self-sufficiency counselor had suggested she get in touch with me. She had moved from a $25,000 a year job to a $35,000 a year job, and suddenly she couldn’t make ends meet any more. I told her I didn’t know what I could do for her, but agreed to meet with her. She showed me all her pay stubs, etc. She really did come out behind by several hundred dollars a month. She lost free health insurance and instead had to pay $230 a month for her employer-provided health insurance. Her rent associated with her section 8 voucher went up by 30% of the income gain (which is the rule). She lost the ($280 a month) subsidized child care voucher she had for after-school care for her child. She lost around $1600 a year of the EITC. She paid payroll tax on the additional income. Finally, the new job was in Boston, and she lived in a suburb. So now she has $300 a month of additional gas and parking charges. She asked me if she should go back to earning $25,000.

To continue reading and to view a very revealing graph, click here.

Job opportunity with Justice Revival and CDM

A message from Justice Revival Dallas:

We're very excited that we're able to hire someone who will ensure that the Justice Revival Dallas (November 10-12, 2009) misison will be carried out post-revival.

Position Title: Justice Revival Director

Supervisor: Larry James, CEO of Central Dallas Ministries

Salary: Moderate, based on experience, with benefits package

The Dallas Justice Revival is seeking to hire a Justice Revival Director starting in the fall of 2009 thru the fall of 2010.

TO APPLY: Please send a cover letter, resume, salary requirements, and three professional references to jobs@justicerevival.org or to Dallas Justice Revival Search, Foundation for Community Empowerment, 2001 Ross Ave, Suite 3350, Dallas, TX 75201.

Deadline for applications is September 25, 2009 or until position is filled.

The Justice Revival Dallas Leadership Team is strongly committed to equal opportunity. Women and persons of color are highly encouraged to apply.

Please visit http://justicerevival.unifyer.com/ to view this item or to change your email preferences.

Thanks,

Justice Revival--Dallas

Help us with your "junk"!

In August, 2008, the Central Dallas Ministries Thrift store opened for business with three objectives:

(1) generate income to sustain CDM’s many programs,

(2) provide quality, low-cost merchandise to our neighbors, and

(3) create job opportunities for our neighbors.

Over the past 7 months we have begun to meet all three of these objectives.

Even at this early stage, the store is generating enough revenue to meet its operating expenses, while employing six of our neighbors and providing both low cost goods for sale and even free goods to neighbors in need (providing dishes for an empty kitchen or clothing for a family who has lost everything in a fire).

Our challenge these days is to continue to build up our donation stream so that we are able to recycle the goods that some families no longer need and provide them to our neighbors at low or no cost.

Furniture, household goods, toys, sporting goods, clothing – even cars, motorcycles and boats – are all resold to generate revenue that allows us to provide food in the pantry, medicine in the clinic and tutors for the children, to name just a few aspects of our efforts in the inner city.

If you have items you would like to donate you can drop off smaller items at the Thrift Store (located at the southeast corner of Washington and Live Oak near Baylor University Medical Center) or call us to pick up bigger items.

For a larger impact, please consider partnering with us to organize a donation drive at your church/work site or in your neighborhood. There are a myriad of ways this has been done and if you have the inclination we can fully support you in this effort.

To help, to ask questions, or just know more about this effort, please call Theresa Cissell at 214-823-8710 ext 151 or email us at donations@centraldallasministries.org.

If you have been involved, please post a report on your experience!

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Women, work and moving up. . .

What follows was "lifted" from a blog created and maintained by one of the hardest working and most dedicated members of the Turner Courts community, Sylvia Baylor.

Appropriately tagged, Love Thy Neighbor, her words come right from the heart and speak about issues related to her life and neighborhood. Sylvia is one of our "team members" discovered in the community as we were working with the neighborhood children. She continues to devote herself to providing leadership and opportunity to others. As you'll see, she is doing both very well!

What she describes in this post is an employment training class that has grown out of our After School Academy. We find the parents of the children who participate in our after school program to be very interested in improving their own lives while supporting their little ones in their education. Great and encouraging synergy! Read her posts at: http://www.lovethyneighbors.blogspot.com/.

Yesterday started the first day of the adult Job Readiness Class, what a joy.

Their were 13 women to attend: Sherika Ricks, Lori Cullom, Michelle Shepard, Alexia Cullom, Kaiesha Hallman, Kechia Strain, Jocquelyn Smith, Dana Arnick, Ashley Jones, June Mason, Gayle Barnes, Michelle Hallman and Lekeythe Hunter.

Very strong women that know what they want. I am so glad that they made up in their mind that they did not want to stay in the same situation forever.

They talked very deeply about what they wanted in life. I see that they are not destined to stay stagnated. I feel passionate about this class. I think that something good is going to come from this class. I pray that these women continue to keep up the good work and that they never lose sight of what God as placed in their paths.

True, we live in this community and it seems as if we are living at the dead end of the street but we have climbed over the top. I am determined to bring about a change in the minds of those that I come in contact with. I know that somebody is listening. If it is only one or two I have touched I have fulfilled my goal.

I am not here to be served, I am here to serve. This is what God requires of all of us. So I encourage everyone to pray constantly for each other.

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Shareholders versus a living wage

You likely read the story that broke a few weeks ago.

The headline in The Washington Post read "Circuit City Cuts 3,400 'Overpaid' Workers" (March 29, 2007, by Ylan Q. Mui, D01).

The electronics and entertainment retailer fired 3,400 employees across the country, or about 9% of the company's workforce. Circuit City said their reason was simple: all were "making too much money." The company reported that the terminated workers would be replaced by others who were willing to work for less. The company admitted that the firings were not related to performance, but were part of a strategy to "improve the bottom line."

"Retail is very competitive and store operations just have to contain their costs," said Jim Babb, a Circuit City spokesman. "We deeply regret the negative impact that was had on these folks. It was no fault of theirs."

Workers were provided severance pay. After ten weeks, if they are willing to work for less, all will be free to apply for any openings with the company. The terminations occurred on the same day as the announcement of the decision and all were told to leave the stores immediately.

Again, according to The Washington Post story, the firings, along with several other moves, are expected to reduce expenses for the electronics retailer by $110 million in fiscal year 2008 and $140 million a year starting in fiscal 2009.

Steven Rash, 24, said he was one of 11 workers fired at a Circuit City in Asheville, N.C. Rash said he has worked for the retailer for seven years where he reported that he earned $11.59 an hour and worked from 15 to 20 hours a week. Though he has a full-time job at a bank, he said he needs to find part-time work to help pay his student loans.

"It's not just a part-time job," he said. "It's about paying the bills."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage for retail salespeople was $11.14 in May 2005, the latest data available.

Following the round of firings, Wall Street responded favorably for Circuit City as shares closed at $19.23, up 31 cents, or 2 percent.

The on-going competition among Circuit City, Best Buy and Wal-Mart for customers drove this action by the big retailer.

How should I react to this story? I understand that businesses have to compete and make adjustments to turn a profit based on market forces and realities.

But, what about the workers? What about the families?

This incident parallels what we observe on a daily basis in the city. Hard working people find it more and more difficult to make a living, to earn enough to make life work for themselves and their families.

Who is to blame?

Ironically, most all of us are implicated.

We want cheap goods and services. As a matter of fact, for most of us, if we are honest, price is the number one consideration when it comes to making a purchase. We go to the stores where we can get the best deal without a thought about the means of production, delivery to market or the labor back of the product.

Further, most of us own a stake in the stock market. Our 401 k plans, our IRAs, our 403 b programs, all put us squarely in the game of bottom line watching and analyzing corporate strategy with little thought about labor.

I am wondering these days just how responsible such an approach, such a worldview really is?

I am also facing the fact that even though my faith has much to say about this, I find it fairly easy to ignore faith's directives in this culture of creature comforts and discount luxury.

Surely, there must be a better way. After all, what's more important to me, saving $15- $20 on a new flat screen or knowing that parents can do a better job of caring for their children?