Great story here on Amazon's new fulfillment centers, one to open in the fall in southern Dallas.
Amazon company representatives are conducting interviews to fill 3,000 new jobs.
One of their bases of operation is here at CitySquare's Opportunity Center inside the offices of Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas.
Good news for neighbors looking for work!
Showing posts with label inner city labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inner city labor. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2015
Thursday, August 08, 2013
Employment for crew hired off "the Corner"!
Jerry James (shown here on one knee in front) serves as the "foreman" for our landscape crew.
We hired each of these folks off of "the Corner" where we show up on Thursdays for refreshments, conversation and friendship creation.
Jerry comes from a tough background himself that includes time behind bars. He works as hard as anyone I've ever known. His crew follows his lead.
This group of formerly unemployed, homeless persons executed the landscape plan for the Opportunity Center that CitySquare is building at the corner of Malcolm X and I-30.
What you see here is a moment in time on a pathway to renewal and transformation.
This is our work.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Presence and vision
When we conceived the CitySquare Opportunity Center, I never imagined it would share such a direct, penetrating view of our city.
Amazing!
Ready for late spring, early summer 2013!
You or your group interested in a tour? Call me!
Amazing!
Ready for late spring, early summer 2013!
You or your group interested in a tour? Call me!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Wages, families, neighborhoods and the economy
At the beginning of this school year, students from the Honors College at Abilene Christian University began their very special three year course of study that will see them focus as a group on poverty in inner city Dallas.
Already my young friends have turned up ugly evidence of what affects our economy so adversely. These bright students discovered that in several South Dallas zip codes the average household income hovers around $10,000 annually. Hard to imagine isn't it?
If you and/or your family had to make do with $10,000 a year, what sorts of things would impinge on your life, your decisions, your attitudes and your expectations? Hard, but very good and fair questions for those of us who are doing so much better to ask and answer honestly.
The Dallas Morning News published a story last Sunday (9/23/2012, 4B) on a group of Wal-Mart workers who have organized against the pay practices and scale of the company's wages. The group, Organization United for Respect at Walmart, demonstrated in Dallas' Uptown neighborhood the day before the report hit the paper. Protesters claimed that Wal-Mart didn't pay them enough to purchase the health care plan offered by the company or to participate in the 401 (k) benefit plan.
According to Wal-Mart, the average pay to its employees in Texas is $12.31 an hour. According to the union, the company's average hourly wage for the nation stands at $8.81.
If the company is correct about its Texas employees, a person working a full-time, 40-hour-a-week job and paid for 52 weeks (both unlikely assumptions) will earn $25,605 annually.
If the union is correct and making the same assumptions, a Wal-Mart employee will earn $18,325 annually.
What is life like for households living on wages at this level?
How do marriages fair?
What health issues do these families face?
How is the psychological health of these wage earners?
What are neighborhoods like for communities who earn wages at this level?
How do wages affect housing stock?
Public schools?
Code enforcement and neighborhood amenities?
What impact do wages at this level have on local economies and on economic development?
What factors are at work here to encourage or discourage the development of retail outlets?
How is job growth in these areas?
The realities of capitalism force on us tough questions about how we might make changes to help our working poor neighbors These realities make a strong case for the expansion of public efforts such as the Earned Income Tax Credit program. They also argue persuasively for increased investment in public education, early childhood programs and workforce training initiatives to enhance and diversify the skills of our labor force.
Things will not improve unless we get involved and begin to insist on the needed changes.
Already my young friends have turned up ugly evidence of what affects our economy so adversely. These bright students discovered that in several South Dallas zip codes the average household income hovers around $10,000 annually. Hard to imagine isn't it?
If you and/or your family had to make do with $10,000 a year, what sorts of things would impinge on your life, your decisions, your attitudes and your expectations? Hard, but very good and fair questions for those of us who are doing so much better to ask and answer honestly.
According to Wal-Mart, the average pay to its employees in Texas is $12.31 an hour. According to the union, the company's average hourly wage for the nation stands at $8.81.
If the company is correct about its Texas employees, a person working a full-time, 40-hour-a-week job and paid for 52 weeks (both unlikely assumptions) will earn $25,605 annually.
If the union is correct and making the same assumptions, a Wal-Mart employee will earn $18,325 annually.
What is life like for households living on wages at this level?
How do marriages fair?
What health issues do these families face?
How is the psychological health of these wage earners?
What are neighborhoods like for communities who earn wages at this level?
How do wages affect housing stock?
Public schools?
Code enforcement and neighborhood amenities?
What impact do wages at this level have on local economies and on economic development?
What factors are at work here to encourage or discourage the development of retail outlets?
How is job growth in these areas?
The realities of capitalism force on us tough questions about how we might make changes to help our working poor neighbors These realities make a strong case for the expansion of public efforts such as the Earned Income Tax Credit program. They also argue persuasively for increased investment in public education, early childhood programs and workforce training initiatives to enhance and diversify the skills of our labor force.
Things will not improve unless we get involved and begin to insist on the needed changes.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Scenes of progress from CitySquare's new Opportunity Center. . .
CitySquare's new Opportunity Center development continues to progress!
Located at the southeast corner of Malcolm X and I-30, the new 53,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose campus intends to bring many new opportunities to men and women seeking improved lives.
Here are scenes of our current progress! To learn how you can become an investor, contact me at ljames@CitySquare.org.
Located at the southeast corner of Malcolm X and I-30, the new 53,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose campus intends to bring many new opportunities to men and women seeking improved lives.
Here are scenes of our current progress! To learn how you can become an investor, contact me at ljames@CitySquare.org.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Workforce Training and CitySquare
Here are scenes from the DFW Education Center where CitySquare partners with Northlake College and the Construction Education Foundation to offer our WorkPaths training program. The 16-week instruction exposes students to every aspect of construction trades, including framing, floor and roof systems, H/VAC, plumbing, electrical, welding, OSHA, forklift operations, and much more!
A very high percentage of our students graduate, and over 70% find employment and remain employed 6 months out from course completion. Currently, 20 students are working through this very beneficial course! We're extremely proud of each of them!
What a phenomenal resource we have in the DFW Education Center. The multi-million dollar facility provides amazing options and opportunities for the students we recruit to the program and with whom we work on a daily basis.
A very high percentage of our students graduate, and over 70% find employment and remain employed 6 months out from course completion. Currently, 20 students are working through this very beneficial course! We're extremely proud of each of them!
What a phenomenal resource we have in the DFW Education Center. The multi-million dollar facility provides amazing options and opportunities for the students we recruit to the program and with whom we work on a daily basis.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Work
What Work Is
By Philip Levine
(Listen to Levine read his poem here.)
We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is--if you're
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it's someone else's brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, "No,
we're not hiring today," for any
reason he wants. You love your brother,
now suddenly you can hardly stand
the love flooding you for your brother,
who's not beside you or behind or
ahead because he's home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German.
Works eight hours a night so he can sing
Wagner, the opera you hate most,
the worst music ever invented.
How long has it been since you told him
you loved him, held his wide shoulders,
opened your eyes wide and said those words,
and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never
done something so simple, so obvious,
not because you're too young or too dumb,
not because you're jealous or even mean
or incapable of crying in
the presence of another man, no,
just because you don't know what work is.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Labor Day gratitude. . .
But, he always went farther than that. He also was careful to teach me to respect the people who performed the work, all people who worked, no matter what their job, status, tenure or wage.
Now that he is gone, I find myself remembering his lessons each year as Labor Day comes round again.
In his memory and for his instruction I find that I'm very grateful for. . .
- Sanitation workers
- Oil field hands
- Miners
- Commercial fishermen
- Home builders
- Construction workers
- Plumbers
- Electricians
- Truck drivers
- Postal workers
- Mechanics
- Ship workers
- Public transit workers
- Window washers
- Domestic workers
- Legal aids
- Actors
- Film makers
- Artists
- Musicians
- Singers
- Telecommunications workers
- Street and highway construction crews
- Bridge builders
- Street sweepers
- Utility workers
- Brick layers and masons
- Work workers
- HVAC technicians
- Waiters
- Parking attendants
- Secretaries
- Landscape employees
- Public School teachers
- University professors
- Counselors
- Lawyers
- Judges
- Political leaders
- Organized labor
- Architects
- Venture capitalists
- Non-profit employees
- Chefs
- Code Enforcement employees
- Ministers
- Doctors
- Dentists
- Nurses
- Orderlies
- Custodians
- Parks and Recreation workers
- Government employees
- Sales clerks
- Security personnel
- Members of the Armed Forces
- Police officers
- Dispatchers
- Carpenters
- Furniture makers
- Retail workers
- Wholesale supply workers
- Marketing workers
- Public relations workers
- Firemen
- Ambulance drivers
- ER staff members
- Child care workers
- Manufacturing workers
- Industrial employees
- Pilots
- Flight attendants
- CPS workers
- Community organizers
- Environmental workers
- Farmers
- Ranchers
- Mortgage bankers
- HR workers
- Accountants
- Bookkeepers
- A/R and A/P clerks
- IT workers
- Engineers--technical and trains!
- The list is endless!
Celebrate labor today. . .your own and that of your fellows.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Employment and low-skilled fathers
A major and growing priority here at CitySquare involves the provision of hard and soft workforce skills for our unemployed and underemployed neighbors. Anything that relates to job readiness and job creation attracts our attention. The following brief focuses on increasing employment options for fathers who attempt to negotiate our economy without the necessary skills to earn a living wage.
Pathways to Employment
Finding a good job that pays a living wage and offers opportunity for advancement is a value embedded in the American Dream. Despite this promise, many Americans are unable to receive the education and training they need to obtain stable employment with good wages, or end up in low-paying jobs that provide inadequate benefits and little opportunity for advancement. Numerous community colleges, community-based organizations and government entities have developed programs that create a pathway to employment focusing on areas such as job training, job readiness, placement, retention and advancement, and workforce supports.
For a list of key research that summarizes efforts to create a pathway to employment for low-income families click here.
Pathways to Employment
Finding a good job that pays a living wage and offers opportunity for advancement is a value embedded in the American Dream. Despite this promise, many Americans are unable to receive the education and training they need to obtain stable employment with good wages, or end up in low-paying jobs that provide inadequate benefits and little opportunity for advancement. Numerous community colleges, community-based organizations and government entities have developed programs that create a pathway to employment focusing on areas such as job training, job readiness, placement, retention and advancement, and workforce supports.
For a list of key research that summarizes efforts to create a pathway to employment for low-income families click here.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Report from BECK community service with CitySquare
We received the following report from our good friends at BECK after a great group of their interns joined CitySquare's WorkPaths' participants in framing houses contracted for construction with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity. What a great partnership all around!
Thank you, BECK
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If you’re a fan of community service, affordable housing projects, nonprofit work or just sweating profusely while you dream of an air conditioned office, then I suggest you look into working with organizations like CitySquare and Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity.
This is exactly what BECK’s interns did the June 22, 23 and 24th as part of an intern service project which took place in at 2717 and 2711 Silkwood Drive in South Dallas. It was the result of a group from CitySquare’s WorkPaths department, who teamed up with the BECK interns to frame two houses for Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity in three days.
WorkPaths is a department at CitySquare, a local nonprofit and provides tools and resources to adults who, for various reasons, lack necessary job training and education. WorkPaths partners with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity on projects allowing them to provide further training and implement construction skills they learned in WorkPaths’ construction training program, Build4Success. As for the interns here at BECK, it was not only a chance to get to know one another, but also an opportunity to work with an impressive organization filled with dedicated individuals who are making a positive impact.
The group included Lynsee Turner, Greg O’Bryan, Molly Lyons, Caleb Pritle, Jake Maxton, Trevor Brown, Dane Soren and Dylan Dorsey. It would not have been possible without the contribution of a few notable BECK employees - Greg Powell, Holly Crowder, Jim Gettman, Gillette Berger, Tim Kuykendall, Rachel Baumann, and Beth Butler. The willingness of the people at BECK to engage in a project such as this reflects the values of this company and is a credit to its already admirable standing within the local community.
David Claros, in reference to the workers from CitySquare, noted, “To see people like that trying to get their life back together was very humbling and made me appreciate the opportunities I have been given… It really put in perspective what I have been blessed with.”
Lynnsee Turner felt that “being a part of the summer 2011 CitySquare / Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity Intern Event was an awesome experience! Not only did we get to use the knowledge that we have learned the past few years in different classes, but we were also able to give back to a community in need, while having fun.”
Lacey Helm was fortunate to observe “the effects of hard labor on the body, but also the satisfaction from seeing with your eyes the production you have physically done.”
The opportunity to work with the people from CitySquare, although difficult, was incredibly rewarding.
Participating Interns included Lynnsee Turner, Greg O’Bryan, Molly Lyons, Caleb Pritle, Jake Maxton, Trevor Brown, Dane Soren, Dylan Dorsey, David Claros, Lacey Helm, Nick Jencopale, Javier Altamirano, Andrew Winchell, Sam Gunderson, Abigail Steck, Ricky del Monte, Billy del Monte, and Sean Luke. The majority of these interns will most likely never make their living in the labor side of construction. However, an appreciation and respect for those who do will prove to be invaluable. Apparently, scorching heat and difficult labor are ideal conditions under which to form friendships. While the purpose of the internship is to provide a glimpse into potential careers, it is also necessary to provide a sense of social responsibility. Thankfully, this responsibility is standard procedure here at BECK.
Thank you, BECK
This is exactly what BECK’s interns did the June 22, 23 and 24th as part of an intern service project which took place in at 2717 and 2711 Silkwood Drive in South Dallas. It was the result of a group from CitySquare’s WorkPaths department, who teamed up with the BECK interns to frame two houses for Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity in three days.
WorkPaths is a department at CitySquare, a local nonprofit and provides tools and resources to adults who, for various reasons, lack necessary job training and education. WorkPaths partners with Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity on projects allowing them to provide further training and implement construction skills they learned in WorkPaths’ construction training program, Build4Success. As for the interns here at BECK, it was not only a chance to get to know one another, but also an opportunity to work with an impressive organization filled with dedicated individuals who are making a positive impact.
The group included Lynsee Turner, Greg O’Bryan, Molly Lyons, Caleb Pritle, Jake Maxton, Trevor Brown, Dane Soren and Dylan Dorsey. It would not have been possible without the contribution of a few notable BECK employees - Greg Powell, Holly Crowder, Jim Gettman, Gillette Berger, Tim Kuykendall, Rachel Baumann, and Beth Butler. The willingness of the people at BECK to engage in a project such as this reflects the values of this company and is a credit to its already admirable standing within the local community.
David Claros, in reference to the workers from CitySquare, noted, “To see people like that trying to get their life back together was very humbling and made me appreciate the opportunities I have been given… It really put in perspective what I have been blessed with.”
Lynnsee Turner felt that “being a part of the summer 2011 CitySquare / Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity Intern Event was an awesome experience! Not only did we get to use the knowledge that we have learned the past few years in different classes, but we were also able to give back to a community in need, while having fun.”
Lacey Helm was fortunate to observe “the effects of hard labor on the body, but also the satisfaction from seeing with your eyes the production you have physically done.”
The opportunity to work with the people from CitySquare, although difficult, was incredibly rewarding.
Participating Interns included Lynnsee Turner, Greg O’Bryan, Molly Lyons, Caleb Pritle, Jake Maxton, Trevor Brown, Dane Soren, Dylan Dorsey, David Claros, Lacey Helm, Nick Jencopale, Javier Altamirano, Andrew Winchell, Sam Gunderson, Abigail Steck, Ricky del Monte, Billy del Monte, and Sean Luke. The majority of these interns will most likely never make their living in the labor side of construction. However, an appreciation and respect for those who do will prove to be invaluable. Apparently, scorching heat and difficult labor are ideal conditions under which to form friendships. While the purpose of the internship is to provide a glimpse into potential careers, it is also necessary to provide a sense of social responsibility. Thankfully, this responsibility is standard procedure here at BECK.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Employment training opportunities at CitySquare
The following notice came out earlier this week from Andrea Bills, WorkPaths' Director, about CitySquare's employment readiness training programs. I thought this information was worth sharing here. If you live in Dallas, help us spread the word!
________________________________________
________________________________________
WorkPaths is happy to announce an expanded FALL session of Build4Success. Applications will be accepted beginning 2pm July 12th thru 3pm August 4th, 2011. The first orientation for Build4Success will be held Tuesday, July 12th at 1:30pm at WorkPaths:
Ransom Technology Learning Center
1824 Hall Street (corner of Hall and Munger)
Dallas, Tx 75204
Call 214-823-4409 x 300 to RSVP or x 301 for directions
Center Hours for Information: Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm
No information will be given over the phone; all interested candidates must attend an orientation. Interested parties can call x 300 to reserve a place at upcoming orientations; there will be an additional orientation on Wednesday, July 13th at 1:30pm. More orientation times and locations will be upcoming.
The application process for this program must be completed by 3:00 pm on August 4th. If you have people who are interested in the program, encourage them to get started at once. The application process takes several steps, the first being orientation. There are limited training slots and referring partners are encouraged and welcome to attend the orientation too!
Please email Tennille Robertson, Build4Success Program Manager, if you have questions: troberston@citysquare.org – or you can email me at abills@citysquare.org.
All applications must be completed and submitted by August 4, 2011 at 3:00pm! This includes testing, documentation and paperwork.
DO NOT have candidates contact individual staff members but rather please ask them to call 214-823-4409 x 300 (also listed above) to RSVP or for information regarding orientation times and locations and we will call them back.
Everything has to be done in 4 weeks!
Thank you!
Andrea Bills
WorkPaths Director
CitySquare
________________________________________
Path2Success Orientations are currently being held at WorkPaths (see location below). The next orientation will be Wednesday, July 13th at 10am at the RTLC. All information regarding information is the same as below. If you have questions about Path2Success, please email Dana Morrison, Path2Success Program Manager, at dmorrison@citysquare.org and she can also get you flyers.
________________________________________
WorkPaths is happy to announce an expanded FALL session of Build4Success. Applications will be accepted beginning 2pm July 12th thru 3pm August 4th, 2011. The first orientation for Build4Success will be held Tuesday, July 12th at 1:30pm at WorkPaths:
Ransom Technology Learning Center
1824 Hall Street (corner of Hall and Munger)
Dallas, Tx 75204
Call 214-823-4409 x 300 to RSVP or x 301 for directions
Center Hours for Information: Monday – Thursday 10am – 4pm
No information will be given over the phone; all interested candidates must attend an orientation. Interested parties can call x 300 to reserve a place at upcoming orientations; there will be an additional orientation on Wednesday, July 13th at 1:30pm. More orientation times and locations will be upcoming.
The application process for this program must be completed by 3:00 pm on August 4th. If you have people who are interested in the program, encourage them to get started at once. The application process takes several steps, the first being orientation. There are limited training slots and referring partners are encouraged and welcome to attend the orientation too!
Please email Tennille Robertson, Build4Success Program Manager, if you have questions: troberston@citysquare.org – or you can email me at abills@citysquare.org.
All applications must be completed and submitted by August 4, 2011 at 3:00pm! This includes testing, documentation and paperwork.
DO NOT have candidates contact individual staff members but rather please ask them to call 214-823-4409 x 300 (also listed above) to RSVP or for information regarding orientation times and locations and we will call them back.
Everything has to be done in 4 weeks!
Thank you!
Andrea Bills
WorkPaths Director
CitySquare
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Detroit Renewal: Good jobs linked to education
You can read it here.
Very encouraging stuff.
However, the poor will be left out and behind again unless access to training and motivation to engage such opportunties are found and found fast.
Not different from Dallas in that regard, but the landscape change in Detroit is amazing!
Now, back to public education in the inner city. . . .
Friday, April 22, 2011
Update on payday lending regulation
CPPP APPLAUDS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO REFORM
PAYDAY AND AUTO TITLE LENDING
(AUSTIN, Texas) Center for Public Policy Priorities released the following statement regarding payday and auto title lending bills moving through the Texas House of Representatives.
Over the past several years, unregulated and high-cost, short-term lending has taken a toll on Texas consumers and communities. Without state oversight, Texas consumers do not have basic protections against abusive lending practices or a way to escape the cycle of debt which traps Texans with unlimited fees. The 82nd Legislature has a unique opportunity to address these problems by enacting House Bill (HB) 2592, 2593, and 2594.
We strongly urge the 82nd Legislature to enact meaningful short-term lending reform to create “rules of the road” and provide basic protections for Texans and their communities.
To read the full statement and to discovery exactly what each of the three bills accomplish click here.
CONTACT
Brian Stephens
512.320.0222, ext. 112
512.565.0506 CELL
PAYDAY AND AUTO TITLE LENDING
(AUSTIN, Texas) Center for Public Policy Priorities released the following statement regarding payday and auto title lending bills moving through the Texas House of Representatives.
Over the past several years, unregulated and high-cost, short-term lending has taken a toll on Texas consumers and communities. Without state oversight, Texas consumers do not have basic protections against abusive lending practices or a way to escape the cycle of debt which traps Texans with unlimited fees. The 82nd Legislature has a unique opportunity to address these problems by enacting House Bill (HB) 2592, 2593, and 2594.
We strongly urge the 82nd Legislature to enact meaningful short-term lending reform to create “rules of the road” and provide basic protections for Texans and their communities.
To read the full statement and to discovery exactly what each of the three bills accomplish click here.
CONTACT
Brian Stephens
512.320.0222, ext. 112
512.565.0506 CELL
Monday, April 04, 2011
43 years ago
I was 18-years-old, trying to get my head around leaving home for college. Personally, it was a time of nervous transition, but I thought I was ready.
Late in the day, 43 years ago today, my dear friend and almost brother, Eddie Wilson and I were putting up campaign signs in yards and on street corners promoting a candidate for the local school board election who my father supported.
As was typical, the radio blared from my car, the 1957 Buick I had inherited when the family purchased a new vehicle.
The news flash crackled out of the AM broadcast informing us that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been murdered in Memphis, Tennessee where he had traveled to support a labor action by Memphis sanitation workers who were on strike. I would later hear reports that referenced the now almost eerie speech the famous preacher had delivered the night before in which he spoke of having "been to the mountain" and how he did not fear death or any man.
Growing up in an extremely segregated Dallas, Texas, I possessed inadequate social background or understanding to interpret the significance of what I was hearing on the radio. I remember sitting in the car staring at the dial in disbelief. Another leader of people gunned down.
Since that awful afternoon 43 years ago, I've come to understand just how significant was the life, work and word of Dr. King and just how horrific the loss of his life and leadership was for the nation.
So, today, I'm back in the front seat of my car, hearing terrible news and trying to discern what it might mean. Forty-three years later I know the work continues. I know Dr. King's life mattered. I know that we continue his work. And, I know the same tears that came to my eyes so long ago.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. The fire claimed the lives of 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women in their teens and early twenties died in the terrible fire. Public outcry resulted in numerous labor reforms, building codes and factory inspections.
Read more here.
Read more here.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Man in the yellow raincoat
My friend, Robbie San Juan, shared this experience recently. He gave me permission to use it here. Moving. Insightful. Honest. Real. What's your reaction? Ever made assumptions about the folks you observe?
Prayers for the man in the yellow raincoat
by Robert San Juan on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 11:48am
So I was on the train going to work this morning and I was sitting behind this gentleman in a yellow raincoat. I wouldn’t say he was one of the many homeless that jump on the train to keep warm, but I will say he looked down on his luck.
He looked to be over 60, with glasses, a moustache and a dirty baseball cap. He was filling out a work application for some random burger joint that I had never heard of. In the space that was labeled “Where did you hear about us?” he wrote “craigslist” and dotted the “I” with a hollow circle.
Out of his worn bag he then pulled out 3 worn pieces of notebook paper. Those three pieces of paper were entirely covered in the same tiny handwritten scrawl, the i’s all dotted with circles. There was not an empty space left anywhere on the pages. There was writing cross-ways, up the sides, running horizontally and vertically. It looked like a prop from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”… and my first reaction to those pages was “oh no… I bet he’s crazy”. There were barely any spaces between the words making the handwriting almost illegible. ALMOST illegible.
As we rode the train together, he pulled the pages closer to his face so he could read them better, and in effect pulling it closer to me (And yes I did ashamedly invade his privacy by reading over his shoulder). As I studied the pages along with him I realized that every single “entry” on the page was information about jobs… managerial contacts… phone numbers… addresses… websites… URLs… he was really… REALLY looking for a job… somewhere, he had been lucky enough to gain access to a computer and had hand written all of this information on these three pieces of paper in his search for a job…
I found myself feeling severely ashamed that I had so quickly judged him… I felt angry that this man, that so badly wanted a job and wanted to work, did not have one… and I felt sad that I did not have a job to offer him… I wanted to ask him what sort of job he was looking for, thinking I might be able to help him… but was conflicted in that I would have to admit that I had been snooping over his shoulder, or that I might offend his pride in doing so. Before I could make up my lazy, self centered mind, he was up and off the train before I realized it.
So all I have for him now, this man in the yellow raincoat, is prayer. I’m praying for him. Praying that he was getting off the train for a job interview and will be employed very soon… I also have my ability to request prayers for him on his behalf, from those that are believers in prayer… so please pray for him, and all those like him that are searching so hard to provide for themselves and those that they love.
To the man in the yellow raincoat… thank you. Thank you for putting a little more perspective to my day. And I hope you are blessed with more than what you were ever looking for.
Prayers for the man in the yellow raincoat
by Robert San Juan on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 11:48am
So I was on the train going to work this morning and I was sitting behind this gentleman in a yellow raincoat. I wouldn’t say he was one of the many homeless that jump on the train to keep warm, but I will say he looked down on his luck.
He looked to be over 60, with glasses, a moustache and a dirty baseball cap. He was filling out a work application for some random burger joint that I had never heard of. In the space that was labeled “Where did you hear about us?” he wrote “craigslist” and dotted the “I” with a hollow circle.
Out of his worn bag he then pulled out 3 worn pieces of notebook paper. Those three pieces of paper were entirely covered in the same tiny handwritten scrawl, the i’s all dotted with circles. There was not an empty space left anywhere on the pages. There was writing cross-ways, up the sides, running horizontally and vertically. It looked like a prop from the movie “A Beautiful Mind”… and my first reaction to those pages was “oh no… I bet he’s crazy”. There were barely any spaces between the words making the handwriting almost illegible. ALMOST illegible.
As we rode the train together, he pulled the pages closer to his face so he could read them better, and in effect pulling it closer to me (And yes I did ashamedly invade his privacy by reading over his shoulder). As I studied the pages along with him I realized that every single “entry” on the page was information about jobs… managerial contacts… phone numbers… addresses… websites… URLs… he was really… REALLY looking for a job… somewhere, he had been lucky enough to gain access to a computer and had hand written all of this information on these three pieces of paper in his search for a job…
I found myself feeling severely ashamed that I had so quickly judged him… I felt angry that this man, that so badly wanted a job and wanted to work, did not have one… and I felt sad that I did not have a job to offer him… I wanted to ask him what sort of job he was looking for, thinking I might be able to help him… but was conflicted in that I would have to admit that I had been snooping over his shoulder, or that I might offend his pride in doing so. Before I could make up my lazy, self centered mind, he was up and off the train before I realized it.
So all I have for him now, this man in the yellow raincoat, is prayer. I’m praying for him. Praying that he was getting off the train for a job interview and will be employed very soon… I also have my ability to request prayers for him on his behalf, from those that are believers in prayer… so please pray for him, and all those like him that are searching so hard to provide for themselves and those that they love.
To the man in the yellow raincoat… thank you. Thank you for putting a little more perspective to my day. And I hope you are blessed with more than what you were ever looking for.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Labor and income in Texas
Labor Day report of interest from the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
LABORING FOR LESS
As Texans celebrate Labor Day, new numbers show their personal income loses ground to other states
Recent data on personal income and per capita personal income released by the Bureau of Economic Statistics (BEA) demonstrates the devastating effects of the recession on Americans across the country, especially in Texas where per capita personal income fell from a rank of 26 to 29 in the United States. Despite a 2 percent population increase in Texas between 2008 and 2009, total personal income declined by 1.6 percent to $904.2 billion. Although Texas had a lower unemployment rate (8.2 percent) compared to the national average (9.7 percent), per capita personal income in the state declined faster than the national rate. Twenty-one out of the 25 Texas metro areas (MSA) experienced declines in per capita personal income. Statewide, the decline in per capita personal income has been most pronounced in the larger MSAs during the recession. The data also indicate the role of unemployment insurance (UI) as an income stabilizer. Without the state UI program and federal UI extensions, per capita income would have fallen as much as 4 percent in 2009.
Read more here.
LABORING FOR LESS
As Texans celebrate Labor Day, new numbers show their personal income loses ground to other states
Recent data on personal income and per capita personal income released by the Bureau of Economic Statistics (BEA) demonstrates the devastating effects of the recession on Americans across the country, especially in Texas where per capita personal income fell from a rank of 26 to 29 in the United States. Despite a 2 percent population increase in Texas between 2008 and 2009, total personal income declined by 1.6 percent to $904.2 billion. Although Texas had a lower unemployment rate (8.2 percent) compared to the national average (9.7 percent), per capita personal income in the state declined faster than the national rate. Twenty-one out of the 25 Texas metro areas (MSA) experienced declines in per capita personal income. Statewide, the decline in per capita personal income has been most pronounced in the larger MSAs during the recession. The data also indicate the role of unemployment insurance (UI) as an income stabilizer. Without the state UI program and federal UI extensions, per capita income would have fallen as much as 4 percent in 2009.
Read more here.
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