Central Outreach & Advocacy Center

employment

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People Above Process

by Michael Gable

Michael graciously served as our interim Main Frame Coordinator while Ahren Cassinari-Foster was on parental leave.  We are so grateful for all the different ways he’s served at the OAC and hope he’ll still remain connected to us even though his required internship is completed.

My introduction to Central Outreach and Advocacy Center was as a Clinical Pastoral Education student, a curriculum designed to help me experience and process the trauma of constantly working with people in crisis. So, in addition to “volunteering” 3 days a week, I also attended classes where we explored how the stories of the people who came into the OAC affected me.  The one-word answer is: “profoundly.”

I spent time with people whom most consider as just a statistic: “Atlanta’s homeless population.” While there were a few who fed into the trope of what society tells us to expect of a person experiencing homelessness, the stories of most people defied simple stereotype. The stories I encountered were a kaleidoscope of experiences. While the people I helped had a variety of needs, most simply wanted to be officially recognized as a person by our government and by other people.
As my time wore on, I worked to understand not just the job in front of me, but also how the OAC functioned as a whole. I was introduced to how it seeks to partner with other organizations to connect people with services. I witnessed the work of engaging lawmakers to make structural changes to a system with plenty of opportunity for improvement. Finally, I landed in our Main Frame program, a curriculum designed to engage people over the course of weeks, rather than minutes, helping them to learn a few basic steps to breaking into the ever-changing job market.
When you spend time with people and really listen to their stories, it gradually gets harder to dismiss them. Throughout the Main Frame class, I found myself surrounded by good people who had gotten left out of the job market for a variety of reasons.  Together, we covered skills such as career planning, resume building, job searching, and interviewing. We discussed budgeting, basic on-the-job skills, motivation, and work-life balance. We critiqued, held each other accountable, and celebrated as businesses began to respond to job applications.

Central Outreach and Advocacy Center began as just a placement, a spot where I would do my time and get my seminary credit.  But with the help of Ahren, April, Brenna, and Kimberly, I began to recognize how much more it was–a place where we come to recognize the Image of God in one another as we work to put people above process.

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Housing Mr. M

by Ahren Cassinari-Foster

I first met Mr. M in the lobby of the OAC.  I was rushing off to do something else when he flagged me down and asked me about our job readiness program.  I assumed he was another guest wanting an answer to a question that he should be asking at the front desk-but I was very wrong!  He seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him but I had no idea that he would prove himself to be one of the most successful and focused job readiness students I have ever worked with.

When Mr. M first came to us, he was staying in a shelter, working on his addiction recovery, and just beginning to piece his life back together after some trying times.  After a few weeks of job readiness training, Mr. M found a job. Soon thereafter, he found a second job!

Over the next few months, Mr. M occasionally came in to the OAC just to say hi or to receive services.  After one of those visits we found out that we had been given access to a significant amount of money earmarked for housing for Main Frame students through the United Way.  Mr. M and I met and began to talk about the possibility of assisting him with rent.   

Soon enough, Mr. M had found a room to rent, had a contract drawn up, and was able to move in and pay the first month of rent (with a little help from the OAC and the United Way).  Since then, Mr. Murphy has paid the second month of rent by himself and is working with us on budgeting and saving strategies to help set him up for success over the long run.

It has been a pleasure to work with someone so focused on achieving self-sufficiency.  Often when we work with guests, we don’t see the success they achieve after they leave us.  Especially when we help people with supportive services, we don’t know if they are able to get housing and employment with the identification we help them obtain.  It has been really rewarding to see Mr. M progress from someone struggling with addiction and living on the street to someone who has two stable jobs and is able to pay his own rent.  We are incredibly proud of what Mr. M has accomplished and his story gives us hope.

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6 Reasons People Experiencing Homelessness Can’t Find Jobs

by Ahren Cassinari-Foster

There are many reasons both individual and systemic why our guests struggle to find jobs, but here are six of the biggest reasons why many of our guests have a difficult time finding satisfying, long-term employment.  This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it opens a window into the reality our guests live with on a day-to-day basis.

1. Incarceration history.  Whatever the offense, having a recent criminal charge is a huge disadvantage when searching for employment.  Our guests are often faced with a very difficult choice: hide the offense and hope it does not come up in the background check (knowing you will be fired if the offense is discovered) or disclose the offense and hope for an understanding interviewer/HR department.

2. Gaps in employment.  For a wide variety of reasons, many of our guests have significant gaps in their work history.  These gaps are quite challenging to explain in an interview, complicate the process of resume –writing, and sometimes raise real concerns on the part of hiring managers.

3. Storage.  In my experience, not many people have thought about how a lack of proper storage can cost someone a job.  If a guest is carrying all of her worldly goods around in a pack, what is she supposed to do when it comes time to interview?   Does she leave the pack in a park?  With a friend?  Carry the pack to the interview and hope for the best?

4. Lack of educational opportunities.  Many of our guests have a fairly limited educational background and have not had ready access to the education and training that opens doors to higher-paying, stable jobs.   The lack of stability in both living situation and income that many of our guests live with makes the idea of completing a two semester course in arc welding at a local tech school a seemingly impossible dream.

5. Access to hygiene items and interview clothing.  Living outside, or in a shelter that is not a large upgrade over the street, affords people few opportunities to groom themselves on a regular basis.  Most people do not feel confident approaching a job search when they are unable to bathe on a regular basis and have no access to interview clothing.

6. Limited access to computers.  Many people in today’s world can take for granted 24/7 access to the technology they need to communicate, work, connect with friends, and do so many other things .  The vast majority of our guests do not have anything close to that level of access to computers, smart phones, or tablets.  They can access the internet on a restricted basis only when the local library has a free computer or one of the few computers in their shelter or transitional housing facility is available for use.

Despite these challenges, many of our guests do find jobs!  I am continuously challenged and inspired by folks who, despite a long list of setbacks and roadblocks, find a way to make their job search work through their determination and focus.

To learn more about our Main Frame Job Readiness program and the ways it helps remove these barriers, click here.