What can we do to ensure that job fairs are not needed?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, for a second year, held the Southeast Michigan Employment, Training & Family Resource Expo with its myriad of public and private partners in the region and the State. By all accounts it was a huge success - over 8,000 job seekers, over 100 employers representing more than 6,000 available jobs.

And mind you these job seekers came throughout the day in a down pouring of rain. They came by bus, by car, and by foot. They came in suits, dresses, and jeans. Some had lots of work experience, some had limited work experience, and some had no real work experience.

What a sad reminder of what the community has told us. Among our most significant problems in our region are educational attainment, self-sufficiency, and the advancement of literacy. After seeing the need presented at the Expo who can argue the urgency in addressing these problems. Add to this the other problem the community talked to us about: basic need services. One can only begin to imagine the numerous basic needs so many of these jobseekers and their families must have. Common sense tells us that their children are also in great need.

So maybe we need to ask ourselves:

• What are the policies and practices in our State and in our Country that result in so many people being without jobs and education?
• What role/can we play in building the public will needed to support education, job training, and employment?
• How can we build upon the successes from Wednesday (because clearly they were some)?
• How do we use what we saw Wednesday to help others understand the extent of the need?
• What can we do to ensure that job expos are not needed because people are working?

Hopefully we are mindful of how blessed we are and have an immeasurable and renewed commitment and level of energy towards our mission. It is the right one. Each of us must do all that is humanly possible individually and collectively to improve conditions reflected in the expo.

After all, no matter what your religious belief or lack of, but for the grace of God we could be in the same situation.

Jacqueline Jones
Vice President, Public Policy
United Way for Southeastern Michigan