Resource center provides options for job-seekers

Rose McKinney, a Ruffin resident, has been unemployed since February 2009. Like many county residents, she has been actively seeking employment for more than a year and depends on unemployment benefits for income. She said she wonders what will happen in the next six weeks when her benefits are scheduled to end.

“I’ve been working since I was 16 with a worker’s permit and I’m not ready to stay at home,” she said. “I was hoping to keep my job until I could retire, but it didn’t work out that way. I don’t know what people will do when their unemployment checks run out. I wish I knew an answer.”

McKinney is currently taking classes through the Goodwill Resource Center in Reidsville and the Employment Security Commission. She has utilized their free programs in money management, introduction to computer and keyboarding and employability skills.

Retail sales from Goodwill donations go to fund community resources like the center in Reidsville. The public can go and take advantage of the computer lab, fax machine and any other services needed to find a job. Dorothy Dunlap, receptionist for the Reidsville Resource Center, said the facility has already had more than 2,200 new individuals take advantage of its services this year. This number doesn’t include those already registered who came back.

“We have been extremely busy in here lately, and unfortunately that means more people are out of work,” Dunlap said. “We work with many partner agencies in the area to make sure people get what they need to look for a job. Our staff tries to make everything as friendly as possible because these people just want to better themselves and get a decent job. Most of the people we work with are unemployed.”

Many county residents find themselves going back to school after having a long career in a different field. Jennifer Cox, a coordinator for the Educational Opportunity Center, works with people in the county who need help going back to school.

“When people think of Goodwill they think of retail, but there’s so much more that happens here,” she said. “We help with those going to get their GED’s, we help fill out FAFSA forms and we also work with low-income high school seniors.”

Cox said for some it can be an overwhelming process to go back to school. With all the paperwork involved, her organization is there to help and make the transition easier.

“I do find that almost everyone we help who is unemployed would want to get a full-time job, but some feel like they have no other options,” Cox said. “I think a lot of people are in their houses going stir-crazy and want to get out and be productive.”

She said most people feel encouraged once they are enrolled and it gives them a new sense of purpose in the community. 

Other residents who were displaced by major layoffs in the county are learning new skills or have time for old ones. Cynthia Davis is a seamstress who was recently laid off from the Mohawk Rug Mill Karastan plant in Eden. She worked there for almost 14 years.

“I have a counselor at the resource center where I’m getting help to go back to school,” she said. “I’ve taken many of their classes, and I use the computers here to do my job searches. They really help us here a lot.”

Davis runs a small home business to help support her family. Both she and her husband were laid off around the same time. She said she hopes to get her degree in business administration or small business management. She already holds a degree in fashion design and merchandising.

Gordon Allen, a local manager for the Employment Security Commission, said people need to stay focused in their job search so they will be ready when jobs come back to the area.

“I really want to encourage people to stay connected and engaged in the job market and the job search somehow,” he said. “It’s important for them not to feel discouraged and think it’s their fault.”

In 2009, Allen said, more than $30 million in unemployment benefits were paid out just for county residents. He said there has been some positive growth in the local job market, but available jobs are extremely competitive.

“I equate this situation to priming the pump at the old farmhouses,” said Allen.

“You go out to the wells and you keep pushing and keep pumping and you think the water’s never going to come, but you have to keep priming it and sooner or later the water will come. They just have to keep at it.”