What do "poor people" really need? <Link to Youtube>
Sunday was the Annual Mission Appeal at our parish. This year we had a missionary who worked in one of the poorer parts of Flint, Michigan. Not glamorous. She spoke about the evolution of their ministry.
Employment Skills Program <Link to Youtube>
I took the liberty of skipping ahead to where Sister Carol talked about their Employment Skills Program. Many of the people they serve have no employed people in their family...including parents, aunts and uncles or grandparents. There are many gaps between the expectations of potential employers and the untrained people's expectations.
Those expectations are information that most of us painlessly absorbed while we were very young because we were immersed in a culture of working-people.
One of the biggest gaps involves how job performance feedback is received. The boss's job is to give the employee guidance on how to properly do the job. The unskilled/naive employee perceives that as "getting fired" and walks off the job. Other reactions include over-correction/malicious compliance (like grinding through the paint all the way to the primer after being told that they needed to put more effort on polishing the paint) or simply going catatonic (locking-up).
The program was originally first offered to women and it was packaged as on-the-job training. The women work in an enterprise that sews clothing and the necessary employment skills are cultivated in that time. Then they graduate to better paying jobs which opens up a slot for another woman.
After the program was piloted and successful, men told the mission "We need those skills, too!" After muddling around a little bit, landscaping-and-lawncare was chosen as the test bed for training.
They recently added a third enterprise, a hoop house to grow vegetables.
The missionary's requests were:
- Pray for us. Being a missionary is not an easy job and we need God's help, so pray for us.
- If you have some money that you can spare, we would appreciate some financial support
- If you are in the area and are curious about our work, we invite you to visit us. See for yourself what your prayers and dollars are doing.
St Luke N.E.W. Life Center contact info
Personal experience
If you ever hired somebody to mow your lawn you might have had an experience like this...
"Hey, Dalton. What did you do to my mower?"
"Oh, hey Joe. The mower kept clogging up so I took all of the safety chutes and flaps off of it. Runs like a champ, now."
"Dalton, why is it still running. Your hands aren't on the dead-man's switch."
"Oh, you like that? Yeah, I took some rope and tied it down. That way I don't have to restart it every time I have to pick up a piece of trash."
Joe, controlling his temper "So Dalton, what did you do with all of the plastic pieces-parts?"
"I threw them into the weeds. Don't worry. I chucked them way back where nobody will ever see them."
Looking toward the tall weeds Dalton pointed at..."Some of a biscuit!!! You mowed down my daylilies and iris!"
So I have a glimmer of what Sister Carol was talking about when she was talking about all of those expectations that employers expect but are not obvious to people who grew up in multi-generational, welfare families.
And if all you do is hire somebody and work with them so they can see feedback for what it is, then you will be "teaching somebody to fish".
Bonus Link
A recent essay over at Bayou Renaissance Man regarding "aid".
ERJ, there is always a learning curve at any new job, let alone the first new employment. It is difficult enough if you have the basic life skills to exist in society; much more difficult for sure if you have neither the skills nor the examples.
ReplyDeleteAt our previous church, one of the ministries they worked with was a catering company that employed former prisoners. The purpose was to help them get general work skills.
Having had the opportunity to interact with folks who are 3rd-4th generation welfare recipients, I will tell you its an uphill battle. A percentage have an entitlement attitude that precludes even considering employment. For many there are no employable life skills. Anecdotally, I found with the foster kids I worked with, actual completion of high school was a big indicator of possibility of success. Actual completion, not passing a GED. If you actually get up every morning, attend to your hygiene, and show up on time, you are half the way there. Be willing to learn and accept criticism and correction and you are the rest of the way there. In the “system” foster care kids were typically 1-2 years behind academically. The tendency was to focus on GED prep then send them off to college if possible. I unsuccessfully argued that the life-skills rather than the academic skills are the necessary for success in school and life. The military has known for well over a half century that an enlistee not having a high school diploma was 3 or 4 times more likely to FAIL to complete their enlistment. You can be dumber than a bag of hammers but show up on time every day with a good attitude and somebody will appreciate you.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've observed in people who have never worked a formal job is an inability to consistently be at work on time, and in some people a lack of understanding of the need to be at work with any regularity.
ReplyDeleteThose are basic skills we all need, even if we don't work a formal job.
Jonathan
In my cynical old age, I'm coming around to the (((Rulers))) opinion about "useless eaters".
ReplyDeleteIn my 30 years of running a tree service, I tried mentoring some marginal folks, that I thought could make it. I even put a couple through a local, good, drug rehab. In hindsight, I guess it was about life lessons for ME.
If I were starting over, knowing what I know now, I'd be much more ruthless, not that I ever was, I was much too patient, forgiving.
But then, I'm kind of retarded, so, I've got that going for me.
In my business I tried the same. I've been challenged to fistfights, I've had tools stolen, even an entire job box loaded up and stolen. An employee vandalized a worksite after I wouldn't co-sign for a new car. He's been employed only for one week. I've picked up employees at their home and delivered them back at the end of the day. I had patiently tried to teach even basic carpentry. Otherwise 'normal' appearing folks who could speak intelligently but needed a hand, the majority remained nothing but cheats and liars looking only for an angle and the next payday.
DeleteA friend had a truck and single wide stolen. The guy used his first week wages to hire a mover! Trying to help can be costly.
Government should never had gotten into charity. I know the reasons why, but look what has flourished.
I am not saying this to be snarky or cute, but the fact that those little, old ladies are willing to deal with that kind of push-back day-after-day, week-after-week impresses me. They have a lot of grit.
DeleteThe slaves were led out of Goshen. It was generations before they began thinking as a free people.
ReplyDeleteThe poor are, in the main, of a poor spirit. Especially in a cohesive community, which acts to retard the achiever, any effort will necessarily involve decades of one-on-one teaching, aka invasive by some.
Isolation from those who encourage the victimhood of poverty is key. The best for that role will come from within. The mother of Ben Carson, as example.
I had approached a local group that employs "mentally challenged" folk to come and shovel my walk when I was away working. It wasn't worth the effort, as the guys (plural) would not show up after a snow fall and it might be 3 days later when he did. We have to have the walks cleared with in 24 hrs after the last of the snowfall. He didn't care if he showed up or not. I ended up doing anyway so I called the org and told them "don't come back".
ReplyDelete