Connecting the Jobs to the Jobless

Will the non-profit world ever figure out how to stop being fiefdoms? Why must they try and reinvent the wheel when others organizations are doing the same thing? For instance, some incredible internship programs are being run in NYC. Why doesn’t every non-profit that represents underserved teens in NYC partner with the best organization getting these internships so that corporations know there is one go-to spot that will help place the right kids in the right jobs for the summer? Instead, we see multiple non-profits working on their own internship programs. It makes no sense.

Right now, the restaurants that have survived the pandemic are trying to survive without a full staff. I wrote about this last week. Some restaurants can’t open sections due to a shortage of employees. There are plenty of people in underserved communities who would be thrilled to have a job. I know firsthand that many of them would never even conceive walking into certain neighborhoods looking for employment.

There should be a job fair for restaurants and other companies that need employees. Get the communities who live in NYCHA or other areas through the city that have not had access to jobs to attend. There could be a one-day training event to teach some basic rules and then even a follow-up for the people running the job fair finding out how is it going, is there anything we can be of help with, just a support system to integrate a whole new group of people into the workforce. We should be doing this for the incarcerated people who are having their records erased for selling cannabis. We can’t just open the jail door without any help returning to the job force.

As NYC starts to emerge from this pandemic, this is something I have been thinking about. I am frustrated about where to turn and how to get this done, but I know there is a huge divide here. We need to figure out how to connect the jobless to jobs.