I’ve always believed and understood that the key to real and sustained transformation in the men we work with has been and always will be employment. While the tools we provide them are invaluable and can lead to a more successful and productive life without an opportunity at the end of the day the negative forces that so many of these guys struggle against daily will once again overtake them. That is why my number one goal and mission is finding employment opportunities for these guys.
I remember them from the time they first showed up looking bewildered and troubled until the day they graduated looking confident and ready to take on the world. Over the course of the three weeks we build trust and bonds to one another and so it is extremely difficult for me when they call asking if I have located any opportunities for them because they are ready or that they really need it. I cannot express my frustration when I see the guys at our weekly support group or get a call from one of them just “checking in” on the progress of my efforts. After witnessing the transformation that many of them made just to get to this point I am inspired every day to continue to press on.
If we are going to redevelop the urban core of our major cities we need to answer the question of employment opportunity for these men. The difficulty is of course that as a nation we have not done an adequate job of developing a national employment policy and my fear is that the current employment numbers are the new normal or worse that they will continue to increase. You would think that the employment of our people and developing a pathway out of poverty through employment would be a priority; unfortunately instead what we have been given is political dysfunction. My fear is that what the top 5%’s doesn’t understand is that unless there is a large buffer between them and the rest of the country there will be chaos and anarchy which benefits none of us. We cannot and should not become a society that has disposable human beings who are not allowed to contribute to society.
We were all created with value that is inherited from our Creator. We were all created to do great things with talents and abilities. It does not benefit any of us to allow those gifts and talents to go unused. Does anyone believe that we are so overflowing with talent that we can just allow our fellow citizens to not participate in our economy and society? As we become a more aging population and the baby boomers continue to retire at record numbers we are going to need all hands on deck participating in this economy to maintain even some semblance of our current lifestyles.
We at ReEngage believe we have one solution to the challenges that have historically prevented some members of our community from fully participating in our economy. However, the final judgment will be in the employment numbers. Our success will in large part be based on how many people we were able to get employed. If you would like to support or join our efforts, please consider using our staffing services company for your next temporary workers. We provide highly motivated and reliable workers. We provide our customers with flexibility and many value added services.