Baltimore’s Unemployment: Challenges and Successes Lecture

The lecture that I attended on March 24, “Baltimore’s Unemployment: Challenges and Successes,” focused on the stories and the people behind the monthly unemployment statistic numbers. The panelists gave descriptions that gave a face to unemployment, as it was not portrayed as just an abstract concept. The comments made by a few of the panelists related directly to the article from The Baltimore Sun entitled “Serving up Hope: Noted Chef Galen Sampson Offers Help for Troubled Lives by Teaching Culinary Skills.”
The first panelist, Ralph Moore, discussed how he believed that Baltimore and other major East Coast cities have gone from being industrial societies to being service economies and how this has affected the ability of many to support their families. The service economies require that workers have more skill and education, and even those people who are considered employed are not necessarily living above the poverty line. However, many times, these people are invisible to those who are not below the poverty line and are thought of as just a statistic.
The next panelist, Molly Nash, who works for Catholic Charities, discussed her efforts to help the unemployed. She focuses on helping people identify their strengths and build on them. She understands that many of these people are discouraged because of being rejected in the past, so she helps them build self confidence and aids them in job placement.
Jim O’Hara discussed his work with the Powell Recovery Center. When he sees the unemployment rate, he relates that directly to drug or alcohol addiction in many cases. Many of these people have criminal records, and even if these people are able to acquire a job, they are very unlikely to keep it for any amount of time. Even though the unemployment statistics look pessimistic at times, he believes that things are better than they used to be because of organizations such as Catholic Charities and treatment centers where these people can turn for help, or because of deli owners such as those described in the article, “Serving up Hope,” who give these people a second chance.
The final panelist works for the Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development. She believes that the barriers causing unemployment are lack of housing, education, and transportation, yet the biggest cause may be an arrest record. As a recovered drug addict herself, she helps people turn their lives around just like she did.
In the article, “Serving up Hope,” deli owners Galen and Bridget Sampson are trying to make a difference in the community just as the panelists are. Galen trains former drug users and convicts to be professional chefs. The Sampsons hired Tyrone Lewis and Jennifer Brock, former drug users, and gave them a second chance at life. With the support of the Sampsons and the comfort of a steady and rewarding job, Lewis and Brock have been able to turn their lives around and remain clean. The Sampsons recognized that many people who were trying to turn their lives around had “a hard time getting people to take a chance on them.” Therefore, just as panelist Molly Nash suggested, they often felt discouraged and fell into their old habits. The Sampsons take a chance on these people, and as proven by Lewis and Brock, this approach works, as Brock now says she finally feels “important.”
These panelists, as well as the Sampsons, are trying to create an awareness of the unemployed, so these people no longer remain invisible. They are working to give unemployed, former drug addicts and convicts a second chance and a fresh start. There have been many success stories, as these people turn their lives around, and the panelists and the Sampsons are fulfilling Bridget Sampson’s goal of “trying to make the world a better place.”