Milwaukee Churches reach out to unemployed

MILWAUKEE (Catholic Herald) - Arlene McLaurin, a woman with a grown son and daughter, is just figuring out her career path. While most of those laid-off during the recession are searching for something in the field in which they've been trained, McLaurin has spent her life "in service to my children."

"I'm finding myself now at a place where it is," McLaurin explained. "I have been out there briefly in the work world, and I just feel that they're missing the mark. We who are intelligent, we who are educated, we who have a mission and a purpose to carry out. At some point I think we need to take more control of that."

Hoping to follow her instincts and her beliefs, McLaurin, who graduated from Alverno College with a communications major, is looking to work for a nonprofit organization, with a little help from newfound friends.

McLaurin recently joined "Gathering of the Spirit," a group that meets every second and fourth Saturday at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to offer support for people who have been laid-off or fired. It is a need that is becoming more insistent, according to Pat Wisialowski, pastoral associate at St. John Cathedral.

Prayer part of group format

Wisialowski has been running the unemployment support group since it began in February. She and other staff members saw a trend in unemployed parish members, and soon after created the group to give support and opportunities to "seekers" and a place for other members to use their talents and gifts, otherwise known as "helpers."

Because of the response they have received from people interested in attending, each session allows those seeking employment to have one-on-one interaction with those who are familiar with résumé formatting, mock interviews and tracking down job leads, among other helpful talents.

"The other important aspect of (the group) is prayer, to begin with prayer and people kind of like that," Wisialowski said. "I kind of gear the prayers toward seekers, or people going through a rough time. Just giving them some hope and making sure we always have that prayer connection there."

Mark Minor, a Cathedral parishioner for two years, was one of the first to attend the support group when it began. He appreciates how the group is spiritually based and headed by people who have a spiritual outlook on job hunting.

"They give you practical know-how for conducting a successful job hunt, but they also factor in the spiritual dimension, to get help from God," said Minor, who worked as a commercial telebanking representative for U.S. Bank and an account transfer clerk for Dean Witter Reynolds before it merged with Morgan Stanley. "It's so nice to have a higher calling to turn to, especially when things start getting very tough as they have for me," he said.

Enjoy Daily Readings? Pay it Forward

Resource pool began in 2002

Patrick Cronin from Lumen Christi Parish, Mequon, discovered the need for a parish-sponsored unemployment group in May 2002. After gathering a "resource pool" of people to help those who were looking for work, he started getting the word out.

"(The advertisement) shows up in the weekly calendar in the Sunday bulletin, but it's been primarily from word of mouth," Cronin explained. "Over time, we reached out to recruiting firms, but for the most part it's been from word of mouth. We're not limiting to people from a particular area or a profession or whatever else. We're basically saying we can help somebody."

An average of 15-20 people per meeting have attended for the past seven years, a mixture of unemployed and those looking to help. The last two months have shown a tremendous spike in attendance, with the meetings drawing more than 55 people each week.

"Our seventh anniversary was May 1, and we're pushing hard to get our 200th placement," Cronin explained. "So far we have 194 full-time placements, and again what we do is we help out; we can't give people positions. We do everything we can to help them and support them."

Wisconsin's unemployment

rate 8.6 percent

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Wisconsin's unemployment rate reached 8.6 percent in April, three points less than the national average. With thousands losing jobs in mass layoffs, churches are taking notice and parishioners are doing what they can to help.

St. Robert Parish, Shorewood, started its own support group about three months ago when it discovered the alarming unemployment trend during an annual pledge drive.

"No one asked about a support group, but I noticed when it was time for our stewardship pledges, we had seen a marked decrease to pledges and an increase to people saying 'I can't pledge because my hours have been cut,' or because 'I've lost my job,' or that sort of thing," said Elizabeth Cleveland, business manager for the parish. "It got me to thinking that there would be a need for this. It was obvious that members of our community were really having a difficult time. I felt the church really should be doing something about it."

Group welcomes members,

non-members

Cleveland researched ways to get a support group started, but soon discovered that there were people in her parish who were more than willing to help a neighbor in need.

"Well, by sheer coincidence, we have a member of the parish who owns a headhunting business and he stepped forward and volunteered to help with the meetings, to see if he could help people find employment," Cleveland said. "Mostly the meetings consist of the folks from anyone who is interested - I would say half are from the parish, half are not from the parish - and they talk about what type of position they're looking for, they offer each other ideas on places they've heard of or people they know, that sort of thing.

Find the best Christmas presents at Catholic Online Shopping

The headhunter, Willie Coffou, meets with group members to give them tips on getting their résumés noticed and where to look for jobs. Other volunteers are using their unique abilities to help out.

"I also have a volunteer who is not even from the parish but happened to see in the bulletin that I was advertising for the networking group, and she called and offered to be an interview coach, as she has a great deal of experience in hiring and placement," Cleveland explained.

"I was just very lucky," Cleveland added. "I had a small idea and other people stepped forward to help make it happen."

Because the group is relatively new, few have found the full-time jobs they've been seeking. According to Cleveland, that doesn't mean the group is unsuccessful.

"But I would have to say that part of the purpose of the group is to support people who are experiencing unemployment and to let them know that they're not alone," she said. "There are other people going through (this); it's not a comment on them personally, that they don't have a job, because they can see it's affecting all other kinds of people who are equally good, equally competent, and I think there's a certain solace in that."

Parish volunteers on the rise

In addition to networking groups, churches have been helping parishioners by providing volunteer opportunities. Sue Repa, a five-year pastoral assistant at Divine Mercy Parish, South Milwaukee, knows what can happen when someone who has always been busy with work, suddenly finds they have nothing to do.

After parish members took a "time and talent" survey during November 2008, Repa discovered an increase in parishioner participation. More than 300 new volunteers signed up, but nearly 10 percent were unemployed. Repa put an ad in the bulletin for more volunteers and surprisingly, many called to answer the ad.

"We're getting such a diversified group of people doing all kinds of different things," Repa said. "Most of them are coming with a real prayerful attitude, trying to discern what's next in their life, what career path they need to go into.

"They're kind of volunteering just to keep busy, not really seeking anything more than that," she added. Instead of giving money to the church, volunteers are seeking to give their time to the church -- a huge blessing, according to Repa. Whether it's knitting for the Prayer Shawl Ministry, baking bread for the welcoming committee or cleaning the church and grounds, Repa says there are many things to keep people busy.

Supporting FREE Catholic Education with Grass-fed Beef

"What they're finding is that they're working in different environments and working with different people, and talking about employment. They're finding that they're kind of networking and meeting other people, and I have even seen some people get jobs through just talking to different staff members, parishioners." In addition, Repa has had a few local businesses call her to ask for anyone from the church who may be looking for a job.

"They don't want an ad; they want somebody who is associated with the church and who they know is a good, honest worker, and who is reliable. Now I know some people who have those backgrounds!" She laughed.

Networking provides leads

Ralph Illick, a reference librarian from Sussex Library, began his own unemployment group, "The Next Steps Employment Network," to help those looking for work. The meetings, sponsored by Cooperating Churches of Sussex and the Valuing Diversity Task Force, are held every Wednesday from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

"We determined that with the darkening picture in the economics in the area, we wanted to get something more pro-active to help people get back on their feet," Illick explained. "Networking is kind of a cliché but that was the intent. Teaching them how to network, to work together with one another, to share leads, provide support to one another, those kinds of things."

Approximately 15 to 20 people attend the weekly networking meetings, although it has reached at least 30 on some days. While the group is geared as more of a networking group, Illick offers people places they can go for economic and emotional support.

"People really try to connect with one another and offer constructive advice," he said. "That's probably the best part, to keep one another motivated, to offer suggestions and constructive advice. We have seen some success stories come out of this and I'm hoping, too, that some of the folks that we haven't seen in a while have positions."

---

This story was made available to Catholic Online by permission of the Catholic Herald (www.chnonline.org),official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wis.