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The victims of Hurricane Katrina were adjusting to their new shelter
environment at the Arizona Coliseum, and seven employment professionals
from Phoenix Workforce Connection were on scene volunteering their time
and talents to assist them.
“The willingness of Phoenix Workforce Connection staff to step
forward and join a community effort to assist the evacuees from the
Hurricane Katrina ravaged gulf coast did not surprise me,” Stan
Flowers, One Stop Coordinator, said. “In fact, staff was enroute
to the coliseum within 15 minutes of my initial phone call for help
the day after Labor Day.
“More than 550 individuals were transported to Phoenix to begin
new lives, wait for communication from loved ones, connect with relatives
for permanent housing, or seek temporary living situations after having
lost everything they owned,” he said.
Flowers said that after all was said and done, the PWC team, along
with one-stop partners from the state and Maricopa County, helped 107
individuals get jobs, provided $4,700 in work clothes and tools, and
spent more than 218 hours helping evacuees find housing, transportation,
medical assistance, cash assistance and missing family members, not
just during the day but in the evenings and on weekends.
“We need to take the lessons learned through this emergency situation
and apply them to making our One-Stop Centers even more seamless in
the way services are delivered,” he added.
Connie Garcia, Cari Brauer, Sam Brown, Melanie Smith, Kristina Blea,
Jesse Garcia and Hugo Cuevas rapidly came to the aid of the evacuees
as they navigated through the challenges of securing employment in a
new and unfamiliar setting.
The PWC career team maneuvered between the State Fairgrounds, the Arizona
Coliseum and throughout the city of Phoenix during the week of Sept.
12 –18, as they addressed the immediate and individual needs of
a displaced population desperate to find work.
The volunteers came away from the experience with a sense of gratification
and some heartwarming stories to share. The majority of the career advisors
assisted customers with new trades with vouchers for tools, clothing
and work boots and drove them to Sears at Desert Sky Mall where they
were given additional discounts on their purchases.
Connie Garcia, career advisor, met with an evacuee named Richard, who
wanted to go to work the day that he arrived at the coliseum from New
Orleans. Gail Lafnear, a Job Services supervisor, referred Connie to
assist Richard.
“Richard is an experienced carpenter with more than 40-years
of practice in his field,” said Garcia. He told me, “I was
born to do what I do; I can take a house from the drawing stage to the
ridge cap.”
Garcia also said that he lost all of his work tools in the hurricane,
so she registered Richard in the city of Phoenix WIA program and he
was able to get all of the supplies he needed to start over.
Garcia said that Richard believes that the hand of God brought him
to Phoenix. “He is very thankful for all of the assistance he
received from the city of Phoenix and DES Job Services.”
Career Advisor Cari Brauer said that she is not sure who profited more
– the evacuees receiving the assistance or her - having been given
the opportunity to assist them.
“I came away with such a sense of pride – not only for
the city of Phoenix, but for so many of the other agencies that were
there,” she said.
Brauer said that when one agency wasn’t able to do something
at a given time, another agency would jump in to help. She also said
that it was a privilege for her to meet some of the brave individuals
that were enduring traumatic circumstances.
“I stayed one evening and was able to assist a mother who had
two of her five children with her,” Brauer said. “Her older
boys had gone to another shelter.”
“We found them, all three, on a list and found the phone number
for the shelter in Houston where they were housed. We also posted names
on various lists for people who didn’t know how to use computers
who were looking for friends and relatives.”
Brauer also had a story about a young woman separated from her mother
and her younger sister. The woman had been transported to Phoenix with
her elderly grandmother.
“After a few calls we found her mother at a shelter in Dallas,
and the young woman was able to speak with her mom, who opted to stay
in Texas. Since the young woman didn’t want to leave her grandmother
alone here, her sister was transported to Phoenix to join them,”
Brauer said.
Brauer said that the same young woman was hired to work at the LSU
vs. ASU game, but the Salvation Army had run out of tennis shoes. “We
were able to confiscate a pair for her just in time to put her on the
bus for the game.”
“We were privileged to assist a number of individuals with tools,
job leads, directions, transportation and data entry,” Brauer
said. “But most of all we listened and learned about what bravery
is -- in the truest sense of the word.”
Sam Brown, career advisor, provided job search information, assisted
DES with registrations and provided information and direction for the
services provided at the coliseum.
“By the time I arrived at the coliseum, most of the initial search
for family members and crisis response had been addressed and the residents
were transitioning out of the coliseum. But one person named Nelda was
brought to my station for assistance because she had asked about city
employment opportunities because she was a city of New Orleans employee
who had a 27-year employment history there,” said Brown.
“Nelda followed up by participating in seminars at PWC-N and
has now been enrolled into WIA to assist her in obtaining and updating
the computer skills needed for the customer to compete in the job market,”
added Brown.
“My observation of the coliseum services is that an outstanding
job was done setting up and coordinating all of the services that were
provided,” Brown said. “Nelda told me that she has been
very impressed with the outpouring of caring service and the ‘welcoming
nature’ of the Phoenix residents.”
Career Advisor Melanie Smith said that she was very humbled and proud
to be able to assist the evacuees and to represent the city of Phoenix.
“I assisted customers in registering with DES Job Services/VOS
as well as giving out many resources and answering questions that the
folks had,” Smith said. “In the course of the day that I
was there, two different men were offered positions through Job Services-one
as a carpenter, the other as an auto mechanic.”
She added that the men were full of hope and enthusiasm as they walked
through the isles at Sears selecting their tools saying that it was
‘a sight to see.’
“Both of the men were very thankful and appreciative to receive
the support service voucher assistance from the WIA/PWC program,”
said Smith. “They both had families, and thanks to PWC assistance,
the men are now able to take care of their families independently.
“It warmed my heart… I am proud to represent the city of
Phoenix in assisting our community to make it a better place.”
Jesse Garcia, employment specialist, was instrumental in the set-up
and coordination of the job fair where local businesses produced employment
opportunities for those individuals who had lost their livelihoods.
“It was a very rewarding experience to assist the hurricane evacuees,”
Garcia said. “I was proud to be a part of a division within a
true One Stop system with all of the state and local agencies participating.”
Hugo Cuevas, career advisor, said, “I thought that it was wonderful
– just great being able to help people who were in so much need.
It was very rewarding.”
Hugo helped a family by taking them to Sears where they were able to
get the basic tools that they needed to start their own business.
“It’s hard to start over when you lose everything that
you have,” Cuevas said. “I am so glad that the Phoenix Workforce
Connection was able to help people, even in small ways, to start their
lives over after going through a terrible experience.”
Kristina Blea also assisted at the Arizona Coliseum with individuals
who were hired as carpenters, plumbers and mechanics. She said that
she was able to assist them with the tools and work boots needed for
their new jobs.
Blea said that as she traveled to Sears at Desert Sky Mall, she had
the opportunity to hear various survival stories from evacuees. She
said that the individuals continually expressed gratitude for the assistance
they received from the city of Phoenix. She said that many of the evacuees
told her that they had owned their own businesses in New Orleans and
were now looking forward to establishing their businesses in Phoenix.
Blea said that she had the chance to meet a “wonderful young
lady” seeking a medical career and that the young woman had several
years of experience as a nurses’ assistant in New Orleans and
wanted to pursue an LPN in Arizona. Blea researched the Arizona Board
of Nursing website and provided information to her on various nursing
programs.
The next day, the woman called Blea, saying that a contact from the
AZ Board of Nursing said that they would fund any nursing program that
she wanted to pursue.
“She was so grateful and excited that she hugged me and said
that I was a part of her many blessings,” said Blea. “I
was overcome with so many emotions that I couldn’t help but cry
for joy.”
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