Before we tell you what we're doing, we first need to tell you why we're doing it. This essay, "A Grill or Something Else," starts to explain the why. It's a story of meat and the heart and judgment and money. Let us know what you think about it.
We'll periodically post links to the longer reflections that we put together. You'll see them collecting on the right side of the blog under "Our Stories." Clicking on those links will take you right to the page with the essay. You can display the essay on a full page, zoom, and scroll as you will.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
The First Post
“It feels like begging for work.”
That’s how David, In Every Story’s first client, described day labor.
Day labor agencies sell “unskilled” labor to contractors in the Charleston area for about $13/hr. These unskilled laborers, many of them homeless, almost always earn minimum wage. That’s minimum wage before transportation and equipment fees are subtracted. What type of work does minimum wage buy these days? Physically grueling and often dangerous, these are jobs which require a considerable amount of skill on the part of these supposedly unskilled laborers.
If day labor’s so bad, why not just get another job?
Put aside the fact that South Carolina’s unemployment rate is fourth worst in the nation. Put aside the fact that some of the guys working day labor have significant barriers to employment. The day labor system itself makes it hard to find a permanent job. When you’re living day to day, you can’t readily afford to miss a day of work even if it’s to interview for a better one. You not only lose a day’s wages; you also lose your spot on your work ticket – a spot you might not be able to reclaim.
The men who work day labor are among society’s most vulnerable, and the system exploits them. Day labor is quicksand for the working homeless.
In Every Story is a different kind of temporary employment agency. We are, living at the Star Gospel Mission ourselves, creating it from the perspective of homeless and near homeless workers: to serve them.
We’re going to use this space to share with you stories of homelessness and day labor. In every story, there’s conflict. And you’ll see it in our clients, in our business, and in ourselves. But in every story, there’s hope, too. And that hope emerges when you start treating people as people and with the love of Christ.
Keep checking in. We’ll be posting.
That’s how David, In Every Story’s first client, described day labor.
Day labor agencies sell “unskilled” labor to contractors in the Charleston area for about $13/hr. These unskilled laborers, many of them homeless, almost always earn minimum wage. That’s minimum wage before transportation and equipment fees are subtracted. What type of work does minimum wage buy these days? Physically grueling and often dangerous, these are jobs which require a considerable amount of skill on the part of these supposedly unskilled laborers.
If day labor’s so bad, why not just get another job?
Put aside the fact that South Carolina’s unemployment rate is fourth worst in the nation. Put aside the fact that some of the guys working day labor have significant barriers to employment. The day labor system itself makes it hard to find a permanent job. When you’re living day to day, you can’t readily afford to miss a day of work even if it’s to interview for a better one. You not only lose a day’s wages; you also lose your spot on your work ticket – a spot you might not be able to reclaim.
The men who work day labor are among society’s most vulnerable, and the system exploits them. Day labor is quicksand for the working homeless.
In Every Story is a different kind of temporary employment agency. We are, living at the Star Gospel Mission ourselves, creating it from the perspective of homeless and near homeless workers: to serve them.
We’re going to use this space to share with you stories of homelessness and day labor. In every story, there’s conflict. And you’ll see it in our clients, in our business, and in ourselves. But in every story, there’s hope, too. And that hope emerges when you start treating people as people and with the love of Christ.
Keep checking in. We’ll be posting.
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