Open up a newspaper, visit your favorite news Web site or turn to any local news program, and you’ll see that Charlotte and the surrounding area is experiencing joblessness that borders on historic.
According to the latest figures from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission, the jobless rate in the Charlotte metro area is 10.2 percent. Last year, Mecklenburg’s rate of unemployment was 5.2 percent.
Though there are signs of a slow economic turnaround statewide, the Employment Security Commission reports that Mecklenburg County is still hurting. “The five counties receiving the highest amount in unemployment insurance benefits in April were: Mecklenburg, $23.7 million; Wake, $18.5 million; Guilford, $11.6 million; Gaston, $8 million; and Forsyth, $7.5 million,” the commission reports on its Web site.
But for each figure, each announced group of layoffs and bankrupt companies closing their doors, there are real people who are left to pick up the pieces and continue living without a job.
Bills keep coming, families continue to grow and life goes on. How can you survive when there isn’t the prospect of another job around the corner? How do you put food on the table for a family that still has to eat?
For those without jobs, they do whatever it takes to survive and provide. Creative Loafing found a few unemployed workers to share their plight and reveal how they are surviving without a steady paycheck.
Turning to Day Labor
Tony Wright takes care of his three grandchildren, has to keep gas in his truck while he’s searching for a new job and stay current on his insurance.
“I’ve been going out with the day laborers. It’s getting somewhat better; the work is picking up a little bit. It’s better than it was [a few] months ago, I can tell you that. I was first laid off in April 2008. I worked at Omni Systems. Business was down and [the owner] moved his company two counties away. To be right honest about it, he started hiring … immigrants who will work a lot cheaper. I was working for them for three years. I got unemployment for six months. I have three grandchildren that I take care of and if it wasn’t for the ministries and Christian organizations, I really would have been lost. They help with rent, food, clothes and gas. They paid my truck insurance for two months for me.”
But Wright isn’t just living off charity. The HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) certified technician would do any job, despite the fact that he’s qualified to do much more.
“I’ve helped people move furniture. I’ve done oddball paint jobs for people, and I’m HVAC certified. I’ve got skills, but they just ain’t coming in handy right now. I’ve been buying clothes and food, just the basic necessities that my grandkids need. Our relatives will slide us something every now and then to help us out. I’ve learned not to take the future for granted ever again. I will save money, and I will not spend on things at Wal-Mart, at Home Depot. I will go out and do as much as I can for myself. I go out and see where people have put furniture out beside the road and recycle it. Stuff like that. I have to be positive. I pray every day and [stay] positive. That’s the only hope that I have.”
Not the worst thing that’s ever happened
Local college student Abdul-Aziz Davis has been down before. He was homeless at 13, so losing his job wasn’t the worst thing that he’s ever dealt with. Still, his loss of income may affect his education if he can’t come up with money to pay his tuition.
“I stayed with my grandmother in Durham and two years ago, I was working as a waiter. The manager from Circuit City came in, and I served him. He told me that he really liked the way I approached him and that I should come by the store and put in an application. He also said they had promotions for college students as far as scholarships. I never went and he came back a second time and asked why didn’t I come to apply. After that, I applied online, and they called me in for an interview. They first started me off in the warehouse, loading up things. I told them that I wanted to sell because I was always good at communicating. I had taken a year out of college to work. When they put me on sales, I made high numbers and saved money to come back to school.”
Davis was making $12 an hour, working as many hours a week as he could. When he had enough money to pay for college, he returned to Charlotte and enrolled at Johnson C. Smith University. He also transferred to a local Circuit City, not knowing what was about to come around the corner.
“[Several] months ago, they sent everybody a letter saying that Circuit City was going out of business. My first reaction was, I have to look for another job. I pay for school by myself. My mom passed away, and I don’t have a lot of help financially from my family. I was like: ‘If I lose this job, will I be forced to leave school?’ So, I talked to my friend and he was like, ‘Ab, I know you’re not going to want to do this, but you need to go down to the unemployment office.’ I checked out some other jobs, but they were only offering $6.50 and hour, and I didn’t want to go from $12 to $6.50. I applied for unemployment … weeks ago, and I haven’t gotten anything yet. So, I’ve been doing my music. I sell CDs for like $5 a pop. I do poetry events on campus. One of the events I did was before the inauguration of the new [university] president and they paid me $150. I also write papers for students. The last paper I wrote was a 25-page paper and the student paid me $40 for it. I’ve been getting by based on my writing skills. But it’s not even making up to what I was making at Circuit City.
“This experience wasn’t what taught me a lesson, though. I lost my mom at a young age, and I was homeless. I’m glad I went through that then — because if somebody at my age now when through that, they wouldn’t know how to survive. This phase of me being laid off is nothing compared to what I went through at 13.”
A new baby and a pink slip
Kendrick, a laid-off security worker who declined to give his last name, found himself unemployed in November right before the holidays. His live-in girlfriend, who has two children from a previous relationship, was on unpaid maternity leave from her job. Christmas was not shaping up to be a merry one for the children in their lives, including Kendrick’s daughter.
“I was working for Guardian Home Security. I was there for three years. I was laid off in November. Business slowed with housing developments not being so big, so they couldn’t afford to keep everybody. It took unemployment three months to go through, so we had to budget a lot with the money we had saved up. We sold some things, had to pawn some stuff. Whenever we came across some money, we got them one major Christmas gift. We did go to Toys for Tots and they gave us some toys for Christmas. We weren’t able to give them everything that they wanted.”
Kendrick and his now fiancée made sacrifices as well, which included cutting out their trips to the movies and going out to dinner.
“I stay home every day. We didn’t go out and do our own thing: we just stayed home. Some days it made us closer, and some days it got on your nerves. Once the unemployment kicked in, we still had to stick to our budget because the bills had piled up. We have to make sure everything is paid, so we’re holding back from some of the other stuff that we want to get. I’ve learned that working for someone else isn’t always the best plan, and it’s best to have a backup plan.”
Kendrick’s backup plan is becoming a tattoo artist. He’s working, but as an unpaid apprentice.
“You have to have your own trade and make your own money because working for someone else is a gamble. I’m trying to make [tattooing] full-time. I have more time to work on tattooing and develop my skills. But at the same time, after I got laid off, everything went up. Gas went up, and all of the bills went up. With so many people being laid off, there are no jobs. It’s so much harder to find a job. But since I’m working on a new career, I’m a little more relaxed now. Before, I was so uptight and scared because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I know this is going to bring in money, I just have to work on it.”
And with the new baby, Kendrick has new motivation to work.
“I have to make sure my daughter has some place to live. She’s going to have what she needs so that she can be healthy. If not, then she’s going to have to go back to the hospital and that’s more bills.”
Had surgery, lost my job
Dina, who declined to give her last name, has been unemployed for several months. She worked for a local dry cleaner, and when she discovered that she needed surgery, it was during a time when the owner was laying off workers.
“I was working at [a dry cleaner]. He was cutting our hours and laying off before the surgery. I really couldn’t live on what I was making so I had to move from where I was living and I moved in with my aunt. It wasn’t that good because we don’t get along that well. With the living arrangements, sometimes you feel like the family doesn’t want you there. My aunt likes to be by herself. My two kids stay there as well.
After I got out of the hospital, I called my boss, and he told me that he had hired somebody else. That’s when I applied for unemployment. I did it over the telephone, and two weeks later, I got the benefits. I get an EBT card and it seems like things are harder now because of this little bit of income you get. They base the amount on your income.
I’ve had to change everything. We had to change the food habits. I’ve been to Loaves and Fishes. But to get it, you have to go through the Department of Social Services. There are a lot of steps you have to take to get it because they want to know your life history. They want you to run back and forth and it’s real tiring. You have to go down there and sit maybe four or five hours and it takes away from a job search.
When you come to the unemployment office, you have to sit here for hours and wait for a computer. It’s very frustrating, but I just deal with it. It’s as if you have no choice. The only thing you can do is just deal with it. But right now, my aunt is letting me stay there with her for free. So, that’s really good for me.”
Gina’s two children, ages 16 and 18, are also trying to help out. Her 18-year-old is searching for a job.
“The reason why the economy is the way it is and the reason we’ve lost so many jobs is because the companies are moving overseas. That’s just my personal opinion. But I’m hopeful that I will find a job. If I have to go to Captain D’s or McDonald’s or anywhere, I will find a job.”
This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2009.
