Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Robin Buckson / The Detroit News Bianca Dave, 23, of Detroit was one of 321 Metro Detroiters who filled out a job application Monday at the fair. "I need a job. Bad," she said.

Locals swamp evacuee job fair

By Ron French / The Detroit News

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

DETROIT -- A job fair for victims of Hurricane Katrina was overwhelmed Monday by victims of an economic storm, as unemployed Metro Detroiters searched for work of their own.

The job fair at the main Detroit Public Library was billed as a means for Michigan companies to help evacuees now temporarily living in Metro Detroit. But as hundreds of Detroit residents lined up in the library hallway Monday morning, the event instead became a symbol of the help needed by the city's own residents.

More than 80 percent of the nearly 400 people filling out applications at the Katrina job fair were from Metro Detroit.

"There are a lot of people who need jobs," said Bianca Dave, 23, of Detroit, as she filled out four job applications. "They (Katrina victims) need jobs. But I need a job. Bad."

More than 2,000 evacuees from Louisiana and Mississippi have sought shelter in southeast Michigan since the storm hit four weeks ago. Since then, many of the victims have been inundated with offers of assistance. Some are staying and dining for free at local hotels. Church groups have taken some on shopping trips. Many attended a luncheon with the governor. Thousands of articles of clothing and toiletries have been donated.

While there has been an outpouring of compassion for those made homeless by a hurricane 1,000 miles away, those made homeless locally by bad luck or bad decisions feel they're being ignored.

"If you don't have a dramatic story, you can't get help," said Toisan Hall, 30, of Detroit, who last week went to a Southfield hotel housing Katrina victims to try to get help for herself. "We've been out on the street all summer, sleeping on our church bus, then was sleeping in an abandoned home, but I got kicked out. You got people here who were battling waves. But we were just all alone."

Monday's job fair, co-sponsored by Hartford Memorial Baptist Church and America Works, was the latest in a series of job fairs arranged for the Katrina victims, many of whom were left homeless by the hurricane. But as fliers for the fair were posted across Detroit and distributed at churches Sunday, library officials discovered there were others who needed jobs.

"We're getting hundreds of calls (from Detroit residents) asking if they can come, too," said Conrad Welsing, spokesman for the Detroit Public Library. "The first person who showed up, we asked where he was from, and he said, 'the west side.'"

Michigan has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, at 6.7 percent in August; Detroit's unemployment rate is 14.2 percent. Yet Monday's job fair for hurricane victims was the first job fair hosted by the library. The response opened Welsing's eyes to a problem harder to see on the street corner than on CNN.

When the job fair closed at 2 p.m., 321 area residents had applied for jobs, compared to 77 people from the South.

"If anything, this shows there is a need," Welsing said.

Calvin Hayes Jr. of New Orleans came to the job fair. His employer wants him to move to Baton Rouge as soon as he can find a place for Hayes to live. In the meantime, Hayes wants to find a temporary job because he's going stir-crazy sitting in a hotel room in Southfield.

"Everybody's been very helpful," Hayes said. "They can't be more helpful."

While Hayes was looking for a temporary job to pass the time until he returned south, Wayne Tolliver hoped to find work so he could afford an apartment. Tolliver was recently released from prison and is homeless.

"I can understand (helping) the homeless coming in (to Detroit), but there are a lot of homeless here, too," said Tolliver, 51. "I went to one shelter and they said they were only helping hurricane people right now."

Tolliver is angered by the level of assistance offered to Katrina victims compared to the aid offered to Detroit's needy. "We've been here all along," Tolliver said. "Don't forget the people here."

A steady stream of job applicants filled out applications to work for Fed Ex. "I've only seen one person so far not from Detroit," said Fed Ex's Kathy Smith. "I'm not sure a lot of people from Katrina are ready to put down roots here."

Smith wasn't surprised at the number of Detroiters who showed up at the Katrina job fair. "Jobs are scarce here like everywhere," she said.

Advocates for the poor don't begrudge the goodwill being bestowed on the hurricane victims, but they hope to harness some of that assistance to help Metro Detroit's most needy citizens.

"Where were the people before now?" said Linda McCrimmon, who has assisted evacuees at the former Ramada Inn Southfield, a hotel that has become a clearinghouse for donations. "No disrespect to the people helping now, but where is the generosity the rest of the year? We have a crisis every day with the homeless."

You can reach Ron French at (313) 222-2175 or rfrench@detnews.com.

Robin Buckson / The Detroit News Miguel Pope of Goodwill Industries greets Francetta Blair of Detroit. The outpouring of aid to evacuees angers some needy Metro Detroiters who've tried to get help for years.