From: William Gerhard
Scipio
The president’s Big Beautiful Bill has created controversy in every community across the country. I’m not here to advocate pros or cons for the bill. I support the goals of the president’s programs though I strongly oppose his approach. Whether we agree or not we all must live with the outcome of the Big Bill.
One of the lines in the bill is that where able body recipients of assistance should seek employment. On its own, the requirement seems reasonable. The fact is that there is no one reason that may have brought individuals with their household to seek assistance. So how do we support these households? We cannot simply ignore these families. We don’t need to add to the ranks of the homeless in our communities. How do we help and prevent additional homelessness and protect the most vulnerable in our communities?
All the counties and major towns and cities in south central Indiana have a diverse assortment of employers. There are signs located at many places seeking employees saying ‘we are hiring’. The question is why the people are receiving assistance and not lined up at the location where they are hiring. There may be any untold number of reasons to answer the question. A individual may have records from errors in their youth, or they may have physical, mental or emotional issues, or lack the education needed that make them a less desirable employee.
If you may have been rejected for some reason several times, you eventually just stop looking.
If we wish to break this cycle, our communities must work with the many employers whether they are currently seeking new hires or not. We need the church leaders to approach management of businesses to see if they would consider hiring the individuals with some of these issues.
Ask employers is there possibly some changes they might make so some previously rejected people may be hired. They could potentially find new loyal employees appreciative of their employment. The community might consider a Special Needs Employment Job Fair, a job fair that could help the individuals in need of a job and business fill labor needs, to solve some issues before they become a problem.
