Lulu Bland recently got laid off from her factory job. On another recession Wednesday, she went shopping for a new job — and a new career — at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Across town, John L., an unemployed restaurant worker, was shopping for $2 shirts and pants.
They were far from alone.
Wednesday afternoon Bland attended a job fair organized by Yale-New Haven Hospital and the city, where more than 1,000 people thronged through the doors of the New Haven Field House next to Hillhouse High School.
John L. (at left in photo) was one of more than 1,300 people who patronize the Salvation Army Store on Crown Street every week — especially on Wednesdays, when a weekly sale, half price off already marked-down goods, has become a recession-era hit.
That’s what the Great Recession looked like Wednesday in New Haven, as people flocked to the bargains and the jobs of the future.
Bland and her nephew Tevin Williams sought information about becoming patient transporters at Yale-new Haven, perhaps at its Smilow Cancer Hospital, which opens next week.
There was a table, one of dozens from the hospital’s departments, full of pertinent information and staffers to explain educational and character requirements.
Bland said she wants to work with people after 26 years operating machinery, most recently in Wallingford, as factory jobs have disappeared.
Williams is not quite sure whether to go into food services, patient care, or the U.S. Army. He just graduated from Wilbur Cross High School.
They both had already applied online to Yale-New Haven for the patient transporter positions more than six months ago. So far, no word.
That was part of the point of the job fair, according to Nancy Collins, the hospital’s director of recruitment (pictured with Paul Patton, the vice president for human resources) — to explain the process, not to offer jobs on the spot.
“People are not just filling out a piece of paper [here], but are interacting with our staff,” she said.
The city’s economic development chief Kelly Murphy echoed the point, that the fair was as much about job readiness and hospital-career planning as specific applications.
It was also about “how job information flows from the hospital to the community, and how to get people ready for the jobs,” she said.
Which was why, in addition to the hospital departments, tables were set up to help people with preparatory steps like G.E.D.s.
Murphy said the fair was part of the ongoing fulfillment of a development agreement struck among the hospital, the city, and the community, eager for local people to benefit from new jobs created by the new cancer center. Click here for a previous story.
Bland said that she and her nephew were pleased with the fair. A real live person had taken down their names and promised to check them against the computer list of those not called back; and then to call them back.
She and Williams both are keeping body and soul together working as “casuals,” rather than full-time staffers, for the Yale dining halls and kitchens. That means they’re on call for between three and 16 hours per week. They clearly were looking for something more regular.
“His mother got us the jobs at Yale,” Bland said. She already works there.
Bland and her nephew called Wednesday’s fair “valuable.” Still, she added, “You need to know somebody.”
And as a result of the fair, was Williams clearer on his career direction: “I’ll start with whoever calls first,” said the young man.
Half Off Everything But the White Ticketed Items
Who’s shopping along with John L. at the Salvation Army store on Crown during the recession?
The answer is surprising. According to the store manager Paul (who said Salvation Army policy is not to give last names or allow staff to be photographed), 1,300 people a week patronize the store. Oddly, that’s 44 percent off from a year ago.
Of the four Salvation Army stores in New Haven, the only one with a customer increase is the super store up on Dixwell, said the manager. He attributed that to parking availability.
But that downward trend on Crown Street does a 180 on Wednesdays, during the half-price storewide sale. The place was hopping Wednesday, as usual.
The customers included not only regulars but, according to an employee named Cindy, Yale students, professors, as well as people on a tight budget like John L., and the homeless.
About 10 percent of customers are Yale affiliated according to the manager.
“If I was working full time, I’d continue to shop here, ‘cause a good deal’s a good deal,” John L. said.
He rejected this pair of chinos because, as a white-ticketed item (that is, not discounted by half), they would cost eight bucks. With a budget this week of $25 to 30 for clothes, it was too much.
What was not counterintuitive, according to the manger, was the “shrinkage” rate. That is the term he used for shoplifting. It’s gone up in the last year from 9 to 25 percent.
Paul cited the statistic without rancor. He said helping the homeless was a large part of the satisfaction he’s derived from the relatively low paying, not-for-profit job he’s had for the past 15 years.
“I catch them in the winter time [hiding stuff] in the big coats.” But if it’s a hospital patient, just out, or the homeless, I tell him, ‘Aw, take something.’”
What did Lulu Bland and her nephew think of the experience they had? “It’s valuable,” she said, but she still felt, “You need to know somebody.”
And as a result of the fair, was Williams clearer on his career direction: patient transportation at the hospital, continue to advance in food services, or join the army? “I’ll start with whoever calls first,” said the young man.