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Carrie · 10-08-2002, 08:52 AM

Only so much you can do, eh? Like what?

How about this: Buy yourself a nice car that doesn't cost an arm and a leg that's gonna last you for the next 2 years. We're gonna go on the theory here of the $150k car that you had "for the summer". So let's say you get yourself a nice new Jag for $30k or so instead, and you've got the rest of that $150k (about $120k now) to "do something".

Sit your ass down and spend a day calling around to the local temporary workforce places (like Manpower) and find out what they need. Data entry people? People trained in MS Word and Excel? People who just know how to type? Ask what their finder's fee is.
Last I checked, it was about $150 (in FL anyway) to file papers for a non-profit corp.

Look around a bit, and lease out an empty building. It doesn't have to be in the slums - you'll spend extra money getting security for the place - and it doesn't have to be in a gated industrial park. Something as simple as a vacant firehouse in a suburb will do.
Get some computers - whatever's cheaper, buying them straight from the manufacturer or building them yourself. Let's say about 6 to start.
Now you've spent about $5k on the deposit for the building and the computers, and let's say another $30k on the car, so you've got another $115k to go. Let's plop $15k of it into an account to pay for the utilities and lease for a while. Call Microsoft and tell them you're opening a training center for the underpriveleged and unemployed, and they'll send you full software for all 6 of those computers - free.

So now you've got a building, 6 computers, and software. You can't do this alone - stick an ad in the paper for displaced tech workers (god knows there are plenty of them out there) to come in and do training. You'll need 5 of 'em. The sixth person you want to hire will have experience dealing with the local social services, will know where all of the local food banks, goodwills, salvation army stores, and shelters are. If she doesn't definitely know where these places are and/or have contacts in them, she'll at least know where to find the information.
Even better - get these people to come in on a volunteer basis. High school or college students who need an internship or experience "in the field", something to look good on their resumes (and this would be a big gold star on their resumes), retired people... even your computer-savvy friends.

So now you've still barely dented the $100k you've got left. Go get yourself 5 of those people you saw standing on the corner. Find out how many of them actually *want* a job. You're going to have to spend the most time doing this, because standing on a corner makes pretty damn good money.
You bring 'em in. Your 'concierge' worker immediately gets them in touch with all of the local social services that can benefit them. Food stamps, emergency housing assistance, emergency utility assistance, food banks, etc. If they're homeless, you set them up with a shelter. See if the qualify for unemployment, medicaid, etc.

Once that's done, the training begins. Whatever Manpower needed, you'll start cultivating. As little as one week of training could give a person enough computer skills to get a damn good job doing data entry. Two weeks, even better. As one of them is trained well enough, your concierge or another volunteer takes the person down to the goodwill or salvation army and gets them some nice clothes, buys them a haircut, and goes with them to Manpower (or one of the other Temp Hire places you called). If they get the job, good! They stay in touch with you for at least the first two weeks of the job. If they need transportation to/from the job, you can also find volunteers for that or simply buy some bus tickets for them. You help them out with whatever they need those first two weeks and let them know that after that, you're still there if they need you - for more advanced training, for someone to straighten out issues with the local social services, etc.

If they don't get the job, your concierge is there with them to find out exactly why. Bring them back to the center, and fix whatever it is that caused them not to be hired. Maybe they're not strong enough in this program or that. Maybe their interviewing skills need some work. Whatever. Work with them until they're ready to go back and get the job this time.

When they get the job, you get a finder's fee. Run a few people through the program and get them jobs, then apply for a grant and any local social program small-business funds you can. You're running an Adult Rehabilitation Program. While your 6 workers are handing your current 5 rehabilitees, you're developing stronger relationships with the Temp-Hire places, and even contacting local companies directly about getting your rehabilitees hired. You settle on a hiring price - which is higher because you can give them workers specifically trained for what they need - and you take $2 per hour off of the top to go back into the Center and the rest goes to the worker. After the worker has survived their "probationary" period at the company (usually a month to three months), they get the other $2 you've been holding back and they're on their own.

You *can* do most of this with volunteers. You'd be amazed how many of the sweet, well-mannered, and utterly patient little ladies down at the local retirement home would love to come out and help with something like this. Want to make it even better so you'll get more grants and/or community support? Bring in women - single mothers, women on welfare, etc. to get trained. Set up one part of the Center with some donated toys and another one of those little old grandmas to watch their children while the moms get trained.

As you grow, you can branch into other areas. Train guys to terminate cables and do simple networking. Satellite installations. Cable installations. Get your own personally-trained 3-person team to go out and pre-wire houses for phone and internet. Work with the local construction teams and builders to get a deal where you do all of their new houses. This 3-person team alone can bring you a lot of fucking money. When they're not wiring new houses, they're re-wiring older houses or wiring up local hotels and businesses for internet. (The hotels pay damn good money to have their rooms wired for data.)

It's not the people holding signs in DC yelling about the war that help the unemployed get jobs or help turn the economy around - it's the "evil rich guys" - like YOU (yes, if you're making more than $70k per year you qualify as a greedy, selfish "evil" rich man) - that make a difference.

You *can* do something - it's just how much you're *willing* to do and how far out of your comfort zone you're willing to step in order to do it.

10-08-2002, 08:52 AM
Carrie Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Virgin - nee Posts: 3,162	Only so much you can do, eh? Like what? How about this: Buy yourself a nice car that doesn't cost an arm and a leg that's gonna last you for the next 2 years. We're gonna go on the theory here of the $150k car that you had "for the summer". So let's say you get yourself a nice new Jag for $30k or so instead, and you've got the rest of that $150k (about $120k now) to "do something". Sit your ass down and spend a day calling around to the local temporary workforce places (like Manpower) and find out what they need. Data entry people? People trained in MS Word and Excel? People who just know how to type? Ask what their finder's fee is. Last I checked, it was about $150 (in FL anyway) to file papers for a non-profit corp. Look around a bit, and lease out an empty building. It doesn't have to be in the slums - you'll spend extra money getting security for the place - and it doesn't have to be in a gated industrial park. Something as simple as a vacant firehouse in a suburb will do. Get some computers - whatever's cheaper, buying them straight from the manufacturer or building them yourself. Let's say about 6 to start. Now you've spent about $5k on the deposit for the building and the computers, and let's say another $30k on the car, so you've got another $115k to go. Let's plop $15k of it into an account to pay for the utilities and lease for a while. Call Microsoft and tell them you're opening a training center for the underpriveleged and unemployed, and they'll send you full software for all 6 of those computers - free. So now you've got a building, 6 computers, and software. You can't do this alone - stick an ad in the paper for displaced tech workers (god knows there are plenty of them out there) to come in and do training. You'll need 5 of 'em. The sixth person you want to hire will have experience dealing with the local social services, will know where all of the local food banks, goodwills, salvation army stores, and shelters are. If she doesn't definitely know where these places are and/or have contacts in them, she'll at least know where to find the information. Even better - get these people to come in on a volunteer basis. High school or college students who need an internship or experience "in the field", something to look good on their resumes (and this would be a big gold star on their resumes), retired people... even your computer-savvy friends. So now you've still barely dented the $100k you've got left. Go get yourself 5 of those people you saw standing on the corner. Find out how many of them actually want a job. You're going to have to spend the most time doing this, because standing on a corner makes pretty damn good money. You bring 'em in. Your 'concierge' worker immediately gets them in touch with all of the local social services that can benefit them. Food stamps, emergency housing assistance, emergency utility assistance, food banks, etc. If they're homeless, you set them up with a shelter. See if the qualify for unemployment, medicaid, etc. Once that's done, the training begins. Whatever Manpower needed, you'll start cultivating. As little as one week of training could give a person enough computer skills to get a damn good job doing data entry. Two weeks, even better. As one of them is trained well enough, your concierge or another volunteer takes the person down to the goodwill or salvation army and gets them some nice clothes, buys them a haircut, and goes with them to Manpower (or one of the other Temp Hire places you called). If they get the job, good! They stay in touch with you for at least the first two weeks of the job. If they need transportation to/from the job, you can also find volunteers for that or simply buy some bus tickets for them. You help them out with whatever they need those first two weeks and let them know that after that, you're still there if they need you - for more advanced training, for someone to straighten out issues with the local social services, etc. If they don't get the job, your concierge is there with them to find out exactly why. Bring them back to the center, and fix whatever it is that caused them not to be hired. Maybe they're not strong enough in this program or that. Maybe their interviewing skills need some work. Whatever. Work with them until they're ready to go back and get the job this time. When they get the job, you get a finder's fee. Run a few people through the program and get them jobs, then apply for a grant and any local social program small-business funds you can. You're running an Adult Rehabilitation Program. While your 6 workers are handing your current 5 rehabilitees, you're developing stronger relationships with the Temp-Hire places, and even contacting local companies directly about getting your rehabilitees hired. You settle on a hiring price - which is higher because you can give them workers specifically trained for what they need - and you take $2 per hour off of the top to go back into the Center and the rest goes to the worker. After the worker has survived their "probationary" period at the company (usually a month to three months), they get the other $2 you've been holding back and they're on their own. You can do most of this with volunteers. You'd be amazed how many of the sweet, well-mannered, and utterly patient little ladies down at the local retirement home would love to come out and help with something like this. Want to make it even better so you'll get more grants and/or community support? Bring in women - single mothers, women on welfare, etc. to get trained. Set up one part of the Center with some donated toys and another one of those little old grandmas to watch their children while the moms get trained. As you grow, you can branch into other areas. Train guys to terminate cables and do simple networking. Satellite installations. Cable installations. Get your own personally-trained 3-person team to go out and pre-wire houses for phone and internet. Work with the local construction teams and builders to get a deal where you do all of their new houses. This 3-person team alone can bring you a lot of fucking money. When they're not wiring new houses, they're re-wiring older houses or wiring up local hotels and businesses for internet. (The hotels pay damn good money to have their rooms wired for data.) It's not the people holding signs in DC yelling about the war that help the unemployed get jobs or help turn the economy around - it's the "evil rich guys" - like YOU (yes, if you're making more than $70k per year you qualify as a greedy, selfish "evil" rich man) - that make a difference. You can do something - it's just how much you're willing to do and how far out of your comfort zone you're willing to step in order to do it.