We know it’s hard to get good jobs if you live in the South End. Knowing why, shouldn’t we have a strategy?

by Tom McPheeters

The article Millennials Are Screwed should be a must-read for anybody concerned about our inner city neighborhoods. If you have not read it, set aside a half hour and be prepared to be outraged.

While the article (in Huffington Post’s Highline section) is focused on the plight of young adults caught in the economic tsunami of the 2009 Great Recession and its aftermath, it lays out in devastating clarity the structural inequities that have kept residents of low income neighborhoods and people of color out of the economic mainstream for many, many decades.

Workforce development is not a new topic, but in Albany there is a new interest and some new initiatives (see our newsletter). I would like to offer the following thoughts:

• The structural barriers facing low income workers are enormous, and any new program that hopes to “break the cycle of poverty” better be fully prepared to deal with the almost inevitable setbacks that come with living paycheck to paycheck. Government anti-poverty and safety net programs are utter failures in dealing with these low-level but devastating catastrophes (an illness, a car accident or breakdown, etc.) As the HuffPo article points out, the best way to deal with these setbacks is to make sure families have a cushion, a little extra income (just like us middle class folks). Where is that to come from?
• Address the high cost of housing, the biggest single drain on family finances. Housing insecurity and the cycle of homelessness is one of the major reasons people don’t keep the jobs they have.
• Start to break the “contract worker” system. I recently talked with a young man at a family homeless shelter. He has a job with a local contractor doing demolition and cleanup for the Albany County Land Bank, but he still fell behind on his rent, got evicted and ended up at Schuyler Inn. The HuffPo article made me realized how prevalent the contract labor system has become. Albany Housing pays contractors to do its grounds keeping and maintenance. The local hotels hire through contractors for their housekeeping and kitchen jobs. Many workers these days get 30 hours a week and no benefits, and very little job security. Not every employer can be persuaded to change their ways, but surely public authorities and some local businesses can be led to see their own role in keeping people in poverty.
• Remember what has to be a primary goal — strengthen the economic life of the neighborhood. Workforce development works best in neighborhoods that already have things going for them, where people see hope and a future for themselves and their children. At a certain point, the neighborhood becomes its own network and support system and generator of ambition. We are not really helping a lot of people when our few successes get a better job and move out.
• Don't aim for the fences with every program. There may be a few people who can jump from sweeping floors to a great job in some tech company. We should applaud them and help them however we can, but they can’t be the focus here. For most people, there are many steps in between, and on each rung of the ladder there needs to be both a job, support and training for the next job.
• Understand that unions have different agendas. As the HuffPo article points out, most unions these days are in a defensive mode, and focused on keeping their current members employed. In my opinion, we have invested way too much effort in trying to persuade the construction trades in the Capital Region to let people of color into their high-wage system, only to find that the deck is stacked against new workers. It's almost impossible to actually make a living without substantial seniority, a reliable vehicle and (usually) a second job. The white color unions are seen as allies to the poor, but not portals to their good paying jobs.
• Find areas of opportunity — professions that have both entry-level positions with minimal training and opportunities for advancement. Develop relationships with the employers, so that the job exists at every off ramp. We have been exploring a couple of good prospects, and I am sure there are others.

1. Train people with some construction skills to work on our many vacant buildings. These are non-union jobs that require both traditional skills and extensive problem-solving skills that find economic ways of dealing with decay and inexpensive design solutions.
2. The health and medical fields offer a variety of entry-level jobs that could lead to higher paying jobs. We see some residents of the South End take advantage of these opportunities, and now Trinity and AVillage are hiring South End residents to serve as Resident Outreach Workers. With encouragement and more training, these part-time positions could lead to good paying full time jobs.
3. Trinity’s Capital South Campus Center had been scouting employers who are willing to start people at entry level and bring them along. What is missing is a funded cadre of employment advisors, counselors and problem solvers. Transportation, medical crises, children’s illnesses, etc. And, as I wrote earlier, cash when it’s needed.

People of the South End: Shameka Andrews

By Mahalia Cummings

Shameka Andrews celebrated a birthday yesterday, on New Year’s Day. Her celebration is a reminder that she defied stark odds. Shameka was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don't form properly. “My parents were told that I wouldn’t live past the age of 5. And now coming in this new year I’m going to be forty years old. So to me that in itself is exciting.”

Shameka is a disability advocate and consultant. She provides workshops for people with disabilities, their families, and community organizations in the areas of health and wellness and self advocacy. Helping people with disabilities — and their families — get the resources that they need to live the lives that they want to lead.  She coordinates wellness activities, increases participation of people with disabilities in their communities and runs Ms Wheelchair NY, which is an advocacy and empowerment program for women who use wheelchairs. “It’s all about helping women with disabilities being better advocates in their communities and make differences and have their voices be heard.”

Shameka’s journey may have started with self advocacy, but she always hoped that her actions would have a positive ripple effect for others. When she graduated from college, she was told that students with disabilities would not be able to access the stage and walk across it like everyone else. “They said that we usually pass them their diploma  while they’re sitting in the audience. And I said, ‘I’m sorry, no disrespect to you, but I worked just as hard as every student in this school. And I am not going to sit in the audience while somebody passes me my diploma.’

Shameka loves to take walks, and refuses to let the breakdown of accessibility standards confine her or others.  We talk about the issue of sidewalk accessibility. When the risk of using a wheelchair on an icy or unplowed sidewalk is too great, some opt to drive their wheelchair in the street. Sometimes, anger is drivers’ knee-jerk reaction, and this is representative of how the issues that people with disabilities face are often marginalized, or misunderstood. Shameka talks about the value of seeing the full human being, not a burden. “It’s not a disability issue. It’s a community issue.”.

Although she grew up in Downtown Albany, Shameka is now a citizen of the South End. She can be seen at local events, including protests at Ezra Prentice, AVillage Thursday meetings or Saturday morning Zumba classes. Her presence in the community is an embodiment of her practicing what she preaches through community development. Albany is one of the few cities to form an advisory committee to better enforce the American with Disabilities Act.  “It can’t be up to one committee. It has to be the the community as a whole saying whoever I am, that I am going to do my best. Do my part to make sure that my little section of the community is as inclusive and supportive as I can possibly make it.”

Shameka is also a teacher of meditation. She loves to share the strength she has found through stretching her mind and body to the height of their capabilities, despite the external noise. “And that’s what this work has done for me in my own life, to really explore and be able to explore my own capabilities of what my mind is capable of and what my body is capable of.”  

Shameka Andrews embodies self care as a radical force. She encourages people to love themselves as a rule, despite imposed limitations. “Most people before they meet me or even have a conversation with me have already decided what I am capable of. I mean from the day I was born — that’s how most people with disabilities are presented to their parents, with a list of things that they will never be able to do.”

Shameka is also an author.In 2018, she is keeping the door open for bringing readings of her books and other programs into schools, booking more speaking engagements, coordinating more health and wellness events, and continuing to share her story.  Shameka’s children’s book, Butterfly On Wheels, is about a caterpillar on wheels who can’t wait for her wings. As for more the possibility of more books? That’s a door that Shameka has left open, and is excited to see what unfolds.

One quote she shares before a speech is this quote from Edward Everett Hale: “I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And I won’t let what I can’t do interfere with what I can.”