Why Don’t They Just Get a Job? describes the journey and the incredible results of Dave and Liane Phillips’ efforts to help those in poverty find their way to self sufficiency. Under the premise that existing job-readiness programs only focus on job placement and not retention, Dave and Liane Phillips created a poverty to economic self-sufficiency program with an 80 percent one-year employment retention rate. In the past three years this organization, Cincinnati Works, has brought $25 million in wages locally to over 1500 families. The not-for-profit offers a complete spectrum of free, lifetime employment services for the entry-level job-seeker to sustain and advance in today s work climate. The model is a winn… More >>
Why Don’t They Just Get a Job? One Couple’s Mission to End Poverty in Their Community
Liane Phillips and Echo Garrett’s book, “Why Don’t They Just Get a Job?” not only answers the title’s question, but provides a prescriptive for helping the chronically unemployed find and keep jobs.
With NO assistance from the local, state, or federal governments, Liane and her husband, Dave, developed a program that really works. Their story of how one retired couple declared their own war on poverty in Cincinnati is inspiring. So are the stories of their clients. This book should be used as a blueprint for other non-profits who want to make a difference in their own communities.
Rating: 5 / 5
Why Don’t They Just Get a Job? answers the question that so many people throw out about those living in poverty. Often the assumption is that they COULD get a job if they tried. This book details the very real obstacles and barriers that many willing want-to-be workers face and shows how when they receive the proper training to obtain and retain jobs they can enter the work force and be productive resources for our country’s future.
The question I have after reading the book is Why Don’t People Stop Asking Why Don’t They Just Get a Job. This is a book that will help agencies and individuals who are committed to raising people out of poverty. But it is also a book that will help people understand the underlying issues that prevent some people from finding and keeping jobs.
What the Phillips have done in Cincinnati is nothing short of amazing. Liane Phillips and Echo Garrett spin a good tale of how a retiring couple can make a difference not only in hundreds and thousands of lives, but in the fabric of a city. This should be a pilot program for every city in the country, but who would run the programs? Do other cities have resources similar to what the Phillips’ provided for Cincinnati Works? I’d like to see this model spread across the country. Read it. Then find out what you can do to re-create something similar in your city.
Rating: 5 / 5