By Mellasonda Curtis
Special to the AFRO
(March 19, 2009) - When the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported record-breaking job losses in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, Tony E. Medley Sr., senior pastor of Deliverance Temple Ministries, Baltimore, Md., saw the urgency to start a monthly job fair at his church.
Pastor Medley said there is no way he could pass people on the streets of Baltimore with the look of desperation on their faces and not do something about the rising job loss crisis the city faces. In January, Deliverance Temple Ministries had 70 people apply for one FEDEX position.
On March 28, from 9-11 a.m., Pastor Medley will again open his church doors at 112 East Patapsco Ave., to host a job fair with AFLAC’s sales marketing division as its employer of the month.
Recently holding the position as a bishop, Pastor Medley told the AFRO that his grand vision to host a monthly job fair started in last year and included job training and resume writing programs. However, when the economy began to weaken and gradual recovery was not on the horizon, his plans sped up to only include employment services.
Bishop Medley said quite a few applicants were applying for “Survivor Jobs,” a term used by economists to label those people who are over qualified for a position, but take a lower one to meet their financial needs. In January’s job fair, members of entire families came seeking employment, he added. Some came from as far as Upper Marlboro, Md.
“People are hurting, it is a matter of survival,” said Medley.
The tumbling rate of job losses across the nation has posed church leaders with greater challenges and potential new community programs.
Bishop Medley does not profess to make a huge dent in the jobless numbers in Baltimore City, but he relies on his church’s vision statement, “Changing Lives One Person At a Time” to be a blessing to some and provide others with an alternative resource to the local unemployment office.
For more information on the March Job Fair call Deliverance Temple Ministries, 443-872-5473 or visit www.dtmonline.org.