The Secret to Finding Jobs in a Harsh Economy

The Network created its employment pipeline when it discovered that Norton's downtown medical center had job openings, but only a few of those positions had been filled by residents of the surrounding community. When the Network approached the hospital, its directors agreed that something needed to be done.

"To the hospital's credit, they said they wanted to be a better neighbor," said Executive Director Dana Jackson. The resulting partnership has helped the hospital hire local Network members, who are then able to access Norton's extensive benefits, which include healthcare, education, childcare, and housing.

Career Hot Spot at Potter's House

What's the secret to the Network's success? In a time when unemployment is frequently described by dehumanizing statistics and percentages, the Network prioritizes relationships and connections. In short, it's not what you know, and it's not who you know. It's both.

"There is a huge amount of care wrapped around each Network member, but not in a client model," Jackson said. Unlike other community services providers, the Network focuses first on empowering its members to forge and strengthen community ties, and then to use those ties to create opportunities.

The Network serves as a bridge between communities and institutions and between community members themselves. “We connect neighbors to neighbors, who then connect each other to jobs, services, and other groups,” Jackson said.

The key to the Network’s ability to maintain its employment pipeline has been how its teams of organizers become Network members and active participants in community life. Conducting outreach and engagement at locations that range from neighborhood parks to barber shops and places of worship, the organizers are intimately acquainted with their communities. Thus, they are best positioned to identify qualified job seekers and connect them to opportunities.

These community ties have allowed the Network to gather accurate data about its programs and to respond when something isn’t working. For example, shortly after the employment pipeline’s launch, the Network discovered that its members were cycling out of the jobs, mostly because of absences and failure to call and notify employers.

After completing the Making Connections Louisville program,
Shavelle Gordon (left) found a job in housekeeping at Norton Healthcare and
support from Norton manager Michelle Williams (right).
Gordon has since become a nursing assistant and is studying to be a nurse.

"We realized that we needed to do more than get people in the door,” Jackson said. “They needed help developing a plan A, B, and C, for instance, if their childcare provider fell through or if they didn’t have a telephone to notify their supervisor of an absence.”

The hospital has added a post-employment coach to help new employees troubleshoot problems. Thanks to these efforts, the employee retention rate of Network members has outpaced that of workers coming from outside the pipeline. Beyond benefiting Network members, the program is an effective cost-saving measure for the hospital.

The Network tackles other issues beyond employment. It is a lobbying force for its communities, and has successfully changed the Louisville-Jefferson County’s foreclosure process, which now requires lenders to meet face-to-face with borrowers before legal proceedings move forward. It has helped communities improve their schools and tap into $250,000 in government funded weatherization for its neighborhoods.

On a broader cultural level, the Network is deepening human connections and rebuilding a sense of trust within communities--no small feat given Louisville’s tough urban neighborhoods. “We don’t meet people with services--we meet them with relationships,” Jackson said.

"People need services, but social network theory tells us that there is an important barrier to success that people are facing--a sense of isolation. People are reporting that there are fewer and fewer people they are connected to.”

Dana Jackson with children at "Network Nite"

The Network has tapped an enormous demand by citizens who want to get to know their neighbors and work together. Its monthly Network Nite events are consistently packed with regular and new attendees who are seeking a forum to discuss and mobilize action on a variety of issues. Members build connections for reasons large and small—from organizing play dates for their children to rallying around political issues like voter rights restoration, and are collectively strengthening their communities and building better futures in the process.

Last month, the Network was chosen as a winner in Ashoka Changemaker’s Strong Communities challenge, a competition sponsored by the Orton Family Foundation that sought creative solutions for making communities stronger and more vital. The Network’s key innovators, including Jackson, participated in the Community Matters ’10 conference, where they met with the other competition finalists and winners.

"It was just amazing,” Jackson said. "We met an entire group of people that we are now connected to. And winning the competition allowed us to really show people that our work is not just networking socially—it really is networking for change. To be recognized in a way that says our work is important and really matters is a powerful message for our communities. And it is also a powerful form of leverage for change."