LIFT-Evanston volunteers quickly set to work on helping Carlton meet his most pressing needs for employment and housing. Carlton had been living with a friend, but with no job and no income to contribute to rent, he was increasingly feeling like a burden; he wanted his own income and his own residence. Carlton’s extensive employment experience qualified him to work in a number of fields. Volunteers encouraged him to concentrate on following his loves—cooking and teaching—as long-term career goals, and use his other talents to find immediate employment. He began scheduling regular appointments, working to find solutions to his housing needs and to apply for jobs.
Carlton inquired about unemployment benefits following his termination at a local supermarket. He had recently been denied unemployment benefits and was frustrated with the outcome, and even more frustrated with the explanation from IDES. Volunteers worked with Carlton to draft an appeal letter and also followed up with LIFT-Evanston partners in the Illinois workNet Center for further information about filing an appeal. As instructed, Carlton continued making bi-weekly calls to check on the status of his application. The red tape became exasperating when Carlton was told it would take 180 days to receive a definitive decision, and then told he needed to show proof of weekly income. “How could you show you had an income of $169 per week if you didn’t have a job?” Carlton recalls. After several weeks, IDES informed Carlton that his claim had been denied again. Both Carlton and the volunteers felt intense frustration with the ordeal, but after reviewing the difficult process to reapply for unemployment benefits, they channeled their energy into more plausible ways to obtain stable income, while keeping Carlton’s reapplication on the back burner. They redirected the focus of their meetings to maintaining Carlton’s employment, finding stable housing, and locating rental assistance.
As the months progressed, Carlton landed an apprenticeship at an upscale restaurant in downtown Evanston, in addition to a food prep job at Whole Foods, helping to offset his immediate expenses. Eager to improve his situation, he continued searching for better employment and job training programs. From practice with volunteers, Carlton became increasingly proficient using the computer and conducting Internet searches himself. Carlton recalls their guidance, saying, “They didn’t just help me on the computer; they taught me how to do things on my own.” Soon Carlton was copying and pasting, attaching files to emails, and asking for more web resources to post his résumé.
Carlton is working harder than ever toward obtaining better employment opportunities and stable housing. When asked what he envisioned for himself in the future, he simply stated, “I’ll be in a job, paying taxes again, doing what normal people do…and going on with life.”
