MC community should again pull together

By now, we all know of someone who has been adversely affected by the state of our nation’s economy. In fact, it probably would be correct to say that we have all been adversely affected, either directly or indirectly.

Those residents of Madison County who have lost some or all of their income through layoffs or a reduction in working hours can certainly attest to this, as can their families and loved ones. The prevailing dismal economic climate has forced many businesses to cut back on their work force bringing about the consequences mentioned above. Moreover, this trend does not show any signs of abating, at least not in the near foreseeable future.

The question that now faces us is: “What can we, right here in Madison, do about our situation?”

While I do not profess to have the answer to that question, I do know however, that the people of this county have what it takes to tackle the real difficult problems in life. Take for example, the “Great Flood of 1995” — while I was personally not around Madison County at the time — I am continually being reminded by those who were, how that emergency mobilized this community into action. Collectively, residents of Madison County were able to mitigate the ravages of what could have potentially been a much more devastating catastrophe.

Closer to home (for me personally), I well know how our county residents also pooled their collective resources and built a unique organization called MESA, which is now the pride of our county, and perhaps, to a certain extent, the envy of surrounding counties.

There are many other examples of the resiliency of this community, and this gives me confidence that we can once again rise to the task at hand and come up with a workable solution to the dilemma confronting workers who have recently lost their jobs. It is with this in mind that over the past month or so, I have begun meeting with various people in the community, to initiate a serious conversation about the crisis we are facing.

During that time, I have met with several individuals, as well as with a group of people drawn from the local business community, civic organizations, churches, law enforcement and government agency. The discussions invariably gave recognition to the seriousness of the situation at hand. However, and perhaps much more importantly, there appears to be a genuine belief among those I have spoken to, that as a community, we can draw on our own inner strengths, using our own resources and resourcefulness to pull ourselves out of this increasingly difficult period of time.

Some of the suggestions offered during my meetings, centered on the more common sense approaches that could be used in an effort to limit the incidence of hardship on the victims of layoffs. Among them I particularly liked the idea of creating a database or a resource directory of persons who have been laid off. This would include such pertinent information as contact number, education, job skills, jobs they are willing to do, etc. With this information we could begin to broaden the scope of the employment search and perhaps expand on the network of job seekers and those looking to hire.

While we must realize that we may not be able to solve all of our employment related problems, we must nevertheless understand that we simply cannot afford the luxury or the consequences of doing nothing. Inaction at a time like this is simply not an option! It is incumbent upon all of us, as residents and stakeholders in this community, to fully participate in establishing and maintaining control of our own destiny.

In the days and weeks ahead I will be calling on more people in the county to solicit additional input and support for this effort. In the meantime, I would encourage those who have recently been laid off to contact us, here at MESA so that we can begin building the resource directory. Potential employers should also get in touch with us and provide us with information relevant to opportunities they may have available. Our contact number is (540) 948-4427, and we can also be reached by e-mail at mesa02@verizon.net.

(Norris E. John is the executive director of Madison Emergency Services Association, MESA.)