Prospect of Work Draws Hundreds to SE Job Summit
More than 600 damp but determined job seekers filled a senior citizens center in Southeast Washington yesterday in hopes of finding a sunnier future.</br></br>The Washington Senior Wellness Center was packed with people with a variety of employment histories, from laid-off skilled workers to high school students entering the job market for the first time.</br></br>Thirty companies and D.C. government agencies participated in the event and counseled applicants for jobs in a variety of fields, from restaurant work to the burial industry.</br></br>"We want people to walk in here and get jobs even if they don't have a lot of skills," said Kevin P. Chavous (D-Ward 7), who sponsored the event. Employment, he said, is the prescription for many social ills. "The major obstacle young people have today is that they don't have an alternative to the streets."</br></br>The job summit grew out of discussions between clergy and young people in Ward 7 after a shooting at a football game in the ward, which resulted in the death of 4-year-old Launice Smith in September. Unemployment in the ward, which lies east of the Anacostia River, is higher than the District average.