Jobs & Income

Single mother works for minimum wage to support two daughters, pushing them to earn a better education

Brooke Lewis | May 20, 2015 | brookelewisa
_TCC7203
Romeka Maxwell looks out the window of her house on Catherine Street.

It’s a pretty day. The sun’s out and the wind rustles through the trees.

She looks below at her elementary school-age daughters — 9-year-old Linda and 5-year-old Diamond — as they run around the grass with some other children Maxwell is babysitting.

“I’m mad mom sent them outside, and why she’s not outside?” Maxwell says loudly so her mom can hear her from the kitchen, not taking her eyes off the window.

“I am going! I am going!” her mom says from the kitchen.

“You should’ve had them wait.”

“They’ll be all right.”

“There’s not kids out here, there’s adults out here.”

“Trust me, nobody

read more

Ashley KangSingle mother works for minimum wage to support two daughters, pushing them to earn a better education

The minimum wage rises but is still hard to live on

Brendan Krisel | April 6, 2015 | Brendan_Krisel
Cherese_Mildrew1
When Cherese Mildrew worked as a minimum-wage worker in California, she shared a two-bedroom apartment with four other people just so they could afford the rent.
At 22, when she moved back to Syracuse, it was more of the same. Here, she worked four different jobs just to make ends meet.

One day she would be restocking shelves at Price Chopper, and the next she would be working a cash register at Family Dollar. Mildrew said employers were understanding, and would allow her to work a schedule where she didn’t have to go immediately from one job to the next.

“Some employers are OK because they know it’s hard and if they can’t give you all the hours you need, they will give you the hours you need to make

read more

Joey CoscoThe minimum wage rises but is still hard to live on

Nonprofit aims to help unemployment caused by lack of Syracuse transportation

Alfred Ng | April 6, 2015 | alfredwkng
pN56EYWUYmC0EdBbUxP4V4l1n7DdTB01Hj_USO_r_9w-1024x768

“Do you have a car?”

It was the first question he was asked almost every job interview.

And James Manyang was losing out on jobs because he didn’t. Eventually, he moved to Syracuse from Albany when a family friend promised him a job here.

Manyang, a refugee from South Sudan arrived in the United States in 2012. He’s taking care of his wife, two infant children, a 6-year-old son who is about to start elementary school and his cousin.

Once here, he worked from 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. as a medical transport at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, moving patients around the building in stretchers and wheelchairs. But even though he had the job, at last, he still didn’t have the car.

[vc_column

read more

Chantel MorelNonprofit aims to help unemployment caused by lack of Syracuse transportation