From helping run a school to taking handouts
A 61-year-old former administrative assistant who lost her job in 2008 grapples with the inability to find a job while raising two granddaughters with the help of $485 a month from the state.<br><br><runtime:include slug=”la-fi-mignon-580image”/><br><br><a href=”http://latimes.com/business/unemployment”>» Video profile of Mignon Veasley-Fields</a>
At an age when many workers are looking toward to retirement, Mignon Veasley-Fields is looking for a job. She and her 77-year-old husband are raising two granddaughters. Showering them with love is easy. It's the food, clothing, education and medical care that the couple are now struggling to provide.
Veasley-Fields lost her job in 2008 when the public charter school where she worked as an executive secretary shut down. The former music major and opera singer has scoured online job sites, networked at job clubs and sent out hundreds of resumes. She hasn't netted a single interview.
A composed woman with graying hair, she worries that her age is working against her. Yet it's older workers who are committed and reliable, she said.
"I'm sharp, I can use a computer," Veasley-Fields said. "Just give me a chance."
Her husband, James Edward Fields, drives a bus part-time for the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But it isn't enough to keep up with the bills. The couple can barely cover their car payments and the mortgage on their tidy Craftsman-style home in the Mid-Wilshire District.
She initially confined her job search to the administrative- and education-related posts she's most qualified for. Now she says she would take any position: a retail clerk, a grocery checker, a fast-food server.
"I go into McDonald's and look at the kid behind the counter and think, 'God, I wish I had your job,'" she said.
She's not spending much money at McDonald's or anywhere else these days.
Some of the family's groceries now come from a local food pantry. The handouts are humiliating, she said. But her granddaughters need the bread, milk and vegetables she gets there.
Months of online job hunting have put her in contact with other unemployed people. They're now forming networks to lobby Congress for extended unemployment benefits or for New Deal-style job programs.
"Here we are, Americans that have worked our whole lives, and they treat us like road kill," she said. A tear trickled down her cheek. "We're just asking for a little help until we can get on our feet."
She's now contemplating applying for Social Security early, when she turns 62.
"Us older workers — they won't hire us," she said. "But what am I going to do for the rest of my life?"
alana.semuels@latimes.com
Veasley-Fields lost her job in 2008 when the public charter school where she worked as an executive secretary shut down. The former music major and opera singer has scoured online job sites, networked at job clubs and sent out hundreds of resumes. She hasn't netted a single interview.
A composed woman with graying hair, she worries that her age is working against her. Yet it's older workers who are committed and reliable, she said.
"I'm sharp, I can use a computer," Veasley-Fields said. "Just give me a chance."Her husband, James Edward Fields, drives a bus part-time for the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But it isn't enough to keep up with the bills. The couple can barely cover their car payments and the mortgage on their tidy Craftsman-style home in the Mid-Wilshire District.
She initially confined her job search to the administrative- and education-related posts she's most qualified for. Now she says she would take any position: a retail clerk, a grocery checker, a fast-food server.
"I go into McDonald's and look at the kid behind the counter and think, 'God, I wish I had your job,'" she said.
She's not spending much money at McDonald's or anywhere else these days.
Some of the family's groceries now come from a local food pantry. The handouts are humiliating, she said. But her granddaughters need the bread, milk and vegetables she gets there.
Months of online job hunting have put her in contact with other unemployed people. They're now forming networks to lobby Congress for extended unemployment benefits or for New Deal-style job programs.
"Here we are, Americans that have worked our whole lives, and they treat us like road kill," she said. A tear trickled down her cheek. "We're just asking for a little help until we can get on our feet."
She's now contemplating applying for Social Security early, when she turns 62.
"Us older workers — they won't hire us," she said. "But what am I going to do for the rest of my life?"
alana.semuels@latimes.com
