Helping hand

School employees help former colleagues in need

From Calhoun ISD EA (left to right) Mollie Reynolds, Dean Worden, President, Maria Lucas.

Barbara Love and Juanita Vasquez-Howard once donated food to help the needy – now, they’re the ones needing help.

Since losing their jobs as custodians in the Homer school district last July, they’re scraping by on unemployment benefits and supplies from local food banks. Members of the South Central Education Association – a group of local associations representing school employees from several districts – are collecting canned goods and other nonperishable food items to help Love, Vasquez-Howard, and other former school employees whose jobs were outsourced to private companies.

“It’s very nice that they are thinking about people like us,” Love said of the effort, which continues through Dec. 22. Love was a custodian in Homer until July, when the school board hired a private company to clean the schools.

The food drive aims to help 25 former school employees whose jobs were privatized earlier this year, including seven custodians in Homer, 12 transportation workers from Albion, and six food service workers in Harper Creek.

Love, who earned about $15 an hour while working 35 hours weekly with no health benefits, said she struggles to support herself without a job. She cares for her elderly mother and described her situation as “sad.”

“You have no idea how drastically (privatization) affects a person’s life,” said Love, adding that this is the second time she’s lost a job to outsourcing. She previously worked in the Litchfield district, which also decided to hire a private cleaning crew.

In Homer, other school employees report that the private company isn’t cleaning as well as district employees once did. Some teachers may file grievances stemming from unclean working conditions, said Tara Wilbur, the MEA UniServ director who works with Homer employees represented by the association.

Vasquez-Howard said she’s had a rough year – she lost her home, her job, and then separated from her husband.

“It makes me feel like a failure,” said Vasquez-Howard, who was president of her local union before losing her job. “What else can I go through?”

She did find a part-time substitute custodian position at Albion College this fall, but it pays less than half the hourly wage she received in Homer; she earns just $7.40 an hour when she’s called in. Vasquez-Howard regularly goes to four food banks for food such as corn, beans, and oatmeal.

“Every time I go to the food banks and see all these people lined up, I realize I’m not alone,” she said.

The Calhoun County effort is supported by members of MEA affiliates at the following sites: Albion College; Albion Public Schools; Athens Area Schools; Battle Creek Public Schools; Calhoun Area Technology Center; Calhoun Intermediate School District; Harper Creek Community Schools; Homer Community Schools; Kellogg Community College; Lakeview School District; Mar Lee Schools; Marshall Public Schools; Pennfield School District; Tekonsha Community Schools; Union City Community Schools; and Willard Library.

If you’d like to contribute to the effort, you may send a donation to the South Central Education Association, 424 Riverside Drive, Battle Creek, MI 49015. Please note “food drive” in the memo line of your check.

Updated: December 17, 2009 2:40 PM