North Carolina: Community Seeks Divine Help For Unemployed

[Brian503a]

http://www.10news.com

Community Seeks Divine Help For Unemployed
County Has 13 Percent Jobless Rate

POSTED: 9:29 am PST January 23, 2006
UPDATED: 9:35 am PST January 23, 2006

LENOIR, N.C. -- After years of layoffs at furniture plants, the county with North Carolina's highest unemployment rate has held a day of prayer.

About 200 people gathered at the Caldwell County Fairgrounds over the weekend to ask God to help a community coping with a 13 percent jobless rate.

The minister who opened the prayer service was laid off last year from the furniture plant where he'd worked for 19 years.

One man seemed to weep as he prayed, his eyes tightly closed as he mouthed his prayers aloud.

He prayed that children would have enough to eat and the elderly would get the medicine they need.

[Brian503a]

http://www.hickoryrecord.com

Let us pray
Furniture plant employee organizes prayer event for area's unemployed.
By KIM GILLILAND
Record Staff Writer
Thursday, January 19, 2006


LENOIR -- Rodney Rabey knows all about being laid off from a job he loves.

His struggles to find work led him to ask church leaders, politicians and the citizens of Caldwell County to pray for those still unable to find a job. At 2 p.m. Saturday, the Caldwell County Fairgrounds will host a prayer event and walk for the unemployed. He wants citizens to fast for the entire day as a way of expressing their concern.

“All of us love our county and want to do our part to show we are very concerned,� Rabey said. “We are also lifting up our local government for wisdom in the direction of bringing new industry in our county.�

In July 2005, Caldwell County led the state with a 13.1 percent unemployment rate. Three months earlier, Rabey himself became a labor statistic.

Rabey, 38, worked at the Broyhill Furniture Harper plant for 19 years. In April 2005, he was caught up in the first wave of layoffs there.

“I saw the trends, and business wasn’t looking good,� he said. “We had 35 to 37 people in my department, then it went down to 25.

“When the new chief executive officer came in, my job was released.�

Rabey was lucky. He found work that same month at Bernhardt Furniture as a warehouse manager.

Others aren’t so lucky. Caldwell County has experienced the big job losses because of its concentration of furniture plants, said Dee Blackwell, assistant executive director of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments.

“It’s made it difficult. It’s an industry, as everyone knows, that’s not returning,� he said.

Catawba County, particularly Hickory, is historically known as the commercial center for retail and industry in the four-county area. Many counties would like to have that role, Blackwell said.
Rabey agrees.

“We have a lot of great hard-working people here that eagerly await an opportunity to resume their way of life, where they can stand on their own feet instead of depending on others to help them keep their cars or their homes,� he said.

The event is open to citizens from other counties.

WANT TO GO?

What: Day of encouragement for area residents, especially those unemployed from local factories

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Caldwell County Fairgrounds, 2460 Fairgrounds Road, Lenoir (just off U.S. 321)

Directions: From Hickory, take U.S. 321 North, go past Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, fairgrounds on the left. Go past fairgrounds, turn south on U.S. 321, turn right on Joyceton Church Road, then left on Fairgrounds Road.

rgilliland@hickoryrecord.com | 322-4510 x5406 or 304-6913

[Brian503a]

http://www.hickoryrecord.com

Day of encouragement
200 gather to pray for embattled Caldwell County's future
By Josh Yoder
Record Staff Writer
Sunday, January 22, 2006

LENOIR - Some prayed aloud, others silently.

Some kneeled against metal folding chairs. Many held hands with friends, family members or strangers. More than a few wept.

They prayed for jobs. For guidance. For better times.

About 200 people gathered at the Caldwell County Fairgrounds on Saturday for a communitywide day of prayer and encouragement for the economically embattled county.

Waves of plant closings and layoffs have taken their toll on the county. In July, Caldwell’s unemployment rate was the highest in the state at 13.1 percent.

“We need prayer in Caldwell County,� said the Rev. Rodney Raby, who organized the event.

Raby, pastor of Nazareth Advent Christian Church in Lenoir, knows firsthand about the county’s troubles. He was laid off in April from the Broyhill Furniture Harper Plant. He’d worked there for 19 years.

Later that month, Raby found a job as a manager at Bernhardt Furniture. But he knows many aren’t so lucky.

“People are down and out,� he said. “They need some help. They need support.�

At Saturday’s event, Raby gave a few opening remarks before the group stood up to sing “Amazing Grace.�

Local dignitaries present at the event included Caldwell County Sheriff Gary Clark and U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, who led the group in a prayer.

Later, folks prayed in smaller groups or by themselves.

Kevin Matheson of Hudson paced though the room, Bible in hand, looking upward as he spoke his prayers.

Matheson, pastor of The Church of His Holy Spirit in Lenoir, said many people in his congregation have been affected by layoffs. In 2003, Matheson’s father was laid off from Bernhardt Furniture after working for the country for 29 years.

“It’s a rarity for folks to have a steady job,� he said. “Some people have just given up here.�

Don Phillips seemed to weep as he prayed, his eyes tightly closed as he mouthed his prayers aloud. In his hands, the 71-year-old King’s Creek man clutched a well-worn leather Bible.

“I’ve got so many neighbors and friends who are out of work,� he said. “I’m blessed, I don’t need anything, but I see so many people who do.�

Phillips’ eyes welled with tears as he talked about the furniture companies - once the breadbasket for Caldwell County - that have moved jobs elsewhere.

“If something ain’t done, Lenoir will be a ghost town,� he said.

Phillips said he prayed for jobs. He prayed children would have enough to eat and the elderly would get the medicine they need. He prayed that those in need would turn to God.

“There’s just so many people who are hurting,� he said.

DETAILS:

Caldwell County’s jobless rate reached as high as
13.1 percent earlier this year. It remains among the state’s top rates.

North Carolina counties with highest jobless rates:
(Most recent numbers for November)
1. Rutherford - 9.1
2. Vance - 8.4
3. Scotland - 8.3
4. Edgecombe - 8.2
5. Caldwell - 8.0

How Caldwell County’s rate compares to other Hickory metro counties:
Alexander - 5.3
Burke - 6.0
Catawba - 5.7

jyoder@hickoryrecord.com | 322-4510 x5410 or 304-6917

[BobC]

Man we have to help these people

[Richard]

OPEN TO CITIZENS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

Would that be with or without work authorization?

[rebellady1964]

This is my hometown, ya'll. I am from Lenoir and have seen all the factories close and the people lose their jobs. The furniture industry was the life blood of Caldwell County.Everyday when I pick up the paper, there are more and more foreclosures on homes, more and more crimes being committed and it is so sad. I just helped my best friend who lost her job to China by calling Patrick McHenry's office over and over because she could not get any help from welfare(other than $12 a month food stamps) to feed her son, pay her bills, etc. after her unemployment checks ran out. No jobs here, no where. Construction companies are hiring illegals instead of the displaced furniture workers and I am turning those companies in to www.wehirealiens.com, every chance I get! The company I worked for,(until today, I quit because I got a grant to go to nursing school) hires many illegals. They fired or laid off a bunch of American citizens last week but kept all their illegals and my bet is that those who were fired will be replaced by more illegals! While I have been laid off for weeks at a time, they let the illegals work because the illegals are afraid to sign up for unemployment, for fear of being deported. This is BS! This crap has to stop, we have people living under a bridge here in Lenoir right now, and more are gonna be homeless and soon! I asked one of the illegals at work why she came here and she did not say, JOBS", she said, ( now get this) "THE BENEFITS" I asked her, what kind of benefits and she replied, "You know, the foodstamps, welfare, healthcare. We do not have benefits in Mexico, we are poor". I then asked her if she knew who paid these benefits and she said, "yes, the government". Then I asked her if she knew that the AMERICAN TAX PAYERS paid the taxes in order to have these benefits available to the AMERICAN CITIZENS if we ever need them, and her reply was, "we don't pay taxes in Mexico"!!! I just could not handle it any more at work, seeing that company hiring so many illegals when Caldwell County citizens are out of work, no new jobs to go to, and losing their homes! I will have to find a part-time job to work at night, if possible, and go to school full time to get a decent job. Please pray for these people here in my hometown, they need all the prayers they can get! Thank you!