Budget Woes Challenge Day-Labor Centers

Sunday, August 2, 2009 2:10 PM

PHOENIX -- Until a day-labor center opened nearby, jobseekers in Keenan Strand's north Phoenix neighborhood used to drink from people's hoses, urinate on walls and duck behind bushes to escape triple-digit heat while waiting for work.

Now the economic downturn is threatening the 6-year-old day-labor center and others like it around the country.

Advocates worry that job seekers will return to neighborhoods and street corners in search of work.

Strand says the Phoenix neighborhood supported the job center because it brought order.

The economic crisis has forced officials to shelve a plan to build homes and office buildings that would fund the day-labor center in the future.

The work center currently is struggling to keep up with payments.

http://www.newsmax.com/us/us_day_labor_ ... 42956.html