Low-income communities such as East Palo Alto are disproportionately impacted with COVID-related unemployment with unemployment rates more than double the rest of the population. That’s the finding of a recent survey by the non-profit JobTrain.

More than 1,000 JobTrain clients and recent graduates reported:

43% have lost their jobs
34% have had their work hours cut
61% have had someone in their household lost a job.

Their biggest challenges now? 1) employment
2) food security
3) housing

Some of the stories of need are heart-breaking. Monica, a graduate of JobTrain’s Medical Assistant program, wrote that she’s “running out of money for food and rent and falling behind on bills.” And, Dan from East Palo Alto, said, “I’m worried that after next week I’ll be out of a job and won’t be able to meet my rent payment or buy food for my kids.”

What’s JobTrain doing to help?

IMMEDIATELY:

1. Launched a $250,000 Crisis Relief Fund campaign to help those struggling with urgent cash shortages.

“We have set up a process so we can assess the urgency of requests from JobTrain’s clients. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we’ll be able to offer cash relief funds to those who need it the most,” says Hayam Demian, Chief Operating Officer at JobTrain.

2. Set up a new Job Seeker Service—connecting our low-income students and graduates with our employer partners and others

3. Redeployed staff to work to connect with other supportive services to find food and housing

4. Continuing and adding computer skills and other classes online during the shutdown. Demand has more than doubled for JobTrain’s Digital Literacy class as those most at-risk for unemployment try to learn new skills to