A Stimulus Program You Can Believe In

How about a program that doesn’t cost the tax payers a nickel, helps professionals get jobs every week, promotes spiritual values and is starting to get a lot of national attention. During the past year I have been involved in a number of networking groups attended by people who are seeking employment in the midst of the current economic downturn. What has been most impressive has been the involvement of churches throughout the country to help people in their communities. There is a large organization called Crossroads Careers consisting of 65 churches in 14 states that provides networking forums that help job seekers find employment and other needed assistance.

The most impressive group I attend is C3G –Christ Centered Careers Group.
The men’s version meets on Monday morning at a local deli while the women’s group meets on Wednesdays. When I started attending in September about 25 men were present. Currently between 75-100 are in attendance. Most of the attendees are middle age men who have had good professional and managerial positions in finance, IT, real estate and other industries that have been hit hard by the recession. The key to C3G is that it provides a framework for men to help other men go through career transition with a strong support network. The format consists of a devotional, prayer, announcements from recruiters of possible job openings, a chance for new attendees to give their elevator speech and then a breakout into small groups where people can share their needs and offer support and ideas to others. Every week between 4-6 men announce that they have found employment mostly with the direct or indirect help of C3G.

At a time when the administration announces a new mega-billion program almost every day to stimulate the economy, C3G and groups like it are delivering results without any cost to the taxpayers. These results are getting attention from the media. A magazine from New York had a reporter attend a session, the local ABC Channel (WSB) had a camera crew film the group. (It is supposed to part of a program on job hunting on March 11 at 800 PM in Atlanta) and last week a crew from the CBS Evening News (Katy Couric) filmed the proceedings. When the CBS representative initially called she was told how the group of men were working together to help each other and seeking God's help in their job search. The CBS representative said she understood the importance of men helping each other, but she didn't get the part about including God in the process. Despite this comment the crew came anyway. Isn't it amazing that our government, the media and many of our fellow citizens are willing to spend tons of money and try almost anything to get our country back on track except turning to ultimate source of wisdom?