Welfare: Finding employment (3 of 4)

Welfare: Finding employment
By Michael De Groote
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-06-01 00:22:00

Third in a four-part series on church welfare.

�We all want to be able to take care of ourselves and our families,� Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of welfare services for the LDS Church, said in a recent interview. �Unemployment strikes at the very heart of our self-confidence. The longer we are unemployed, the harder it hits.�

Lifferth said it was fortunate that the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have encouraged members to have food storage to help weather financial storms. He told about what he called �four supporting pillars� to help those who are unemployed:

1. Faith

We need to have faith to find new employment. �Faith in ourselves that we can overcome, and that through hard work that we will soon find a job. Faith in others. And faith in the Lord, that he will sustain us and bless us,� Lifferth said. �Of all, he wants his children to be happy.�

2. Families and Friends

We need to rely upon our family and friends, Lifferth said, �to help us and sustain us and give us the support we need during these difficult times.�

3. Quorums and Ward Leaders and Relief Society

�I�m pleased as I watch the quorums of our wards go the extra mile. They are proactive and are helping by first, identifying those who are out of work and second, finding jobs for them,� Lifferth said. �(They) give them the encouragement and the support they need to get back on their feet.�

4. LDS Employment Centers

�The volunteers and staff of these centers, when they are not in the offices, they are out looking for jobs -- knocking on doors, trying to find ways to help,� Lifferth said.

Lifferth also recommends that an unemployed person thinks about the task of looking for work as if it is a full time job. �You have to work very, very hard,� he said. �And too often they�ll get discouraged and just stay home.�

When the interviews come, Lifferth recommends remembering the good things about former employers and being positive.

Reflecting on strengths and thinking about just who they are is another important element in finding a new job, Lifferth said. An unemployed person needs to decide what it is they want to accomplish, develop a plan and decide the kind of work they want to find.

�It is important that they remain positive and hopeful � knowing that they will find employment,� Lifferth said.

Lifferth told about how his grandfather found a job during the Depression. His grandfather had just immigrated to Salt Lake City. He was unemployed and knew nobody. �The support he received from both members of the church and the community was just incredible. He writes in his journal of all the people who helped him. It would have been impossible for him to start on his own. It required some kind of supporting help from those around him.�

And it still does.

Next week: The power of cooperation


E-MAIL: mdegroote@desnews.com


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