Students go to D.C. to discuss job shortages in Robeson County

By Lawren Shepard
Campus Life Editor

About 150 people from Robeson County, including UNCP students, displaced workers and community leaders, traveled March 30 to Washington, D.C. to participate in a Congressional caucus forum on rural development.

The main goal of the Jobs for the Future program, a joint effort of several organizations, is to create more jobs in Robeson County, the most ethnically diverse rural county in the United States. According to a recent study, the county’s 24 percent poverty rate and illiteracy rate of 38 percent indicate serious economic problems.

UNCP professor Dr. Leslie Hossfeld and Mac Legerton, director of the Center for Community Action in Lumberton, are two co-authors of the study, titled “The Economic and Social Impact of Job Loss in Robeson County North Carolina.” According to the study, the loss of manufacturing jobs in Robeson County between 1993 and 2003 resulted in a loss of more than $713 million in jobs, income, and business taxes. Manufacturing jobs have always been an important part of North Carolina’s economy. According to the study, Robeson County lost 41 percent of its manufacturing jobs between 1997 and 2001.

Research for the study was compiled by Hossfeld, Legerton, Gerald Keuster and some of Hossfeld’s students.

Hossfeld’s classes worked to plan and organize the trip, selling raffle tickets and spreading the word on campus. Precious Stokes, a senior sociology major in Hossfeld’s class, was among the students who helped prepare for the event.

“We didn’t expect this much,” Stokes said. “But it’s huge, and I’m proud of it.”

LSOP students also sold the tickets and made the seven hour bus ride to D.C. to participate in the forum.

The program was a service-learning project for Hossfeld’s class, but all UNCP students were invited to participate in the trip. Chris Faulk, a junior majoring in sociology was among those who went.

“I’m new to the area, and I wanted to show my support in a physical way,” said Faulk.

UNCP student Brandon McDougald was among the presenters at the Congressional briefing. The room was jammed with people from many different walks of life: students wearing blue jeans, displaced workers in dresses and suits, and wide-eyed children in windbreakers. The room was too small to accommodate all of those in attendance, so many waited outside in the hallway during the meeting.

“Students say their biggest focus is finding a job after graduation,” he told the assembled forum. McDougald also spoke about the difficulties facing nontraditional students who have families to support and asked the forum members to help bring more opportunities to Robeson County.

Lizzie Oliver, a resident of Red Springs, worked at the Lumberton Converse plant for 34 years. Oliver attended the forum to show her support.

“I hope that by coming here today we’ll get more jobs,” she said. Oliver was one of 500 people who lost their job when the Converse plant, the last located in America, closed in 2001.

N.C. Rep. Mike McIntyre played a large role in setting up the program.

“This is the beginning of a dialogue, not an ending,” he said about the forum.

Local community leader Dale Deese was among the presenters. Deese addressed issues such as the alarmingly high number of working poor in Robeson County.

“You will not find our hopes and dreams, or the dreams of our children as a commodity on the stock market,” he said.

For more information on the Jobs for the Future program, visit http://www.povertyeast.org/jobs.