On Saturday morning I had a long chat with Warren Sukernek (@Warrenss). I congratulated him on his new job and I realized how my life has changed to be much more globally oriented rather than isolated (and I still live in the same place!)

The recessions in the past never really affected me much here in the rural Midwest. Yes I remember the farming recession. I grew up on a dairy farm but my parents had worked with my grandparents & weren’t deep in debt like so many of our neighbors. We weathered through it. And I’m sure there were other times, but our communities had strong industries (Polaris snowmobiles & Marvin Windows).

During my 9 years of working at the library the times that I noticed financial challenges were when we were asked to contact our legislators for support. One December we closed for 2 weeks as a budget saving measure. (That worked for us though).

But now is different. My friends are spread around the globe. And many have lost jobs. Each note causes me pain. The metro areas are getting hit harder, but that’s where the population densities are at. My home town lost 100 jobs, so it’s happening everywhere.

One thing that was interesting was that the Salvation army locally raised $30,000 more than last year. $230 k total.I think that’s a great indicator of hope.

Today some jobs came to my attention. I am parsing them out to people who I know are looking & would be good candidates. It’s a small thing. Please help your online neighbors to find work.

My suggestion if you’re job hunting is to focus on that, but use the additional time to volunteer. Get involved in a community of your choice. Find a company to assist. Help others. Pay it forward & your network will grow.

This period will pass as they always do.