An unemployment story about New Bern will be featured in a retrospective of 2011 on New Year’s Day on Tokyo Broadcasting System, a sister network to CBS.
The segment about locally unemployed and underemployed residents in New Bern was filmed early in December to highlight the impact of the global recession on the working middle class.
It will appear as part of the “Sunday Morning” program in Tokyo.
Four Japanese journalists chose New Bern for their story after reading a story in USA Today about a local unemployment support group.
North Carolina ranks sixth in the nation for the highest unemployment, currently at 10 percent.
“USA Today called me after the Department of Labor reported that New Bern’s middle class was disproportionately affected,” said Stacy Kendall, the unemployment group’s facilitator.
Kendall started the support group 18 months ago after losing her job and thought she could help herself and others by networking. She continues to lead the group, although she has since found work.
“Our Fellowship was expressing concern that we weren’t helping our community enough,” said Kendall, a member of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of New Bern. “I recognized the growing unemployment problem in New Bern and recognized that I had a certain skill set that might be of value.”
She got permission from the leadership to use the church’s facility twice a month for meetings.
“That worked fine until Hurricane Irene, which tore the roof off the church and left us with no meeting space,” she said.
The group missed several meetings until arrangements were made with the public library to house them temporarily.
A typical group of people seeking support group help may range in age from 25 to mid-40s and 50s, Kendall told the Sun Journal in a November interview.
“They have varying backgrounds but they all have the same problems — not having jobs or the opportunity to work in the field of their experience,” Kendall said. “They are really struggling to take care of their families.”
The majority of people seeking support are the underemployed, Kendall said.
“We have people with degrees working in gas stations,” she said.
Kendall said New Bern has a large number of retired people who lost income security when stocks plummeted and home values fell.
The Japanese crew met with some of Kendall’s group at their possible future meeting space at Craven Community College.
“The economic situation is one that interests the Japanese people,” said Yoko Yamada, the TBS associate producer.
TBS will have segments that present the economic recession worldwide, including Occupy Wall Street, and the continued string of housing foreclosures.
The Japanese version of “Sunday Morning” is similar to the CBS program of the same title that presents in-depth stories in the news.
Yamada, who is based in New York, arrived with a crew from Japan that included director Kazuyasu Kudo, cameraman Keiichiro Hoashi, and audio technician Keiko Yamazaki.
They taped some of the group’s discussion, interviewed Kendall and Mark Best, director of Craven Community College’s Workforce Readiness Program and host to Kendall’s group.
The Unemployment/Underemployment Support Group may begin meeting at the college soon as part of its new development initiative to help the unemployed improve their skills and chances of employment.
Unemployed support group member Teresa Hays said she has found the group very helpful.
“We are all struggling with the same issues,” she said, adding that she hopes to learn about job opportunities from the group.
She added that it is also valuable to have “the opportunity to talk to others and hear their perspectives.”
Lee Teel, another member, talked about the store he worked at in downtown New Bern until a recent illness.
“I loved going to work every day,” he said. “We sold green products and helped developing countries with sustainable industry.”
Hays agreed, adding, “There is no greater feeling in the world than working for yourself.”
She had a photography studio before the digital age and admits she did not make the transition with the new technology.
“It took me a lot of years to get paid in my photography studio,” she said. “I was in business for 10 years at the time of my divorce and I was just at the point where I was established. People came looking for me.”
A theme among the support group members was how job loss preceded some other life-changing event.
Kendall lost her husband to cancer.
Hays divorced and could not sustain her self employment, a situation echoed by Teel who suffered a serious illness.
Personifying the Department of Labor statistics, all three lived comfortable middle class lives before losing their jobs.
To learn more about the free education and training programs at Craven Community College, contact Mark Best, director of Workforce Readiness & Special Programs at 252-638-7247.
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