Linn County's unemployment rate - 15 percent - is still higher than state or national numbers.

In this recession, the high rate of unemployment means more people who want jobs and are actively seeking jobs cannot find one, adding to the competition for everyone, including people who are homeless.

In addition, several specific challenges face anyone who is homeless and looking for a job: No address or phone for employers to contact, lack of suitable interview clothes, no place to take a shower, and sometimes a lost Social Security card, ID or birth certificate.

When the Linn County Steering Committee on Homelessness started work on its 10-year plan, the county's unemployment rate was 6 percent.

"We were dealing with mostly chronically homeless," said County Commissioner Roger Nyquist. "While we were working on it (the plan), the world has changed."

With the increase in unemployment, the face of homelessness has changed to include people who have lost their jobs, and perhaps been unable to pay rent or mortgages.

"The best thing we can do is to do everything we can to try and move the unemployment rate down," Nyquist said. "At the federal level they're dealing with the lion's share of the resources, when in our own community we have people right on the edge."

Worksource Oregon

The employees at the Lebanon WorkSource Oregon Employment Department office can help people find a job, whether or not they have a home.

And they have.

"This particular customer was living in his van," supervisor Tracy Bedolla said. "He was homeless."

The office has a shower facility for those who need it. Business and employment specialist Sandra Rust keeps it stocked with hotel-sized shampoos and soaps, with clean towels to give to those who need them.

Rust told Bedolla the scruffy homeless man said, "I'm not going to get an interview because I look all scruffy."

Bedolla let him take a shower and shave, then took him to get clothes from the closet in the resource room at the office.

"He was living in his van and was so stressed and didn't know how he was going to get the job because he was all scruffy," Bedolla said. "They had the shower; they had the clothes closet. It's a little bit of above and beyond."

The man went to the interview and got the job.

"He hasn't been back so (Rust) assumes he is still working," Bedolla said.

Worksource Oregon communications manager Tom Fuller encourages job-seeks to make full use of local WorkSource Oregon centers. The Lebanon office is at 44 Industrial Way.

"It's your job search office," Fuller said.

Offices have copiers, fax machines, telephones, computers. People can send and receive e-mail, and get help with training and interviewing skills. On occasion, a small clothes closet is available.

"It's all free," Fuller said. "We work with everyone; they have to be legal to work in the U.S."

WorkSource Oregon's iMatchSkills, available online, guides people through steps outlining their talents and skills and creating a resume.

Using information provided by job-seekers and employers, the service matches potential candidates with employers.

Mistakes create barriers

Murky pasts can interfere with job searches, too.

At Christwalk transitional homes, where people are helped to get back on their feet, staff see problems that the homeless have finding work, especially those with criminal records.

"We're having problems with women with felonies, getting them jobs," said Annie Daniels, women's program director. "If they can't get work, they can't support themselves and will end up on the street again. It's a vicious cycle."

Daniels said while a woman lives in the home, she is supposed to be looking for work, but many women at the home are trying to catch up with the past, serving on work crews or even jail sentences.

Some have fines to pay, but no job to pay them with, which can mean more jail time.

"They're all going through a process," she said. "Each life and story is different."

Some places in Linn County are considered "felon-friendly," because they are known for giving a second chance to offenders, said June Forsyth-Kenagy, a member of the Christwalk steering committee.

Domino effect

"When workers are unemployed, they, their families, and the country as a whole lose," according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

Workers lose wages, the country loses the goods or services. The purchasing power of those workers is lost, which can lead to unemployment for even more people, the site said.

To help understand the economic situation, the bureau conducts household surveys once a month about who is employed, who is unemployed and who is not in the labor force.

Because homeless people do not have houses, they are generally not surveyed.

However, said state employment economist Nick Beleiciks, "Homelessness itself doesn't factor in to if they are in or out of the labor force."

"If they're looking and able for work, they are counted in the labor force," he added.

The unemployment rate is the most timely and easily understood indicator of the economy, Beleiciks said.

He said the unemployment rate is not just the number of people receiving unemployment insurance, but rather the number of people who want to work, are looking for work and are available to work.

In Linn County, that means 15 percent of the population want jobs and cannot find them. For those looking, it means stiff competition for the few jobs available.

Fewer jobs means fewer opportunities

Every year WorkSource Oregon does a statewide survey to see how many vacancies exist.

Preliminary figures from a soon-to-be-released statewide study show showed 18,242 job openings in Oregon this spring, which is significantly fewer than the 47,888 last year.

"It's because employers are cutting back; employers aren't hiring," Fuller said.

Unemployment insurance

While searching for a job, the unemployed can apply for unemployment benefits, whether or not they have a home.

In July, payments totaling $7,504,773 were made to 6,145 people in Linn County.

"The number of folks who are unemployed have just swamped the system," said WorkSource Oregon communications manager Tom Fuller.

He encourages people who are applying for unemployment to use the internet for faster service.