Still seeking work: Henderson residents share struggles with unemployment

It has been a trying and tiring two years for Thelma Greene as she has struggled to search for employment. But she hopes her most recent trip to Nevada JobConnect is the panacea to her woes.

"I can feel it," Greene said. "God never gives me more than I can handle."

Greene joined other job seekers recently at the Henderson office of Nevada JobConnect, 119 S. Water St., to search for employment.

Some have returned time and time again, scouring postings, while others begin their first day poring through listings.

All carry the same hope, that this will be the day to find a job.

Greene has been back and forth to the JobConnect offices in Las Vegas and Henderson.

After six years working for the same cleaning service that would contract her out, Greene, 43, stopped getting phone calls for work.

"I called them to see what was going on, but I never heard back," she said.

Greene and her three children, ages 15, 13 and 3, have struggled with homelessness for two years as she has sought employment.

They have lived at several shelters around town such as Henderson-based S.A.F.E. House while trying to get on their feet.

The program she has been in has required her to apply for at least 10 jobs per week. She hasn't seen any results yet.

Her biggest obstacle is finding care for her youngest child while at work.

"I can't afford day care, so I have to find something that lets me work swing shift," she said.

Greene said she was supposed to start a job at the beginning of the year, but that fell through.

"So I'm back to square one," she said.

Square one is a hard spot. The last two years have resulted in stress and weight loss for Greene.

But she keeps on smiling.

"I don't want my children to see me stressed out," she said. "They can see it on your face."

Greene said one night watching television, she started laughing.

"My son asked me what I was laughing about," she said. "Then he told me he fell asleep smiling because I was laughing again."

With her children in mind, Greene moves on to the next application and possible interview. This time, it's a posting for the restaurant T.G.I. Friday's.

Ron Childress, 36, and Maurice Peterman, 34, arrived at the JobConnect offices together.

"We are best friends," Peterman said. "I consider him my brother."

The two, veterans from the U.S. Air Force, met while serving overseas.

"We've traveled to London, Germany, Saudi Arabia," Peterman said. "We became men."

After their service, the two went to college together at Washington State University. Now they will tackle unemployment and housing together in a new state.

"My father said I should move down here," Childress said. "I love the weather. They say this is the place to come if you're a free spirit."

Because they both had family in Henderson, they have a support system.

"It's a good transition because they are there to help us get on our feet," Peterman said.

After four days in town, they came to JobConnect to find out more information about assistance specific to veterans.

Both are fairly open to the type of employment they want to obtain.

"I just want to work for a formidable company, make a good wage, work my way up and earn good retirement benefits," Childress said.

They hope the search goes quickly.

"I think because of our service, employers know what to expect," Peterman said. "We are reliable."

Roger Cotman, 59, has been coming to Nevada JobConnect for about 10 months. He said full-time job searching is like full-time employment.

Almost every morning, he gets up, puts on a nice shirt, treks down to the Henderson JobConnect to check emails and postings and then goes to the library.

"I get back to my room around 3:30 p.m.," Cotman said. "It is my way of re-creating going to work."

Cotman has been in Henderson off and on since March. He moves back and forth between Henderson and Las Vegas depending on the cheap rooms he can find.

He worked in the chemical distribution and packaging field in Texas for nearly 35 years.

The downturn of his company wasn't surprising.

"The whole industry was slowing down," he said.

Even though he picked up consultant work and odd jobs, Cotman still was seeking long-term employment. He hadn't had full-time employment in several years and thought he could use a change.

He had been to Las Vegas several times so decided to give it a try living here.

"I moved out here raw with no job offers," he said. "You get to the age where not a lot makes you nervous."

Coming to JobConnect nearly every day, Cotman has applied for about 20 jobs a week. In 10 months, that process has yielded four interviews.

He tried to find offers close to his field.

"But there are always questions that disqualify me," he added. "I submit my résumé anyway."

He has branched out to whatever employment he can seek.

"You're at the bottom of the barrel," Cotman said. "A lot of the things I've seen posted are the same ones I've seen over and over again."

Without work, Cotman has sold off various possessions to pay rent.

He hopes his current lead at a chemical company will be his next break.

"After awhile, you just get numb," he said.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.