HOW CAN THE LAID-OFF AND THEIR FAMILIES BE HELPED?

Mme. Magpie has been worrying. She is thinking, first of all, of the large numbers of persons who have been laid off. How have they been handling this very real blow to their lives? And second, she has been worrying about how their families and loved ones have been coping. As she sees it, both groups are in equal peril.

Back when she was the District’s (only) Patient Advocate for everyone in substance abuse treatment, she put together a huge list of every Twelve Step meeting in DC, by day of the week, hour and location. The idea was to ensure that when someone was ready to reach out for help, we would be able to find somewhere to go right away. The list included all the “anon” fellowship programs for family members, because their needs were as great as the fellowship programs for the addicts themselves. All were affected, all were hurting.

And, as a current volunteer with a group that provide grief assistance to families of homicide victims in DC, Mme. Magpie is aware of the depth of assistance needed for families that have suddenly had shocking news that will affect the rest of their lives.

Not only do persons who have suddenly lost their jobs need grief and psychological counseling, especially when the chances of picking up another job are so slim in this deep recession, but their families are suffering psychologically and need help as well. It is obvious to Mme. Magpie that both groups of people will need real counseling over a period of time.

Why hasn’t that need been picked up by our employers? They owe it to their employees wherever possible, especially to employees who have given long and loyal service to their employer. All employers who can afford to offer even a little counseling, should do so, and those who can but don’t should be singled out for public disdain.

Lord knows that’s true of the District Government, which shows its contradictory planning process by continuing to hire while it is firing. If it’s got enough money to keep on hiring people, it should pay for counseling and guidance programs for those whom it has just dropped from its payrolls – and their families. It can afford to do so, so why hasn’t it done it already? This lack of caring is sad, and needs to be remedied ASAP. Other large employers who are shedding jobs in the area should do the same.

Surah 5:32 of the Koran contains the oft-cited lines that “if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind”. The same Surah also goes on to exhort people of different religious traditions to “Vie, then, with one another in doing good works!” Mme. Magpie thinks that employers who have let persons go, for whatever reasons, ought to contemplate the potential catastrophic results and find some way to aid its ex-employees and their families with useful and needed counseling. Employers vying for ways to be helpful can and will be remembered as doing their best in a difficult situation. And that, if applied widely, can help save an economic universe.