“Why don’t they just get a job….”

This is the most common statement we hear about those without stable shelter in our community. The remark shows a misunderstanding of how hard it is to secure and maintain a job while struggling on the streets. Our Pastor, Christie Love, often says, “Being homeless in Springfield, MO, is a full-time job because of the many gaps in the service system(s) that requires people to spend much of their day working for survival, food, shelter, and avoiding being criminalized.”

To help illustrate the realities of the barriers to work in our community, we compiled the findings of this Work Readiness Study that was developed using Harvard University’s Hidden Worker research. To collect this data locally, we surveyed 204 individuals, representing 10% of our community members who meet HUD’s definition of homeless. (per our current Street Census, which is at 2280)

We hope this study will help our community members better understand the day-to-day struggles of many of their neighbors. We also hope this data will highlight the desire of most of those without stable shelter in our city to overcome barriers to securing and maintaining a job.

We believe this data spotlights a wonderful opportunity for local employers to creatively and innovatively find ways to lower barriers for potential employees and tap into the large pool of hidden workers who call Springfield, MO, their home. On Wednesday, September 28th, we will be hosting a Community Conversation via Zoom call to discuss these data findings and ways we could use this information to lower barriers to work in our city.