Chesapeake Job Club Leader on a Mission
Local businesses give members free morale-boosting makeovers.
Nov. 24, 2008 — -- Laurie Baggett is helping people find jobs with a career club called the IT Factor and she's got a lot of members who need help.
"I have 12 people in my job club and I can tell you when I go to sleep at night, I am thinking about them. I will do what it takes. I am committed to them until every person has a job," Baggett said.
Baggett has already helped Rachel Judy become a stay-at-home virtual assistant.
"I knew our savings was going to run out and I would have to make something and I refused to go back to work traditional," Judy said.
Patricia Carawan needed work because of big changes in her life.
"To be going through a divorce, raising two kids, have no retirement, no money put aside, yeah it's scary," she said.
Carawan is now a freelance accountant.
Baggett established her career club thanks to the efforts of Tori Johnson, a workplace correspondent on "Good Morning America."
Baggett recently arranged for unemployed club members to have haircuts and makeovers and get confidence-building tips -- all donated by local companies that want to help.
Shee Lee Rock, a new club member, was laid off three weeks ago and she's got a child and bills to pay.
"It was quite devastating," Rock said. "I think I am still in shock and I am trying to move forward."
Baggett is determined to help Rock and others like her.
"It is a tough economy to find work, but work is still there and that's what we do. We help people find their passion, build their confidence and get out there," Baggett said.
Click here to view the original story from ABC-TV's Chesapeake affiliate WVEC.
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