When Retirement Isn’t Working
By Teresa Burney

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Consuela Alamia and her husband were looking forward to a happy retirement-together. The 61-year-old Houston woman had just quit her job and her husband was looking forward to his own upcoming retirement, when unexpectedly, he died.

"He was the breadwinner," Alamia says. "Suddenly, I had no income coming in and I had little savings [after raising four children]. What little money I had was running out."

She needed to get a job and it wasn't feasible for her to go back to work for her former employer, whose offices were a grueling, 30-mile drive away.

Then she heard about the AARP Foundation's Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) for low-income people. Using grants from the U.S. Department of Labor, SCSEP puts people to work in temporary, part-time jobs at public and nonprofit organizations where they receive on-the-job training. The program's mission is to turn this training and work experience into finding full-time work.

‘AARP really takes care of business...They put me back to work’

"It's a win-win, not only for the enrollees but for the community," says Jim Seith, national director of AARP/SCSEP. "We use federal grant dollars not only to train people and get them new work experiences, but also we provide for about 8 million hours of free community service a year nationwide." 

Alamia was assigned a part-time job as a receptionist at a center for nonprofit groups while she looked for full-time work and brushed up on her job-seeking skills.

While working at the center, she found a job as director of resources for a senior center. Now she plans activities and presentations there.

"It's fun," Alamia says of her work. "You get to meet people. I have learned a lot about seniors."

Alamia is not alone in her need to work at a time when many are considering retirement.

The stock market decline forced many people to postpone retirement. Those already retired, relying on investment income that is no longer sufficient, find themselves back in the job market as well.

"We get people who haven't been able to find a job for a year or more," says Joyce Dumin, SCSEP's director of corporate relationships. Many are too young to collect Social Security. Some are members of the "sandwich generation," supporting their college-age children as well as their parents.

To qualify for a part-time training job through the Senior Employment Program, people must be 55 or older and have an income no higher than 125 percent of the poverty level. Income from 401(k) savings and some other sources is not included in that calculation, Dumin says.

Even if you think you don't meet the guidelines, you are welcome to visit an AARP/SCSEP office, says Seith. Although the training positions are only available to those who meet guidelines, local program directors may know of other job vacancies that you may be qualified for. Last year, several thousand people who didn't meet the income guidelines were helped anyway, Seith explains.

The AARP Foundation operates the program at 94 sites in 31 states and Puerto Rico. Many offices throughout the country have at least one bilingual staff person.

"People come to us with their self-esteem in the pits," Dumin says. "When they get jobs, they are like different people."

Elizabeth and Luis Cruz were visiting Orlando, Florida, from Puerto Rico for the birth of a grandchild when they learned about AARP/SCSEP. Before they knew it, both were working again.

Elizabeth Cruz, 58, who had nurse's aide experience in Puerto Rico, found a full-time job working with Alzheimer's patients. Luis Cruz, 67, a retired taxi driver, wasn't really looking hard for a job. Still, the organization found him one, working as a shuttle driver at the Orlando International Airport.

"AARP really takes care of business," he says. "They put me back to work. I am happy and my wife is also happy."

Johnny Hopkins had almost given up looking for a new job when he discovered SCSEP.

Although Hopkins has years of experience in warehouse management and operating heavy equipment, nobody would hire him-the Houston, Texas, native is 64 and missing an arm.

"I educated three kids and sent them to college," Hopkins says. "I have done everything I needed to do with one arm. I don't consider myself disabled."

But employers did.

"When you get to that age it's hard to find someone who will take you in, who will accept you," Hopkins explains. "They say they don't discriminate, but they do."

Not long after qualifying for SCSEP, Hopkins went to work full-time in the warehouse of an appliance retailer. "They gave me the momentum to find another job," Hopkins says of the program.

Last year, more than half the 7,000 people who qualified for SCSEP found full-time work, and another 10,000 received direct services or referrals.

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Now check out some of the other AARP programs available.

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