Barbara Lee

Nashville Career Advancement Center

As a resource center assistant at the Nashville Career Advancement Center (“NCAC”), Barbara Lee is on the front lines in the Great Recession, helping people who have been victimized by the economic downturn. The NCAC provides Middle Tennesseans with career development resources in order to produce a skilled workforce for businesses.
 
A wife and mother, Barbara handles a caseload of clients who are looking for work or changing careers. On a day to day basis, she assists clients with computer usage, building their resumes, helping them with job searches, or helping navigate the bureaucracy of relief agencies. She also promotes clients attendance to pertinent workshops and she pre-screens applicants for the federal Workforce Investment Act program.
 
“It is rough out there, but things are getting better,” Barbara says. “The economy here is starting to turn around and we are starting to have more success in getting people placed in jobs.”

One thing Barbara has learned over the last year that she’s been at the NCAC is how vulnerable people are to the whims of the profit motive. “I see every day how easy it is for honest, hard-working people to lose their job through no fault of their own. I joined SEIU because I want to be part of an organization that sees the value in people’s work and who will advocate for better paying jobs and good benefits that people can support their family on”.

Barbara is starting to get more active in the union—she’s started to attend the monthly chapter meetings so that she'll be able to help even more working families than she does now. “My job is to help people find work, but someone has to be looking out for our jobs too so we can help people,” Barbara says. “That’s why I’m excited to start getting more involved with the Union and I hope more Metro employees will do the same.”