July 5, 2025 • 11 mins
Tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents are officially unemployed, and trying to find a job isn't easy these days. Often, when you're switching careers, it can be difficult to know where to start, or what resources are available for you. ABCD and MassHire are teaming up to open a brand new career center in Roxbury's Nubian Square! ABCD's President and CEO, Sharon Scott-Chandler, returns to the show to talk about all it has to offer.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here and talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. It is great to have you back with
us this holiday weekend. I'm Nicole Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
This week I took a look at the latest data
on unemployment here in Massachusetts and it shows as of May,
more than one hundred and ninety thousand people have lost
their jobs and are on the hunt for work. Many
companies are holding off right now on hiring because of
the volatile economy these days. If you want to find
a job, you have to stand out more than ever,
really prove why you're the one, and for many people
(00:42):
might not even know where to start marketing themselves or
even know where to find a job. Mass Hire is
now teaming up with Action Boston Community Development, opening up
and running a brand new career center right in Nubian
Square in Roxbury. Sharon Scott Chandler is the President and
CEO of ABCD.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
It is great to have you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Back on the show. Share and before we get into
the career center, give us a quick reminder of what
you do at ABCD and the people you serve here
in Boston.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Sure, So, ABCD is Boston's designated anti poverty agency and
we cover greater Boston, not only is the city of Boston,
but Mystric Valley, some cities and towns surrounding Boston, and
we really provide pathways in partnership with the community and
with people to have everyone in our community thrive. And
(01:33):
that's through tools anti poverty. Tools that include support with housing,
support with childcare, workforce development, many of the pieces that
we know everyone needs to really build economically sort of
positive successful life.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
There is a lot of volatility when it comes to
federal funding. There's a lot of confusion. There's a lot
of great groups like yourselves doing a lot of work
in our communities. We need people like you more than
ever at this point.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's as you said,
it's hard for everybody. You know, Folks who didn't find
themselves in dire economic circumstances are now finding it hard
to make ends meet and pay for the children to
go to school and put food on the table.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And rent is so high.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So yeah, it's we do what we can, and like
I said, in partnership with because we don't do it alone,
and we don't do it for people.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
We do it with people.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, and part of that is helping people get
connected to work. This newest situation, what we're talking about
is a new career center, and you're doing this with
mass Hire. So tell us a little bit first about
mass Hire and how this partnership came together in the
first place.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
So mass Hire is kind of the state's workforce development
system and there are various mass Higher career centers. There
are workforce boards all across the state, but then their
career centers that really sort of implement the work of
workforce development system, the public workforce development system. And so
(03:10):
we opened up a new career center in Boston in
partnership with Boston's Workforce Development Board or mass Higher Workforce Board,
which is called the PICK, so the Private Industry Council,
and that's led by Neil Sullivan, and so in partnering
with them in Boston, we began running the mass Higher
(03:31):
Career Center Boston in July of twenty twenty four. However,
we were looking for a location in the center of
Roxbury and we found one in Nubian Square ten. Malcolm
X Boulevard to really centralize services, much needed services in
our communities, and so ABCD actually brings a little bit
(03:56):
of the centralized sort of main comprehensive services as well
as our neighborhood based access points. So we were very
pleased to have a grand opening with the Mayor, with
the Secretary of Labor. So it's been a wonderful, wonderful
first year.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Really, tell me about this new home of yours right
there in Nubian Square. I mean, there are so many
beautiful older buildings in that part of Roxbury, and I
think that that whole part of the neighborhood is getting
sort of a revival, and I love what people are
doing with that mix of old and new. Tell me
about what your new building has to offer and why
you liked it so much.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Absolutely, it's very centrally located. So ten Malcolm X Boulevard
is on a corner. It's actually in the same building
as the Social Security Administration.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Sure, okay, yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Don't know if it's an old brick building. Probably I
don't even know the early nineteen hundreds. I'm kind of
sitting in the background, and so, but it's a wonderful
space there's a lot of space and accessibility because it's
on a bus line that runs right down Malcolm X Boulevard.
(05:10):
It's across from the post Office, it's across from Madison Park,
it's up the street from Roxbury Community College. So it's
really in and located in the heart of Nubian Square,
which is a very busy transportation hub. But it's also,
as you said, going through a revival with lots.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Of small business.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
The public Boston Public Schools is there, has been there
for a number of years, so it's really a vibrant
always been a vibrant community. But in terms of this
workforce piece, we felt like we were adding a central
component or tool for people who were trying to get
better jobs, find work, for employers to connect to. And
(05:54):
so that's what this building in this location offers.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So then if somebody comes to your new career center
and they walk in, what do you have to offer them.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
We are able to give them counseling for career services,
so career counseling, we give them support services what we
call support services navigation, which is almost like pre employment,
so if you need other things besides employment. So we
know that the key to not only getting a job,
(06:25):
but keeping a job is having some of those support services,
those ancillary services. Do you have I mean, first of all,
housing and people do come to us without housing, So
do you have housing, do you have childcare?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Do you have health care?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
We connect folks to healthcare, so that's kind of the
baseline for people who walk in and might need the
folks that we serve who might need basic needs supports.
But there's also again there's training and education, so we
have a lot of workshops focused on healthcare, focus on technology.
(07:03):
We partner with Roxbury Community College with Benjamin Franklin Institute,
so local higher education institutions, so for people to get
certificates and skills in various industries, so they get not
only support services, they get training and counseling. We also
(07:25):
have employment services, so employers can find us at ten
Malcolm X and they can be able to recruit candidates.
They can get support from us in terms of what
is it they need, What are the basic levels of
skills they want, what are their frontline employees? Are they
(07:48):
looking for higher skilled employees? So we go through that
kind of analysis with them.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Just a host of things.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I think anything in that you know folks who are unemployed.
So if someone loses their job or is laid off
from their job, we are connected the mass higher system.
That's part of it, is connected to the unemployment system. Okay,
so for those who might be receiving unemployment, we're connecting
with them to help them get re employed.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So just a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I mean, it runs the gamut, it seems. And honestly,
I mean that is sometimes when people are really in
the thick of it, they just need somebody to sit
down with them and be like, Okay, how can we
cover your most basic needs? Because I remember I did
an interview on the show I think a year or
two ago. It was about people who are unhoused trying
to find a job, and a big roadblock that they
(08:43):
run into is that all the job applications want to
know where you're going to live, right, and then if
you need an ID, you need a place to live,
and then if you don't have the ID, you can't
get the job. It's all this awful circle. So it
seems like this is a great place to at least start,
because sometimes it can be so confusing and you just
need a central location to start.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Absolutely, absolutely and as you said, we help people who
are anywhere on that spectrum, So people who are unhoused,
people who are really starting at the basic level. Two
folks who may have you know, they're sort of mid
career and they've been laid off from a job and
they either need to get reskilled or they need to
(09:27):
just get back in the workforce. So the mass higher
career centers do offer sort of a one stop shop
for everyone on that spectrum of.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You know, trying to get employment.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Okay, so it's a ten Malcolm X boulevard. How can
people support the work you're doing with this new career center.
I mean it takes money, It takes a lot of
energy to get something like this up and running. How
can people help you out with this?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
We take all kinds of support, or take advantage of
all kinds of support. Folks can volunteer, you know, there
are lots of opportunities to volunteer, whether that's for workshops
or digital literacy or mentoring. They can also donate to ABCD.
All of the programs that we run we seek donations
(10:20):
for to help us support the services that aren't covered
by public dollars. So it is a public grant. However,
as all of us know, that does not support the
entirety of what we need to do and what we.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Try to do. So we're always raising funds for things
like this.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
If folks run a small business or they're an employer,
they can connect with us so we can offer more
opportunities for people. So there's lots of small businesses that
could use employees that are coming through the Career Center.
We'd love to develop relationships with more employelawyers and more
people to broaden access.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Okay, So if people want to find out more about
the Career Center or all the great work ABCD does,
where can they connect with you?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Our website is www dot BOSTONABCD dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Easy enough BOSTONABCD dot org. Sharon Scott Chandler, it's so
good to see you and all the best with your
new Career Center.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thank you, Nicole so much. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Have a safe and healthy holiday weekend. Please join me
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from Wbznews Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week we come together right here and talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. It is great to have you back with
us this holiday weekend. I'm Nicole Davis.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
This week I took a look at the latest data
on unemployment here in Massachusetts and it shows as of May,
more than one hundred and ninety thousand people have lost
their jobs and are on the hunt for work. Many
companies are holding off right now on hiring because of
the volatile economy these days. If you want to find
a job, you have to stand out more than ever,
really prove why you're the one, and for many people
(00:42):
might not even know where to start marketing themselves or
even know where to find a job. Mass Hire is
now teaming up with Action Boston Community Development, opening up
and running a brand new career center right in Nubian
Square in Roxbury. Sharon Scott Chandler is the President and
CEO of ABCD.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
It is great to have you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Back on the show. Share and before we get into
the career center, give us a quick reminder of what
you do at ABCD and the people you serve here
in Boston.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Sure, So, ABCD is Boston's designated anti poverty agency and
we cover greater Boston, not only is the city of Boston,
but Mystric Valley, some cities and towns surrounding Boston, and
we really provide pathways in partnership with the community and
with people to have everyone in our community thrive. And
(01:33):
that's through tools anti poverty. Tools that include support with housing,
support with childcare, workforce development, many of the pieces that
we know everyone needs to really build economically sort of
positive successful life.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
There is a lot of volatility when it comes to
federal funding. There's a lot of confusion. There's a lot
of great groups like yourselves doing a lot of work
in our communities. We need people like you more than
ever at this point.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, thank you, thank you. Yeah, it's as you said,
it's hard for everybody. You know, Folks who didn't find
themselves in dire economic circumstances are now finding it hard
to make ends meet and pay for the children to
go to school and put food on the table.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
And rent is so high.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
So yeah, it's we do what we can, and like
I said, in partnership with because we don't do it alone,
and we don't do it for people.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
We do it with people.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
So yeah, and part of that is helping people get
connected to work. This newest situation, what we're talking about
is a new career center, and you're doing this with
mass Hire. So tell us a little bit first about
mass Hire and how this partnership came together in the
first place.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
So mass Hire is kind of the state's workforce development
system and there are various mass Higher career centers. There
are workforce boards all across the state, but then their
career centers that really sort of implement the work of
workforce development system, the public workforce development system. And so
(03:10):
we opened up a new career center in Boston in
partnership with Boston's Workforce Development Board or mass Higher Workforce Board,
which is called the PICK, so the Private Industry Council,
and that's led by Neil Sullivan, and so in partnering
with them in Boston, we began running the mass Higher
(03:31):
Career Center Boston in July of twenty twenty four. However,
we were looking for a location in the center of
Roxbury and we found one in Nubian Square ten. Malcolm
X Boulevard to really centralize services, much needed services in
our communities, and so ABCD actually brings a little bit
(03:56):
of the centralized sort of main comprehensive services as well
as our neighborhood based access points. So we were very
pleased to have a grand opening with the Mayor, with
the Secretary of Labor. So it's been a wonderful, wonderful
first year.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Really, tell me about this new home of yours right
there in Nubian Square. I mean, there are so many
beautiful older buildings in that part of Roxbury, and I
think that that whole part of the neighborhood is getting
sort of a revival, and I love what people are
doing with that mix of old and new. Tell me
about what your new building has to offer and why
you liked it so much.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Absolutely, it's very centrally located. So ten Malcolm X Boulevard
is on a corner. It's actually in the same building
as the Social Security Administration.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Sure, okay, yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Don't know if it's an old brick building. Probably I
don't even know the early nineteen hundreds. I'm kind of
sitting in the background, and so, but it's a wonderful
space there's a lot of space and accessibility because it's
on a bus line that runs right down Malcolm X Boulevard.
(05:10):
It's across from the post Office, it's across from Madison Park,
it's up the street from Roxbury Community College. So it's
really in and located in the heart of Nubian Square,
which is a very busy transportation hub. But it's also,
as you said, going through a revival with lots.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Of small business.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
The public Boston Public Schools is there, has been there
for a number of years, so it's really a vibrant
always been a vibrant community. But in terms of this
workforce piece, we felt like we were adding a central
component or tool for people who were trying to get
better jobs, find work, for employers to connect to. And
(05:54):
so that's what this building in this location offers.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So then if somebody comes to your new career center
and they walk in, what do you have to offer them.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
We are able to give them counseling for career services,
so career counseling, we give them support services what we
call support services navigation, which is almost like pre employment,
so if you need other things besides employment. So we
know that the key to not only getting a job,
(06:25):
but keeping a job is having some of those support services,
those ancillary services. Do you have I mean, first of all,
housing and people do come to us without housing, So
do you have housing, do you have childcare?
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Do you have health care?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
We connect folks to healthcare, so that's kind of the
baseline for people who walk in and might need the
folks that we serve who might need basic needs supports.
But there's also again there's training and education, so we
have a lot of workshops focused on healthcare, focus on technology.
(07:03):
We partner with Roxbury Community College with Benjamin Franklin Institute,
so local higher education institutions, so for people to get
certificates and skills in various industries, so they get not
only support services, they get training and counseling. We also
(07:25):
have employment services, so employers can find us at ten
Malcolm X and they can be able to recruit candidates.
They can get support from us in terms of what
is it they need, What are the basic levels of
skills they want, what are their frontline employees? Are they
(07:48):
looking for higher skilled employees? So we go through that
kind of analysis with them.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Just a host of things.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I think anything in that you know folks who are unemployed.
So if someone loses their job or is laid off
from their job, we are connected the mass higher system.
That's part of it, is connected to the unemployment system. Okay,
so for those who might be receiving unemployment, we're connecting
with them to help them get re employed.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So just a lot of different things.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
I mean, it runs the gamut, it seems. And honestly,
I mean that is sometimes when people are really in
the thick of it, they just need somebody to sit
down with them and be like, Okay, how can we
cover your most basic needs? Because I remember I did
an interview on the show I think a year or
two ago. It was about people who are unhoused trying
to find a job, and a big roadblock that they
(08:43):
run into is that all the job applications want to
know where you're going to live, right, and then if
you need an ID, you need a place to live,
and then if you don't have the ID, you can't
get the job. It's all this awful circle. So it
seems like this is a great place to at least start,
because sometimes it can be so confusing and you just
need a central location to start.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Absolutely, absolutely and as you said, we help people who
are anywhere on that spectrum, So people who are unhoused,
people who are really starting at the basic level. Two
folks who may have you know, they're sort of mid
career and they've been laid off from a job and
they either need to get reskilled or they need to
(09:27):
just get back in the workforce. So the mass higher
career centers do offer sort of a one stop shop
for everyone on that spectrum of.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You know, trying to get employment.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Okay, so it's a ten Malcolm X boulevard. How can
people support the work you're doing with this new career center.
I mean it takes money, It takes a lot of
energy to get something like this up and running. How
can people help you out with this?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
We take all kinds of support, or take advantage of
all kinds of support. Folks can volunteer, you know, there
are lots of opportunities to volunteer, whether that's for workshops
or digital literacy or mentoring. They can also donate to ABCD.
All of the programs that we run we seek donations
(10:20):
for to help us support the services that aren't covered
by public dollars. So it is a public grant. However,
as all of us know, that does not support the
entirety of what we need to do and what we.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Try to do. So we're always raising funds for things
like this.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
If folks run a small business or they're an employer,
they can connect with us so we can offer more
opportunities for people. So there's lots of small businesses that
could use employees that are coming through the Career Center.
We'd love to develop relationships with more employelawyers and more
people to broaden access.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Okay, So if people want to find out more about
the Career Center or all the great work ABCD does,
where can they connect with you?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Our website is www dot BOSTONABCD dot org.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Easy enough BOSTONABCD dot org. Sharon Scott Chandler, it's so
good to see you and all the best with your
new Career Center.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thank you, Nicole so much. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Have a safe and healthy holiday weekend. Please join me
again next week for another edition of the show. I'm
Nicole Davis from Wbznews Radio on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com