One Missed Shift Away from the Street: The cost of losing your job | This Robin Hood Moment

What does it take to rebuild your life when you’ve fallen through the cracks—after the job is gone, the rent’s past due, and there’s no safety net to catch you?

In New York City, the margin for error is razor thin—especially for low-income workers. One missed paycheck can mean eviction. One illness can mean job loss. One childcare emergency can unravel a household. For many New Yorkers, there is no cushion. There is no safety net. There is only the cost of choice: working while sick, delaying care, or turning down opportunity because stability is always on the line.

In this episode, we explore how workforce development can serve as a bridge—not just to employment, but to restored stability—after someone has already fallen through the cracks. Our guest is Aaron Shiffman, Executive Director of Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI), a nonprofit that has spent over 25 years helping New Yorkers build in-demand skills and launch careers in industries like transportation, media production, woodworking, and construction. For BWI, training isn’t the finish line—it’s the starting point of long-term support and upward mobility.

Together, we examine what it takes to help someone rebuild after crisis, how BWI navigates the gaps in public systems, and why meaningful employment remains one of the most powerful tools to fight poverty in New York City.

Tune in for insightful discussions on shaping policies to uplift communities and #FightPoverty. Subscribe for more episodes wherever you listen to your podcasts.

You can find transcripts and more episodes of "This Robin Hood Moment" at robinhood.org/podcasts.

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