January 01, 2011
Update: we’re putting together a more current collection of useful links and resources, including tips on employment searches and personal finance, and other strategies to deal with economic pressures and rising unemployment.
Employment is a major concern in Alabama, still hovering around 9% statewide. Your first stop should definitely be the Alabama JobLink (https://joblink.alabama.gov/ada), which not only posts available positions but also offers many useful resources and tips. If you need specific information about unemployment benefits (including filing online), it’s all on the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations website (https://dir.alabama.gov/uc/ICCS/).
For personal economic resources, it’s hard to beat ADECA (Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs) for information specific to the region. With so many Alabamans facing foreclosure issues, it’s always worth looking into your loan refinancing, debt consolidation, and credit management options.
A helpful site with many Alabama-specific resources, especially legal information on bankruptcy and foreclosure, may be found at Avvo’s Alabama page(http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/Alabama-Free-Legal-Resources). This site also offers plenty of useful regional healthcare information, too!
If you are aware of any programs or services which might be of use to our readership, please share via the contact us form. Resources that we are seeking would include any businesses that are in search of labor, skilled, highly trained, or otherwise. Contractors and builders who normally recruit via traditional media may find it useful to employ our Grapevine to spread the word.
There are some programs that may lead to work in other environments, perhaps even out of state (Jobs Plus is one example) and even out of country (many programs exist, including some related to medical tourism and other NGO opportunities especially with our sister organizations in Costa Rico and Sudan).
