>> Black Americans who are
among the hardest hit by the
coronavirus layoffs are now
recovering at the slowest rate.
It’s a 1, 2, punch
that threatens.
>> To worsen the wealth and
income disparities among view
in the U.S. long after the
pandemic receipts KPRC two’s.
Any Serota has a closer look at
the steps being taken locally
to bridge the divide this night, stronger Houston.
night, stronger Houston.
♪
>> Mika Diamond lost her job
as a part-time executive
assistant when the insurance
company she
worked for shut down one year
ago at the beginning of
the pandemic. She’s been
looking for work ever since.
I
had to.
>> To face the fact that I
can’t go back when I want to
go bag, Diamond has something
to fall back on. She owns her
own marketing and consulting
company but being your own boss
in a pandemic isn’t easy.
I just had to pick it had to
figure out a
way of.
>> How can I make my job.
How can I make my company work
until something else was found
40 while the economy is showing
signs of recovery. The pandemic
has disproportionately.
>> Affected people
of color.
>> Women especially have been
hit the hardest in the latest
national jobs report from
February. The unemployment rate
for black Americans rose to
9.9%, the highest among all
groups that are trapped with
black and Latina women facing
the highest unemployment rate
among all women.
>> I can place.
>> A regular posting on social
media and you literally get
hundreds of calls for people
that are looking for work and
that want to go
to work.
>> Houston based Lane staffing
bills itself as one of the
largest african-american owned
employment
placement companies in the
Southwest plane. Carla Lane is
the president and CEO and it’s
helping me cut Diamond
navigate. The challenges of finding work.
finding work.
>> Again, the systems in place
to make employment in my
community. Difficult. But
they’re also organizations that
are fighting to bridge
those gaps.
>> The system’s Lane is
referring to which she believes
her having a profound impact on
the unemployment gap for women
of color include education
access to money for small
business owners, higher
education, housing and
mobility. The pandemic. She
says has only magnified those
longstanding inequities.
>> So that means we’ve got to
have better education, better
opportunities for people of
color the Houston area urban
League is striving to do that
in many different ways working
to change the dynamic in part
through its urban technology
jobs program by providing
resources
and training to help prepare
job seekers for a career in the
21st century workforce,
something this to help to pay
your mortgage.
>> So that’s going to help to
ensure that you can go
to college. We’ve got a story.
We’re still tracking people all
these high income, high wage
jobs. This will ensure that
they can provide.
>> For themselves and their
family raising awareness about
the need for those
opportunities. Comes at a very
critical time.
41 per stand.
>> A black
first 4 men set the pandemic,
Vicki some and are founded secrets of the sister ship a
secrets of the sister ship a
local program run by women.
>> For women.
>> She is now working with city
leaders to help connect job
seekers to resources such as
job fairs, retraining vote in
field that are flourishing
right now. Like real estate
construction this time has
made us what more desire, more
Mika
diamonds desire to become a
business coach. I would be one
of those people that will go
back into the communities as
I am. Doing community service