Save Eastern Market

While most coverage of the South Hall merchants has been focused on the families themselves, there are quite a few employees who either worked at the counters or behind the scenes to make Eastern Market such a great place. As a result of the fire, each of these people now faces the potential of a few months -- or more -- without a daily job, and while some of the merchants might be able to help their employees in some alternative capacity for a little while, it's likely that most of the employees are under financial or other pressure to find other jobs, jobs which they might not be able to leave to return to the Market when it reopens in some capacity.

With this in mind, Hill business owner Byron Buck has started an organization, the Eastern Market Employment Initiative, which aims to find temporary local employment for the displaced workers. Far from asking for charity, Buck's initiative is trying to connect Hill businesses which have needs with a pool of potential employees who are demonstrably motivated to make the neighborhood a better place, and is similarly trying to find parters which can assist in coordinating the initiative, providing space for training, and the like. They've released their general proposal for review by the community and local businesses, and Buck released a progress report yesterday which shows that they've received both support and encouragement from the offices of the Mayor and Councilman Wells, and that CHCF has committed to helping the initiative as well.

If you run a Hill business and are interested in at least opening up a conversation with Buck to see how you can help, drop him a line at EMEmploymentNetwork@earthlink.net.