Beach cleanup work keeps veterans afloat

PITCHING IN: Military veterans Matthew Paquette, left, and Jonathan Segal work at Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett on storm cleanup. / PBN PHOTO/MARTIN GAVIN
PITCHING IN: Military veterans Matthew Paquette, left, and Jonathan Segal work at Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett on storm cleanup. / PBN PHOTO/MARTIN GAVIN

After serving 17 years in the military, Matthew Paquette left his work as an electrician’s mate in the Navy, where he was assigned to the USS Shasta Battle Group Echo, stationed off the coast of Kuwait.
He returned to civilian life in 2005 and took advantage of a program called “Helmets to Hard Hats,” which helps veterans transition to construction careers. The East Providence resident spent four years completing his bricklayer’s apprenticeship with classes and on-the-job training.
“Now I’m a journeyman bricklayer, but unfortunately the economy tanked in Rhode Island. The work just dried up,” he said. “What’s my title? Unemployed bricklayer,” said the 44-year-old Paquette.
He’s among an army of former veterans in Rhode Island and across the nation trying to make due with temporary work – in Paquette’s case part of a federally funded beach-cleanup crew.
The plight of veterans who serve their country and return home to find themselves part of the legion of the unemployed is a national issue, said Erik Wallin, executive director of Operation Stand Down Rhode Island, a nonprofit that’s a resource for homeless and low-income veterans.
Of the 70,000 veterans in Rhode Island, more than 14 percent are unemployed, with that figure rising to nearly 17 percent unemployment for post-9/11 veterans, according to 2011 statistics, Wallin said.
The unemployment rate for veterans is about 6 to 7 percent higher than the rate for the general population, he said.
“It’s due to a number of factors. In Rhode Island, a good portion of the demand is on the National Guard,” Wallin said. “The Rhode Island National Guard is the second-most deployed National Guard unit, per capita, in the U.S.”
Extended deployments and scarce employment opportunities in the state add up to major challenges for veterans, Wallin said.
“Even though many employers would like to, they cannot hold open a position for a veteran. In a small business, when a key person left to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, he had to be replaced. And when he comes back, the job is gone,” Wallin said.
“And if a business does need to hire, it can often hire someone who already has the exact skills and doesn’t need to be retrained,” he said. “A lot of military members were security forces or in civil engineering and they do need to be retrained. They don’t have the exact, applicable skills to go back into the job market.”
Paquette is among 55 Rhode Islanders, about half of them veterans, in the workforce, at least temporarily, under the federal Hurricane Sandy recovery grant. “I would like to think there could been better job opportunities for people like me,” said Paquette about his need to rely on temporary work.
For six weeks, or longer if the project is extended, he is part of a beach clean-up crew working Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. His crew is assigned to Scarborough Beach.
Married with two children, Paquette is glad to be earning $14 an hour, paid through a $1.5 million federal grant administered by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training and managed by RI Temps.
“I’m working with some veterans and we’re all finding the same thing in different fields, with different specialties. It’s the times. It’s the economy in the state and the nation,” Paquette said.
“For most of us, it’s better than sitting home and waiting for a phone call from a potential employer,” he said. “I’m glad I’m out and about and getting into a regular work routine.”
In addition to the temporary, labor-intensive beach cleanup work, Paquette is finishing a four-year program in construction management. He hopes it will lead to a permanent, full-time job. He hasn’t had enough work to meet the 1,000-hour minimum required to get health insurance through his union, and he expects his current health insurance to expire this summer.
Workers who qualify under the federal recovery grant have to be unemployed for at least 15 weeks, or veterans, or impacted by the storm, said Connie Parks, chief of labor and training operations for the Department of Labor and Training.
Each temporary employee can work up to 40 hours a week and earn a maximum of $12,000, she said. Veterans and some nonveteran unemployed are working.
“We’ve had no takers, as far those impacted by the storm. Many of those people were working in hospitality,” Parks said.
The number of temporary jobs under the grant could go from the current 55 to as high as 75 positions. Each person can work up to 40 hours a week and earn a maximum of $12,000.
“We’re hoping the grant is extended as we progress and continue to review the scope of the damage,” Parks said.
The strenuous nature of the outdoor work limits the pool of applicants. Workers range in age from 22 to 70, and so far, all are men, although the positions are open to anyone and women have applied, said Parks.
The grant for cleaning sand and debris washed up by Hurricane Sandy began in March at several state parks and beaches, including East Matunuck State Beach, Burlingame State Park and Goddard Memorial State Park. The federal grant cannot be used for cleaning private property “It’s not for the faint of heart,” said Parks. “They’re working outside all day, from 7 [a.m.] in all kinds of weather. In Misquamicut they had to go under the pavilion to shovel out the sand. It’s back-breaking work.”
John Douglass of Providence is in a crew of eight assigned to East Matunuck State Beach.
“Everyone in our crew is a veteran. We’re a hearty bunch,” said 56-year-old Douglass. ”If you’d seen the cold and sleeting rain, and no one complains. Everyone is glad to be working.
“It’s all physical work – landscaping, uncovering sea grass, planting sea grass, putting up snow fences to protect the dunes,” Douglass said. “There’s a tremendous amount of trash. We’re doing some of the smaller stuff with a wheel barrow and hand shovel.”
Douglass served three years as an Army medic, but wasn’t interested in a medical career when he got out of the service 35 years ago. He went into the family trucking business, where he worked for 30 years.
The plan was to save for retirement and at some point, sell the business. That point didn’t arrive the way he thought it would. About four years ago, the family business went bankrupt.
“You invest your heart and soul, but you never really save enough,” Douglass said. “I’m not unlike so many others who are in the same position, who didn’t save enough for their retirement.”
Douglass has been working various short- and long-term jobs for the past few years.
“I get up every morning and go to work or look for work,” he said.
“The job market is difficult for me. At this age, there’s subtle age discrimination. I’ve utilized DLT training, job fairs, workshops, the Veterans Administration,” Douglass said. “I’ve been working with temp agencies, mostly labor-intensive jobs in construction, some work in manufacturing, in warehouses.”
His experience managing a small business and his varied skills haven’t added up to land him a full-time, permanent job, so the storm cleanup at 40 hours a week is most welcome.
“This particular job came at a great time,” said Douglass, who has three children in college.
“The job market doesn’t allow me to say what I want to do. It’s about getting yourself a job. It doesn’t really matter what it is,” said Douglass. “Employment is the No. 1 priority. You have bills to pay and the bills don’t care where your money is coming from.” •

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