On a normal workday, the five guys in long-sleeved orange T-shirts would be out on a freeway shoulder or embankment in Los Angeles County, picking up debris, clearing brush, trimming trees, or perhaps clearing the remains of an abandoned homeless camp.
Instead they were the special guests Tuesday, Nov. 13, for a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by about 200 invitees to welcome the Chrysalis Orange County employment-assistance center that will serve homeless and impoverished people in need of jobs and better wages.
The men all belong to one of the 10 “Roads” program crews who work for Caltrans through a partnership with Chrysalis, a long-time Los Angeles-based nonprofit that focuses on the struggle to overcome barriers that get in the way of finding and keeping a job. A local Roads crew is among the social enterprise efforts and other employment services that Chrysalis is bringing to Orange County, its first foray in opening an office outside of L.A. County. Other locations are in downtown LA, Santa Monica and the San Fernando Valley.
Guest speaker Justin Graber, a roving supervisor for the Chrysalis-staffed Caltrans road crews, told his story of becoming self-sufficient to the 200 or so people assembled for a sneak peek at the newly refurbished suite of offices at 290 S. Anaheim Blvd., near city hall.