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Wide-eyed, the women look at her as if she has just revealed one of the mysteries of life.
But "Real" Rosemary, a deflated woman with flushed cheeks and waist-length hair the color of wet straw, is not happy. She does not want to be here. A mother of three, she taught herself to read last year and now desperately wants to get her high school equivalency degree. The Department of Human Services won't let her.
Riverside County, Calif., which is considered the model among welfare-to-work programs, would probably have sent Rosemary to school. In that county, welfare case managers assess participants when they enter the system, placing those who need additional basic education or training in the appropriate programs.
In San Francisco, however, the rules require all AFDC recipients, with very few exceptions, to participate in Express to Success -- even if they lack the basic education needed to take on even the lowest-paying and most menial work. All Express participants, even those who obviously need extra help, are sent directly to "test the job market."
Participants who can't find jobs are assessed at the end -- not the beginning -- of the seven-week course.
The idea of not being able to go to school frustrates Rosemary to the point of tears.
"I think I have more important things to do than to be here today," she mumbles, as she fills out a job priorities work sheet. "What's all this going to prove in the end?"
Day 3: Powerful Purple Light or Underwear Equals Opportunity
Briana Moore's classroom is quiet this morning. The lights are off. Eyes are closed. Heads are resting on desks. A female voice as smooth and deep as polished mahogany emanates from a portable stereo: "Let the powerful purple light flow through you. Let the powerful purple light balance you. Let the powerful purple light relax you."
"Exhale and relax. ... Just allow your body to settle. Feel the sensation moving through you. ... Deeply inhale. Inhale the light and exhale the light. Allow your body to relax in the power of the purple light."
After several soothing minutes, the meditation ends and the lights go back on.
"What do you think life would be like if you did that twice a day?" Moore asks rhetorically. "It is so important that you realize that you have your own power."
She quickly moves on to matters of a less spiritual nature. Those who did their "homework" -- completing a master job application and a form for the Employment Development Department's job database -- get $50 in Curtis and Associates play money, which they can use at a Goodwill store or at the Express to Success Center's Friday afternoon auctions.
Moore orders the class to the center of the room. "I want to tell you about my auntie. Her name was Willie Mae, and she was on my mother's side of the family." Apparently, Aunt Willie Mae was Moore's mentor and role model, a dynamic woman with many boyfriends. Upon her death, she left her niece a gift -- her bloomers. The class looks puzzled.
"I know that her bloomers were a very special part of her, and I want to give them to one of you," she says, solemnly proffering a brown paper grocery bag that is stapled shut. "So pass this around -- it's like a hot potato."
The women pass the packet until Moore says "stop." "Daring" Diana apprehensively opens the bag and smiles as she pulls out a pink carnation with baby's breath wrapped in cellophane.
"When I said 'bloomers,' what did you think?" Moore asks the class.
"Underwear!"
"Yeah, dirty drawers."
The exercise is intended to remind the class to be on the lookout for hidden opportunities. A job that sounds unappealing at first may actually turn out to be a good opportunity. Minimum-wage positions aren't "dead-end jobs," they're "stepping stones."
"So when you hear of one thing, don't close your mind to it, because you never know what opportunity lies behind it," Moore preaches. The class nods.
Moore refers to the Yellow Pages each woman has on the desk before her. "Turn to the first page of the restaurants listings, on Page 1,465," she instructs. "Now look for the kind of job you want -- assembly/factory, custodial, whatever -- under that heading."
Naomi is late returning from lunch, so the other women wave their red flags at her as she takes her seat.
"Joker" Justine has turned to the Yellow Pages listing for janitorial services, but she really wants a job as a mechanic or driver. "Do janitors need drivers?" Moore asks, and Justine nods.
"Well OK then!" Moore says, somewhat obliquely.
For an assembly or factory job, "Joyful" Joy selects a clothing retailer that sells blue jeans. "Because," she says, without challenge, "they've got to put the jeans together."
Moore reiterates an earlier point. "There are a lot of hidden opportunities, and this is where you will be able to explore them."
"If you can open up your mind, past the bloomers, you realize there might be other possibilities there."
Day 4: "What a Difference a Job Makes"
Just as the class is "getting centered" for the morning's activities, there is a knock at the door. Alice, another trainer, pokes her head inside. "We have two jobs to celebrate out here!" she beams, her flat flaxen bob swinging excitedly.
Moore's class files into the hallway past the phone bank, a series of cubicles that have telephones and mirrors; Express to Success job seekers are instructed to observe themselves as they call prospective employers. At the Job Network Center, another 40 people are seated at conference tables beneath more posters and more slogans on more brightly colored paper. "Goals are dreams with deadlines," one poster asserts. "What is your biggest weakness? Turn a weakness into a strength."
