Fashion Industry Joins Forces for Community Job Fair

Los Angeles’ downtown apparel businesses and community associations are joining forces this month to plan a job fair at the California Mart. The group is called the Los Angeles Connection, and its plan is to increase employment in the downtown area by encouraging business owners to get involved in community services.

The group gathered a few weeks ago for its first meeting and is currently planning to host a series of public seminars beginning May 8 at the Cal Mart, suite C686, where organizers will explain how business owners and private donors can get involved in the event.

The Los Angeles Connection is a collaborative effort among members of the Fashion District and social services groups, which began meeting a few weeks ago to work on its latest project, People Helping People. Both names were coined by California Mart marketing director Karen Mamont, who has spearheaded the effort.

“I started with an idea to host an event that would bring the fashion industry together with downtown businesses,” said Mamont, who also serves as a board member for Fashion Group International.

“I discussed ideas with others about getting people together to help the Business Improvement District’s ’Clean’ program, to help wash graffiti off the buildings and pick up the trash, and then I thought that it would be a good idea to start with the people—something the whole neighborhood could get involved in.”

People Helping People is designed to help individuals find employment as well as educate manufacturers and business owners about the tax benefits and other incentives that come with being involved in Los Angeles’ social services programs, Mamont said. Plans for the event include seminars for business owners, including informative discussions about nonprofit groups in downtown Los Angeles, including General Relief Opportunities for Work (G.R.O.W.), a program for low-income men and women that searches for job openings and provides interview skills training for its clients; Dress-4-Success, a national program that provides professional clothing to low-income women seeking employment; and Operation Hope, a program that assists with money management and provides emotional support to individuals after they find employment.

At this point, Mamont said, all aspects of the event are coming together sooner than she expected.

“I made one request to all of these people and they turned out to lend their support. We’re promoting people helping people in the city and it doesn’t cost anything to do that,” she said.

So far, People Helping People’s board consists of downtown business association members and social service advocates who are connected to government agencies. In addition to working closely with the BID’s executive director, Kent Smith, Mamont is being assisted by Maritza Dubie of the Los Angeles Department of Public and Social Services, Dress-4-Success’ Los Angeles executive director and founder Janet Lavender and Everette Richie of G.R.O.W. to coordinate the event. The Los Angeles Connection has recruited support from government agencies including the United States Veteran’s Initiative, Goodwill Industries and the Employment Development Department.

“Some of these individuals are willing to work hard and be loyal if they had a chance,” said Richie.

“There is a pool of people who are totally overlooked because of their living situation,” said Richie, who has helped G.R.O.W. place over 170 people in paid positions since last December. “A lot of them don’t know that there’s a large resource in Los Angeles that, if tapped into, could reveal a diamond in the rough.”

Richie said the event will benefit people who have applied for social services; in many cases they are homeless people, adults and young people who have recently undergone drug or alcohol programs, battered women and adults with dependent children.

The Los Angeles Connection has also enlisted the support of Ethan Eller, owner of the New Mart, and Kit Marchel, president ofCal Mart parent company Hertz Corp., who will parlay her downtown connections into the event, and Barbara Kaplan, a 25-year California Mart tenant and owner of Xtra Secretary, who volunteered her services to help individuals put job resumes together.

For more information on the Los Angeles Connection: People Helping People job fair, please contact the California Mart’s Karen Mamont at (213) 630-3737 or G.R.O.W.’s Everette Richie at (310) 508-1138.