By Susie Snakebite

Saint Joseph’s Thrift Store has closed in Venice and will reopen in Feb. in Santa Monica.  Norma, one of the staff there, approached me on the street a few weeks ago, very upset.  The whole staff of 5 had been laid off with one extra month of salary.  She asked me to call her boss of only one year, Dr. Velena Adams (310 306-6468 (#304)), to vouch for her character, to help her get rehired.  Norma has been there for over 20 years.  Another laid-off staffer has worked there fore over 30 years.  Their prospects of getting rehired don’t look good; they’ll be competing with the new crew that’s been working there over a month.  Dr. Adams told me on the phone that she is looking to hire people with multiskills, not like most of the old staff.

It’s true this old staff wasn’t unionized, and it’s true that St. Joe’s was losing money at this new (but bad) location on Lincoln just north of Washington Blvd.  But for an organization that is dedicated to helping people, it does not seem to me to be the right way to deal with its own people who have been with St. Joe’s so long.

I’m sorry I didn’t get Norma’s phone when she asked me to help.  She lives in Venice; occasionally I see her driving her aging van around.  I hope she sees this info in the Beachhead and gets in touch to fill in more of the story.   I’ve been shopping there for 30 years myself, and I did tell Dr. Adams what a sweet and helpful person Norma is.   But the new crew that Dr. Adams brought in looks like it is hot to trot.  And hey, not a lot of jobs out there.