By Joanna Gardner
Ruth Ann Joyce, a Washington Township Gloucester County resident, wears a bright green shirt as she helps people through the process of applying for unemployment benefits at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Her cheerful smiles and hellos put the hundreds coming through the center’s union and Department of Labor-run help center at ease, but beneath her optimism she is angry.
“Nobody has control over a hurricane,” she says, comparing the unemployment crisis to the damage caused by Super Storm Sandy in October 2012. “But this didn’t have to happen. To put 8,000 people out of work in an eight month window of time after billions of dollars have been made in this industry — it’s just unacceptable.”
Joyce and her husband, both parishioners at Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish in Glassboro, lost their jobs with Showboat Atlantic City Hotel and Casino when it closed on Aug. 31. Now they, along with many in similar positions, are volunteering their time at the Atlantic City Unites Here center, which opened for one week at the convention center on Sept. 3 to help guide the newly unemployed casino workers through the options and services available.
There are about 8,000 people who face unemployment in the Atlantic County region and beyond due to a string of Atlantic City casino closings that began in January when the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel closed its doors.
Revel Casino Hotel closed along with Showboat over Labor Day weekend, and Trump Plaza will end operations on Sept. 16.
The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort recently announced that it too faces financial troubles, threatening its nearly 3,000 employees.
In eight months the number of casinos fell from 12 to eight in a city whose employment has been concentrated in the gaming industry for decades.
“Right now I’m just trying to help these people. I’m fortunate enough to be able to do that because my kids are grown,” Joyce said. “That’s not to say I don’t need employment. But right now my main focus is not so much me. It’s helping these people get their basic needs met.”
Joyce and her husband were hired by Showboat in 1987, when the casino first opened its doors. She says the salary and benefits they enjoyed allowed them to raise a family and send two sons to college. She fears for families who are not so lucky.
“We feel very fortunate as parents, even though we’re both currently unemployed, that our kids are grown. But we feel terrible for our coworkers who have small kids. Those kids won’t have the same opportunity that our children had because the parents aren’t going to have the opportunity that my husband and I had. So what happens to all these children in the region?”
That’s just one of the concerns related to an unemployment crisis of this size, says Nancy Hickman, coordinator of Catholic Charities’ Atlantic City Family and Community Services Center.
“We’re concerned about the people who fall through the cracks, people who live paycheck to paycheck. Unemployment takes time to process even under typical circumstances, and in the meantime we have people who can’t pay their rent or buy food,” Hickman said. “Having this many people who are now unemployed all at once — and the numbers are not including their family members — is very taxing on everyone.”
The Family and Community Service center operates a small food pantry and a thrift shop with clothing for adults and children. The food pantry shelves are low and Hickman says she is worried about the upcoming holiday season.
Catholic Charities has formed a Casino Crisis team made up of staff from all parts of the diocese. The team hopes to develop a long-term response plan similar to the one implemented during Super Storm Sandy.
“Unemployment is disastrous to families and communities. Without work families can’t be established or maintained, and the ripple effect throughout our communities on other businesses leads to more unemployment,” said Kevin Hickey, executive director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Camden. “Our response to this crisis is one way that the Diocese can make manifest the love of God to people in distress.”
Father Jon Thomas, parochial vicar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Lindenwold, was present on the opening day of the Unite Here help center. He has been involved in advocacy and pastoral care to the members of Unite Here Local 54, the casino workers’ union, for years. Union president Bob McDevitt estimates that more than half of the union’s members are Catholic.
“It was important to have a priest present to offer prayer or just put a face on pastoral care,” Father Thomas said. “It encourages them [laid off workers] to know the church is involved, present, and cares about this traumatic part of their lives.”
Chris Ireland lives in Northfield. His home was the only one on his block to suffer serious damage due to Super Storm Sandy when heavy rains and wind caused an 85-foot red maple tree to crash through his home. He, his wife, and his young daughter were displaced from their home for 14 months and finally moved home last Christmas.
Now both he and his wife, former bartenders and cocktail servers at Showboat casino, are unemployed, two of many who were affected in the region by Sandy and now face a second crisis.
Ireland had also donned a green shirt and was directing people to the different services being represented at the Atlantic City convention center. He greeted old friends from other casinos.
“I guess I’m a tough old guy,” Ireland said about his ability to move forward once again and help out as a volunteer. “These things need to be done. It gives you a purpose. And I still believe in Atlantic City.”
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