JC man looks for open door in tough economy

Chris Cash is upfront about mistakes in his past, and has spent the better part of 20 years working to get things right for himself and for his family.

But after moving to Johnson City from Virginia with his wife a year ago, he's finding that landing gainful work can be a tall order.

"The way the job market is, unless you've got a degree in something or you are extremely lucky, then it's a real struggle," he said. "If I didn't have my wife, I'd be homeless."

Through a temp agency, Cash, 41, found a part-time job with a local company that applies industrial finishing on metal products. After six months it became full-time. He speaks highly of his employer and co-workers, but also produces a paystub and explains how the figure ends up being $20 in his pocket after child care and other necessary costs are deducted.

Back in Virginia, he had been doing work that was satisfying and, he says, lucrative. After his release from prison, a former girlfriend helped him get a position doing real estate research for title companies. Then came the housing market crash that put him out of work, followed by several part-time jobs.

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Opportunity then came in the form of a telecom that specialized in Verizon upgrades. Cash was hired to oversee materials ordering in the workshop and reconcile databases, which he called a "great job."

"I pretty much nailed the interview and they gave me a chance," he said.

It also paid $7 an hour more than his current position. Cash and his wife moved to the Southern Tier for her work, which largely supports the two of them and their six-month-old daughter, he said.

He readily acknowledges that his struggle is a combination of a troubled local economy and his own mistakes. They began before he was a teenager, with a drug habit, and then with property crimes to support the drug habit.

He was sentenced at 18 to 10 years in prison for forgery and credit card fraud, and was released after 5 years 11 months, he said. That was 17 years ago. It was like another life, he said, though it continues to affect him in very real ways.

"Being a convicted felon, that stigma is part of your sentence, even though I've been home 17 years," said Cash, who earned a GED at age 17. "Prison closed a lot of doors in my life. Without that record, I probably would have gone to college, I wouldn't have lost all those years."

Having gone in and come back out — and stayed out — Cash is reaching out to others in similar situations via the social networking site Reddit. He created the sub-board for former prisoners and last year did an AMA — a live question-and-answer session — that lasted 8 hours and drew more than 5,000 responses.

"I'm not trying to justify anything," he said. "When I was younger and made the mistakes I made, I victimized society, and if I was ever in a position where I could give back I would feel a little more redemption. I try to do it with my Reddit community — that's a small facet."

As far as searching for a job that better fits his experience and skills, he said it became frustrating after a while, and plus, working from 5 a.m. to midafternoon, with a new baby, drains much of his potential searching time.

"I kind of get discouraged because I get up so early every day, I work long hours, come home and we've got the little girl, and so it doesn't leave much time to do other stuff," he said.

Even after so long with steady work and clean living, he is finding the doors are still closed — at least partway. Cash isn't looking for a handout, he said, just an opportunity like those afforded him by the telecom and the title companies.

"I would love to get back into title abstracting, it was a job that I excelled at," he said. "In the end, I want to work at a place that has opportunities available for hard workers. I figure I have about 25 years left that I can give to a company — I just need a door to open."

Follow John R. Roby on Twitter @PSBJRoby.