In Bad Economy, Job Training Is Good Business

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Three years ago, with the economy reeling, one Main Street business was booming. Its trade? Job training.

When the office of Chrysalis at 516 S. Main St. is jam-packed with clients, it’s not necessarily a good thing, and in 2009, the organization was positively overwhelmed by demand.

Volunteers had nowhere to sit and work. Counselors helped clients polish their resumes in a corridor. There were 12 computer bays for a place that last year saw 265 average daily visitors, with peaks around 400 people.

Since the end of 2008, Chrysalis, which also has offices in Santa Monica and Pacoima, has seen a 65% increase in client demand. The Downtown center saw an 80% jump.

“About two years ago we were just trying to figure out what we could to do to handle this,” said Mark Loranger, Chrysalis’ chief executive officer since 2009. “We figured out how to do it from a client perspective. We got better at using volunteers and we were able to fund a couple extra staffers, but we had no place to put them.”

In early 2010, an adjacent commercial space suddenly became available. Loranger and Chrysalis officials hatched a plan to raise money, and raise it fast, so they could knock down a wall and grow into the next-door building.

After a fundraising effort that has so far netted $1.565 million, Chrysalis opened the new facility last month (crews are now renovating the original space before the two are connected). When the work is completed, Chrysalis’ Downtown Los Angeles office will have grown by 62%, from 7,100 to 11,500 square feet.

The move, and the organization’s fundraising blast, signals the growth of an entity that has become a crucial part of the Skid Row area social services fabric. Last year, 1,783 people found work after getting trained by Chrysalis, according to the nonprofit.

Of course, when Chrysalis’ offices are bustling, it’s a bittersweet experience. It means the organization is reaching more people, but it also signifies that more people are struggling to find work.

Domenic Mastrangleo, 36, recently completed Chrysalis’ two-week job preparation curriculum. Since moving to Los Angeles last year, he has submitted close to 30 applications. He got a part-time plumbing position (he’s also studying plumbing at L.A. Trade Tech), but had no bites on the other attempts. Still, Mastrangleo comes to Chrysalis to use the computers and fine-tune his resume.

“They’ve given me confidence here,” he said.

There are also success stories. Belinda Muhammad, unemployed since 2009 and homeless for the past two years, arrived in Los Angeles four months ago. From the Greyhound station at Seventh and Alameda Streets she walked to Skid Row, found temporary shelter at the Union Rescue Mission and days later discovered Chrysalis. Now, she works part-time doing concessions at the Galen Center for Aramark while she searches for a full-time job. Once that happens, she will look for permanent housing, she said.

“A lot of people think everyone who is homeless on the street has to have a dramatic situation with drugs or domestic violence,” she said. “I don’t have an addiction. My situation came from being unemployed, no money, and just displaced.”

Help Yourself

When the construction barriers were stripped from Chrysalis’ new facility, passersby could have mistaken the space for a new retail operation.

Unadorned, minimal black awnings perch over large glass windows set in a spotless white façade. The space abuts the popular Nickel Diner.

Loranger said the modern design is intended to give the space an inviting feel. The roll-down metal gates that remain ubiquitous on the Downtown streetscape at night have been eliminated at Chrysalis.

As demand for services grow, however, Loranger said not all of Chrysalis’ neighbors were thrilled about the expansion. Some businesses, who he declined to name, suggested that Chrysalis should move east, into Skid Row proper — never mind that Chrysalis was on Main Street long before the area became a hub for housing, restaurants and art space.

“Some would rather this place be a gallery or restaurant,” Loranger said. “My point back to them is, ‘Part of the reason your business has succeeded is because you’re in a neighborhood that is perceived as edgy when you and I know it’s not.’ It’s one of the safest neighborhoods in the city.”

Further, he said, the physical location of Chrysalis has an important function. It’s between Skid Row and a growing business hub. To the west are the glimmering office towers of the Financial District. To the east is the heart of Skid Row and its abject poverty.

Thus Chrysalis, its expanded facility and its mission to find work for people at a time of high unemployment is, Loranger said, a bit of symbolism and practicality.

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

©Los Angeles Downtown News.