Phone Conversation
7/12/99
(Karen completed her training at Medallion on 6/17/99 and began looking for
a job with help from Medallion)
Jack - Hello, Jack Green speaking.
Karen - Jack, this is Karen Spencer.
Jack - Hi, Karen. How are you?
Karen - Pretty good. Jack, I got a job!
Jack - You did? That's great. Tell me about it. Where are you going to work?
Karen - It's at that place I told you about earlier, Basic Labs. You remember I interviewed with them last week? And they just called me back and asked if... if I could start two days from now! I'm so excited! I called my folks and told them already. They are going to come up next weekend and celebrate with me. And this is like a real job! It's not just fast food work. I'll be working everyday, all day. No shift work. And they called me right back. And... and...
Jack - That's great, Karen! You sound pretty excited. Are you OK? You're not getting too excited are you?
Karen - No, I'm fine, it's just ... it's a real job! What will I wear? I'll need to go get some more clothes for work, uniforms and such. Is that something that VR can help me pay for? I'm not sure how much money I have right now...
Jack - Well, if I remember right, last time you said they don't really wear uniforms at the lab, just nice clothes to work in. Is that right?
Karen - Yes. I don't think there is a uniform. They wear lab coats, but I don't think I have to buy those. They're just in the lab there.
Jack - On the other hand, you will have to buy some more clothes, and it's pretty common for VR to help people out with uniforms, so I don't see why we couldn't support you with the minimum amount we give for uniforms, just to get you started. So we can handle that the same way we've billed some of your other supplies, OK?
Karen - OK. That'll be good. Where will I stay? Should I stay on here at Medallion? I can't find an apartment in just two days. And there will be deposits and rentals and stuff... How am I going to do that? Is that ... Does VR help with that?
Jack - Well, to begin with I think you can stay on at Medallion for a little while as you get yourself settled in at the job. We had authorized you to stay on there through August while you were job hunting. Now we can cancel the job club part of that, but we might be able to go ahead with the housing there if you would like.
Karen - Could you? That would help.
Jack - However, when you move into an apartment, you will need to take care of the deposits and rent yourself. We can't help you there. If that is going to be a problem, you might see if your folks could help out...
Karen - Well, what about... so you can pay for me to stay at Medallion. But when I move to an apartment, that stops?
Jack - Right. But... since we've already approved six weeks of housing support, through the end of August, I we might be able to use some of that. If you find an apartment before then, before the end of August, then we could probably shift the money that would have gone to Medallion over to you to help with your living expenses. But just for those six weeks.
Karen - But what about after that? Will I still have my personal maintenance money? I'll need to have money to get around...
Jack - That's right Karen, but remember - you'll be working. By August you will have your first month's salary, and the salary will be what you should use for that.
Karen - But, what about... oh, I see. So I can use the paycheck from Basic Labs. But I need to put it in savings in the bank.
Jack - Well, some of it, sure. But you also need to budget out how much you need to live on each month, and your rent and things, and then figure out how much to save as well. Do you remember how you used to do that when you were working at McDonald's?
Karen - Sure but... OK. Yeah, I can do that. Because I'll be getting paid every month and I can just keep some back from that.
Jack - Yes, and since we are leaving your support in place for six weeks, you will still be getting your personal maintenance money along with your salary. So I think you should be able to save up enough to cover deposits and utilities and such.
Karen - I will? Because... I haven't been saving any while I've been here. I've needed to use most of it for different things.
Jack - But now you will have that money plus the salary for a while. And even after that the salary should be more than what you have been getting. How much will you make?
Karen - They said... wait, I wrote it down... Five fifty an hour.
Jack - OK. Well, that should cover your expenses fine. You don't want to get too expensive an apartment, but you shouldn't have a problem. I bet Martha or someone there could help you figure out a basic budget on that. Tell me more about the job. Have you met your boss?
Karen - Yes. She's real nice. Her name is Amelia. I met her on the interview. And when we went into the lab, I knew what all the machines were. I knew how to do what they were talking about. It was just like in the lab classes with Tom.
Jack - So it sounds like the training is going to serve you well. I think you are going to do just fine with this job.
Karen - I hope so!
Jack - So what you need to do now is go get some work clothes, and start getting things set to look for an apartment. Check with Martha for some suggestions and some help on the budgeting. Do you have a way to get to work from Medallion?
Karen - Yes, Charles can take me in the van, I think.
Jack - You probably should check on that and make sure he knows. But I think you are off to a good start here. I will set up the financial stuff here like we talked about, and you let me know if you need anything or if anything goes wrong, OK? In fact, while you're getting settled, let's have you check in every week or so, so we can be sure everything is being taken care of. OK?
Karen - OK
Jack - Good bye then,
Karen - Goodbye.
Name of Client: Karen Spencer
Person(s) contacted: Jack Greene
Contact made: [] Home [] Office [X] Phone [] Personal [] Other
Date: 7/12/99
Karen has gotten a job. She was hired at Basic Labs here in town and will be working 8-4, Monday through Friday. Her pay will be $5.50 per hour. I believe this job does include benefits as well. She was quite excited and I am real pleased for her.
She questioned as to whether I could provide a little money to assist with some clothes for work. They don't actually wear uniforms, per se, but she is in need of a couple nicer things. I told her I could give her the minimum amount available that VR provides for uniforms and she thought that would be fine.
Karen was curious if we could help her with her first month's rent, after she found an apartment and I explained that I would continue to provide her the support we talked about previously for six (6) weeks. If she found an apartment in that period of time, perhaps we could switch over and help her with that but that I would not be able to help her with any kind of a deposit on an apartment or anything of that nature.
I think she finally understood that, although it is a little difficult sometimes to make Karen understand exactly what the details of a situation are. I probably should call Martha Little at Medallion and make sure she understands what is going on also. I also did ask the client to keep in touch with me every week or so to let me know how the job was progressing.
Complete supplemental plan for her uniforms and to call Martha Little regarding this turn of events.
Signature: Jack Greene
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