It won’t come as a surprise to you that the number of employed people plummeted as the pandemic unfolded. In April 2020, the unemployment rate reached 14.8%—the highest rate observed since data collection began in 1948. Compare that to February this year, 2022, when the unemployment rate marked 3.8 percent.  Now, we hear a different story about America’s worker shortage. In January, the U.S. had 11.3 million jobs to fill and not enough workers to do so, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You’ve probably seen the “help wanted” signs in your own community. And so The Salvation Army retooled its own programs for workforce development in Northern California in an effort to more quickly prepare workers for skilled jobs. And notably, help people out of or altogether prevent homelessness.  Captain Larry Carmichael is the Social Services Officer for The Salvation Army in Sacramento County. He was commissioned as a Salvation Army officer, or pastor, in 2016 and has since served in Phoenix; in Marin County, California, and now in Sacramento. He holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and has a personal commitment to persevere. He’s on the show to share more about The Salvation Army’s workforce development programs ranging the construction, culinary and certified nursing assistant fields. It’s an effort, he says, to help an individual and a community.   EPISODE SHOWNOTES: Read more. WHAT’S YOUR CAUSE? Take our quiz. STUDY SCRIPTURE. Get inside the collection. GATHER WITH CARING MOMS. Join the group. BE INSPIRED. Follow us on Instagram. FIGHT FOR GOOD. Give to The Salvation Army.