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MINT HILL -- Larry Baumgarner saw the toll of layoffs as his friends and neighbors lost their jobs.
With the help of his wife, Christy, a new website was developed.
Launched in April, www.letsgetgoing.com aims to be a free, centralized clearinghouse of information for the unemployed and underemployed.
"People are getting depressed," Baumgarner told NewsChannel 36. “They really don’t know where to turn right now."
Links to other free resources, support groups, and employment listings are included on Baumgarner’s site.
Video resumes are also featured, taped at the studios of Mecklenburg’s public access channel, which also airs the segments on Time Warner Cable.
Jaye Rao, host of the access channel program, said the television segments help give job seekers more confidence as they continue an often difficult task of finding employment.
One of the first participants in the video resume, Merry Bishop, said the advice from Rao and Baumgarner has been helpful.
"It’s been years since I’ve had to look work," said Bishop, who had worked in marketing for the same company for 15 years before being laid off. “We’ve had long-term relationships with our employers, and suddenly we don’t have those relationships anymore. It’s a huge loss.”
After recovering from the initial shock of the job loss, Bishop said she attended a job support group at a Charlotte church where she learned of the website.
"It’s just a wonderful process," she said. "I don’t think it’s going to be very long before I have a job. I may have a choice of jobs.”
