By Adam Alvarez
Correspondent writer
It’s 7 a.m. and Scott Green has already eaten breakfast and is ready to get into his car. In many ways, his mornings have not changed that much over the last year. Still, there is one difference. Instead of driving to work, Green takes his 10-year-old son, Jason, to school.
It was last December when Green was victim to a sizable cutback by his employer, VanDyk Mortgage. At the very least, an unwelcome Christmas present for a man who had devoted 11 years to the company.
“There were rumors of cutbacks and people being laid off, but I didn’t take it all that serious,” said Scott. Getting fired just didn’t seem possible.”
Green had worked with the company as a mortgage underwriter. Overall, he was responsible for evaluating and verifying mortgage loan applications and then determining whether or not to approve the loan.
Thanks to a decimated housing market, however, his job suddenly disappeared. His $60,000 income vanished as well.
“When I got the news I had been fired I was speechless. I didn’t think I could possibly feel any worse,” said Scott.
Still, getting fired would soon prove to be only the beginning of the 41-year-old’s challenges as finding another job has become even more of a headache.
“There have been times where I’ve just wanted to give up,” he said while painfully trying to accept the fact the one-year anniversary of his firing was fast approaching.
What has made the prolonged job search even more agonizing is that better days appear nowhere in sight. For along with cutbacks in workforce, those few companies that are hiring are upping the requirements for applicants. As for mortgage underwriters, a position that used to be almost handed to an applicant with a bachelor’s degree in finance is now withheld from even the most experienced of applicants.
“Now when I apply and say that I have a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Florida, employers look at me like they’re surprised I even bothered applying,” said Green.
Still, the denials and frustration have not tempered Scott’s drive to regain a job and solid footing in regards to his career. After returning from dropping Jason off at school, Scott knows that he has approximately six hours to go online and search for job openings and do anything possible to make a little money. All this while his wife teaches at Lowry Elementary School in order to pay the month’s rent for the family’s apartment.
This drive to succeed has even drawn the admiration and good wishes of neighbors who have increasingly grown sympathetic towards a man who has taken part in numerous job interviews this year to no avail.
“He really amazes me the way he keeps trying to get back on his feet even in the face of constant rejection,” said neighbor Jacob Brim who found himself unemployed for four months in 2009. “I only pray that he can regain some normalcy in his life.”
By 2 p.m., after yet another day of frustration, Scott gets back in his car and drives to pick his child up from school. Upon getting in the car, Jason looks at his father with the same question that has dominated their conversations for the better part of the last year.
“Did you find a job?” he asked with a glimmer of hope evident by his smile.
Touched by the smile on his child’s face but battered by the reality of the situation, Scott admitted that his ongoing battle with unemployment had continued.
“That’s okay,” said Jason as the two then strive to focus on the lighter parts of life ranging from what happened in school to their love for football.
A few hours later, Scott, Sandi and Jason gather at the table for dinner and try to some success to focus on the brighter points of their day. All along, Sandi and Jason strive to make sure Scott is well aware that he still has the support of his wife and child.
“I’m always going to support Scott because I’ve seen him succeed in the past and I know he’s going to succeed in the future,” said Sandi.
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