Woodward's sparking Downtown Eastside revival

Workers sought as Downtown Eastside continues rebuilding process

Susan Lazaruk
Province

Michael Ozamma, 26, looks for work at a Downtown Eastside job fair. Employers at the rebuilt Woodward's site were recruiting Saturday. Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, The Province

The last time Rose Mancini spent time in the Downtown Eastside, she was addicted and homeless.

Yesterday, however, she and her teen son returned, hoping to find a job at one of the handful of businesses set to open at the new Woodward's site.

She was grateful for a job fair that attracted dozens of other hopeful jobseekers yesterday on Pender near Main Street.

"Right now, I'm looking for pretty much anything," said Mancini, who lives in south Vancouver.

"And I would like to live close to here again but not too close."

Christopher Mancini, 16, was hoping to land a part-time position in the electronics department at the new London Drugs opening this fall.

Michael Ozamma, 26, a recent Nigerian immigrant, was also at the fair, looking for a customer service position so he could "become a good citizen."

The fair, organized by Building Opportunities with Business and former mayoral candidate Jim Green's consultancy firm, was designed to help provide locals with jobs, one of the mandates of the Woodward's development. Subway recruiter Sandeep Deo said he was willing to offer employment to the right candidates, "depending on their backgrounds," and was banking on the economically depressed area turning around, much as the area around Main Street and 12th Avenue, where his family has another Subway, has over the past decade.

Green's spokeswoman, Caroline Neufeld, said a previous similar job fair drew more than 150 applicants and London Drugs almost filled all their positions, a quarter of them from locals.

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