Gas station and convenience store jobs can't lift Wicomico residents out of poverty

A few days ago I saw a video on the news showing the demolition of Plaza Tapatia  on South Salisbury Boulevard, across from Salisbury University. When I heard that yet another gas station would be built in its place, I decided I could not sit by silent for another minute.

I asked myself, “Do we really need another gas station? When was the last time I had to wait for a gas pump on the Eastern Shore? Who thought this was a good idea?”

While the construction of a beautiful new Royal Farms may provide good-paying jobs for a few months, what will be left once it is completed is more low-wage jobs for unskilled workers.

Let’s put that into perspective. Royal Farms pays most of its sales and deli associates $8-$9 per hour. The assistant manager might make $13 per hour; this is according to surveys done by www.glassdoor.com.

This might be fine for a college student looking for a part-time job, but for the local unskilled workforce, this is not the kind of jobs needed to bring people out of poverty.

Further, 2016 annual average median income data has been released. For the Salisbury area, income has dropped. While politicians boast that the area has added more jobs, clearly, these are not higher paying jobs. 

As the executive director of Habitat for Humanity, I see lots of pay stubs from applicants wanting to become homeowners. Sadly, many of these applicants don’t make enough money to qualify by Habitat’s standards, which are roughly $12.50/hour minimum, by working 40 hours a week. Visit www.wicomicohabitat.org for the minimum and maximum income limits to qualify for our program by household size.

Many people don’t get full-time hours, so they must work two jobs just to get by. Even if they were offered full-time hours, $8/hour at 40 hours/week X 52 weeks net $16,640 -- and that's before taxes. This is below the poverty level. 

Thankfully, employers like Peninsula Regional Medical Center and Perdue Farms Inc. offer entry-level jobs that meet our standards -- and many of our newest homeowners only have to work one job to provide for their family.

Sadly, many households are led by single parents. How these parents are able to care and guide their children to success while working two part-time jobs is a mystery to me. The ripple effect can be seen in the school system, where teachers are left to teach the basics.

I have heard some children enter kindergarten and don’t know how to brush their teeth. Sad. 

I would like to challenge those with the power to bring change. 

Start attracting businesses with the ability to pay higher wages. We have roughly 2,000 college graduates a year from our three colleges and universities in the area. Create jobs that will encourage them to stay. 

I would also like to challenge the Board of Education. Create a vision for our youth (and start in middle school) that, at a minimum, they need an associate degree or specialized trade to be able to care for their future family.

There is a reason the plumbing program at Parkside High School has zero students this year. Show students the money they will make as adults. If you wait until high school, you have lost them.

Show them the money. Speak their language. Get in their face. Show them the facts. Teach financial literacy. And middle school teachers: There is a great tool on NHC.org – the Paycheck to Paycheck tool. 

I would like to challenge Wor-Wic Community College to change its marketing. Advertise that you offer free tuition for graduating seniors. Put it on your billboards. Put the salaries of your graduates on your billboards. Show our young people the value of an education and how it matters to them. 

Molly Hilligoss is executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County.