Disillusioned posted a wonderful diary (I'm Scared). Based on comments among several people @ Street Preachers, I posted a suggestion that some seem to think might help: a community board to let others know of available resources. (Diary comment inside.)
Figured out how to do it. We can get a trial balloon up on this is in a VERY short time, pending sufficient interest. How 'bout if we start with the job market boat. If you're on the market, & have been using kos for some time so that you have at least SOME credibility in this community, & would like to try an initial launch, please give me your email contact by Friday 8 a.m. (Pacific). (Sorry, I have not yet put up a public email account for myself, but will get right on that.) I'll keep taking contact info unless / until I get too many, & we'll see what happens.
All the best.
(Below are comments to Disillusioned's diary.)
What u got? what u need? - I'm there with you.
I'm sure there are MANY skills that you & husband could offer, if you could just get some personal intro [to people] who need what you can provide.
So, if the below idea would be helpful to you & others, I'll see what we can do.
(Below stolen / altered from comments that I & others shared over @ Street Prophets.)
Sounds as though more than a few here are struggling with many similar issues, including work concerns & finding local resources. I'm a big craigslist user, which is great if you're in Silicon Valley (where I used to be) but about worthless if you're in AZ (where I am now). For instance, in my career search, the responses frequently get shoved into Deleted emails file - there's no personal contact or warm intro. And many others also seem to run into that great-that-you-got-that-degree, now-you're-overqualified routine.
So - I thought about the kos community, which has vast resources & networks, & provides a self-vetting function, at least over time. I'm considering putting up a regular diary, something like "You Need. We Got.", in which kos users can post, by geographic area, what they can offer & what they need. Could include skills offered for pay / barter, computer donations for Katrina displaced, etc. Not an extensive job board, just a place for people
who may share common-sense sensibilities to hook up.
...a "classifieds" that was just for that kind of thing... jobs, freebies, places to stay, rides, charitable needs, etc. There's probably freeware that could do that... if the kos techies were willing.
I believe the value would be in having a kos (or sub-kos) community bulletin board, allowing seekers & offerers to connect with a little less of a cold-call feel. Just a simple, geographic-organized list: here's what's needed. Here's what's available. Here's the contact info.
No reason to try to redo craigslist - that already works.
Would need to be linked to a particular & large-enough community. The advantage is that you kind of already "know" someone here / other sites, & can get an idea of their compatibility. Just another bulletin board, great though craigslist is, depends entirely on the critical mass of your area.