Unemployed, but not out of work

Unemployed, but not out of work
Mainers use the freed-up time to toil as volunteers, retrain or help family.
By ANN S. KIM
Staff Writer

Patricia Washburn of Wells was laid off the same week her 80-year-old father, Stewart, of Massachusetts, had a health crisis. She was able to help him with his recovery and new living situation in Portland, including setting up his laptop.

It was hard at first for Larry Tinsman to imagine that business had truly dried up. As a courier driver, he had always been busy and could work Saturdays for overtime when he wanted.

The layoffs finally came in February, and Tinsman found himself without a job after 18 years with the company, Maine Overnight Air Express, an agent for DHL. People he knew at UPS and FedEx encouraged him to apply at their delivery companies, but it turned out they weren't hiring.

"I always thought I could get another job in transportation, in driving as a courier," said Tinsman, 49.

The South Portland resident has since regrouped and is retraining in a new field – medical billing and coding – and fixing up his home between classes.

Tinsman is among the unemployed people who, stalled in a job search and hungry to keep busy, are finding productive uses of their newfound time. Many say they are volunteering with charitable organizations, getting involved in political causes, learning new skills and spending more time with family.

Tinsman enrolled in medical terminology and basic computer classes through Portland Adult Education and will take more classes in the fall. Making the experience even more interesting is that his 18-year-old daughter, Faith, is enrolled with him.

"I haven't gone to school since high school, (so) I wasn't too sure" about returning, Tinsman said. "But we got into it and it was a lot of fun. And taking it with her was fun too."

Patricia Washburn was laid off the same week in May that her 80-year-old father collapsed. Washburn had been working from her home in Wells as an online community manager for a lawyers' social networking site. Her father, Stewart, was living three hours away in Massachusetts.

Washburn, 44, is glad she had the time to be with him. It would have been more difficult if she had job responsibilities while he was in the hospital and going through cardiac rehabilitation. She's been caring for his house and finances, driving him to appointments and has moved him to Portland, where she was already planning to move before her layoff.

"I would have had to either take leave or probably quit," Washburn said. "My dad is a wonderful person. I want to be there for him. I would have had to rely on other people or pay other people to do a lot of the things I had to do."

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