I Was Fired, Rehired, And Fired Again. I’m One Of Nearly 96,000 Black Women Laid Off By Trump.

I was working at AmeriCorps doing marketing communications for the AmeriCorps Seniors program, which supports 140,000 volunteers across the United States. They volunteer in communities that need more support, whether they’re helping older adults who may not be able to live independently or providing support for students in classrooms and after-school programs.

I was really excited when I got the job working for AmeriCorps for a couple of reasons. Number one, I used to be a teacher, and I know the importance of having extra hands in different parts of the community to provide as much support as possible. And number two, I was really excited to start working for the federal government. I do believe in service, and so that was something I really wanted to do with my career.

I actually got laid off twice.

I got laid off the first time in February because I was a probationary employee who had worked there for under two years. Then I was brought back because of a court order. And then I got laid off again in March because they decided to do a huge reduction in force for the agency.

So I was laid off in February because there was an executive order that required all probationary employees to be cut, regardless of their performance, their role, or their contribution to the agency, unfortunately.

But then there was a court order, I believe from a judge in California, that said the Office of Personnel Management could not mass enforce the firing of probationary employees. So across the government, some employees were moved into administrative leave status, but others, like myself, were called back to work after being laid off.

I was absolutely devastated, disappointed, frustrated. I didn’t really know what to do with myself. So I buried myself in looking for another job and just channeling all my energy toward that.

I have reached a sense of resigned acceptance. So it’s not joy, and I can’t just relax or appreciate this time. I’m not there yet, because I think maybe it’s possible to appreciate this time if you don’t enjoy working. But I’ve always enjoyed working, and I enjoyed the people I was working with at AmeriCorps.

It’s an incredible agency. We get to directly change the lives of people, whether it’s the volunteers who are improving their own lives by helping their community or the people being served who never would have had access to those opportunities otherwise.

So I was doing important work, and it’s hard. It’s hard to just sit at home when I know those things still need to be done.

I feel terribly about the massive loss of federal workers for a couple of reasons.

Number one, each individual is, in themselves, a universe. They need to be able to support themselves, support their families, and build for their future.

Secondly, there are simply not enough private-sector jobs that parallel what we were doing in the federal government. Maybe there are better private-sector jobs, but they’re not direct parallels to what we were doing.

And then there’s the trickle-down impact. It’s not just Washington, D.C. There were federal workers all across the country. We were buying groceries. We were getting our hair done. We were buying clothing, buying cars, and buying gas.

So what happens is you have small business owners who rely on a variety of people to be patrons, and now they’re also suffering. I hear that a lot. As someone who is a content creator for fun, I’ve seen businesses struggling, whether it’s the beauty and service industry or restaurants that don’t have enough people coming in.

So it really is a massive trickle-down impact in a circular economy where everyone needs everyone. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Don’t forget about us.

There’s still a lot going on, and every day all of us at our different agencies are still trying to figure out what is happening, even though we may be laid off. So many of us are holding on to hope that we’ll be able to come back because we enjoyed what we were doing.

Not a lot of people go into the federal government to become wealthy. So just keep us in mind.

I do hope that, whether it’s common sense coming to this administration or the next administration helping to cobble things back together, we’re able to rebuild a robust federal government that supports the entire country.