By Aaron Smith
CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you think it’s tough getting a job during a recession, imagine what it’s like for an ex-convict.
Gregory Headley, 29, knows exactly what it’s like. The Harlem resident was released from prison in July after serving two years and eight months for the criminal sale of a firearm. Now that he’s out, he said, the conviction is dogging his attempts to land a full-time job.
“There’s no nice way of saying, ‘I sold a gun,’ ” Headley said recently as he headed to his part-time job cleaning sidewalks. Headley was placed in the temporary, minimum-wage job by the Center for Employment Opportunities, a nonprofit organization in Manhattan that helps ex-convicts transition into law-abiding lifestyles.
“I’m not going to lie: $40 a day hurts,” said Headley, feeling the squeeze of the $28,000 in child support debt that he accumulated in prison. “But what I need to do is stay on the path I’m on, try to get used to the struggle instead of trying to beat the odds.”
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