>At the Workforce1 office on East 149th Street, I watched a job counselor, Rhodina Smith, assisting someone in a better but still difficult circumstance. The applicant, Michelle Joseph, had a college degree and had worked for 12 years in the St. Lucia Mission to the United Nations. She spoke Creole and some French and had trained diplomats.

“If I had a magic wand and could give you any job you wanted, what would it be?” Ms. Smith asked.

“Anything,” was the reply.