About SEEC
How the center operates
SEEC now operates exclusively from its office at the Arlington Mill Community Center, Suite 422.
The office has a sign-up sheet that workers fill-in upon arrival.
If a potential employer calls our office with simple tasks to be accomplished where no specific skills are required, workers are selected by the order of appearance on the sign-up sheet.
If workers with specific skills are needed, such as carpentry, masonry, framing, painting and drywall, SEEC can help match the appropriate worker to the employer if requested.
SEEC’s services are free for both workers and employers, though voluntary donations are accepted
The Shirlington Employment And Education Centre (SEEC) was established in 2000 to help day laborer find employment. It started with a small office at the corner of south 27th street and nelson street in Arlington’s Shirlington community. On October 2003, SEEC took oversight responsibility for the pavilion located across the street from the Weenie Beenie. On March 1, 2020, the SEEC office was relocated to the Arlington Mill Community center at 909 S. Dinwiddie Street, Suite 422, Arlington, VA 22204. The pavilion that opened in 2003 was closed on December 31, 2020.
Since the beginning, SEEC’s bilingual staff and volunteers have matched day laborers with employers who are in need of temporary labor. While most day laborers have limited skills, there are some with excellent skills for moving jobs, landscape and painting. Workers are expected to complete the tasks requested to the best of their ability and employers are expected to be fair and reasonable. The work to be performed can vary from minor construction work to yard work, domestic services to handy-man related jobs. If there is a need for a job to be done, SEEC can find a worker!
Over the years, SEEC has obtained donations from local churches, foundations and from individuals to provide food and rental assistance to the day laborers during the fall and winter months. SEEC also offers two training programs for immigrant women. Classes are offered to teach women cleaning houses to utilize GREEN cleaning products when cleaning homes in Northern Virginia. To date a total of 150 women completed the training and over 70% of them have found employment. SEEC also provides training for immigrant who want to start their own business.
Over the years, SEEC has received donations to provide food and rental assistance to day laborers during the winter months. The support has come from the Arlington Community Foundation, the Washington Forrest Foundations, and from Arlington Thrive.
SEEC has enjoyed the support of several faith groups in Arlington, including Rock Spring Congressional United Church of Christ, Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, Calloway United Methodist Church, and the Church of the Covenant, PCUSA. For almost ten years, bag lunches have been provided to the day laborers for a combined value of several thousand dollars each year.
SEEC has also received donations to purchase over 150 pairs of gloves and caps annually to give to the day laborers who stand outdoors numerous hours each day during the fall and winter months in the cold weather seeking employment.
Financial Reports
Our Mission
For 24 years SEEC has provided a free safe and welcoming center for Arlington’s Day Laborers. Our mission is to support and advocate on behalf of low-wage, immigrant Day Laborers in Arlington County so that Day Laborers and other immigrant workers can participate in dignified work, earn fair wages, and improve their overall conditions. SEEC fulfills its mission by providing free employment services, job and life skills training, and access to critical social, economic, and legal support for all Day Laborers and low-wage immigrant workers in Arlington County.
The Need
Day Laborers are manual workers, mostly young recently immigrated Hispanic men, who provide a critical temporary labor force for local construction, food, and landscaping businesses. These are the men and women you can see congregating in parking lots waiting for an employer to drive by and offer them a day’s work.
Day Laborers are NOT employees of the contractors who hire them and receive no benefits. They are hired on the fly, for one day or job at a time, paid by the hour, and paid in cash at the end of each day or job. Non-payment for work (wage theft) is not uncommon.
Day labor is seasonal, with few jobs available in the winter. Almost 85% of Arlington Day Laborers meet the definition of homelessness and 85 % require referrals for food and/or medical assistance. Food insecurity is a constant challenge.
Our Services
Employment services
As a day laborer center, SEEC’s first priority is to provide free, walk-in employment services to Day Laborers and a safe place for Laborers to find work. Our employment services include matching employers and jobs to workers; providing extensive employment assistance and translation services and helping Laborers collect unpaid wages.
Job and Life Skills Training
SEEC provides free training and education tailored to the needs of the Day Laborers. SEEC’s programs include basic computer literacy skills, to provide Laborers with the ability to complete on-line job, service and school applications and courses; drivers’ education, to enable Laborers to obtain their Virginia driver’s certification, a necessity for many jobs; and courses in small business start-up to prepare entrepreneurially focused Laborers to launch their own small businesses.
Access to Social, Economic, and Legal Support
Working with our community partners, we provide seamless bilingual referral services for food and medical care; emergency eviction prevention funds; food through our winter hot meal program and year-round brown bag program; and legal support through referrals to Legal Aid, to assist with wage issues, and our weekend clinic to assist with immigration and work issues. There is never any charge for SEEC’s services
Our Impacts
This year SEEC:
- Matches approximately 250 Day Laborers to 650 positions
- Provides workers to approximately 65 employers who rely on part-time and seasonal workers
- Distributes approximately 2,200 brown bag meals to address food insecurity in the Day Laborer community
- Provides Driver’s Education to enable Day Laborers to get their Viriginia Drivers’ Privilege Card.
- Provides basic computer literacy training and tablets to facilitate employment searches and online training
- Completes an average of referrals to the Arlington Free Clinic and the Arlington Food Assistance Center.
Our History
For years under- and unemployed Latino men congregated in south Arlington parking lots, particularly at the Weenie Beenie and along the WO&D trail waiting for contractors to offer them day employment. The surrounding communities had issues with congregating groups of men, as well as with the constant traffic caused by the contractor vehicles, and the litter. The congregating workers had no protection from the weather or access to toilet facilities or drinking water.
Responding to the specific need to get the workers off the street, a group of Latinos, African Americans, and community activists, working with Arlington County, formed SEEC. They quickly learned that Day Laborers need much more support than a safe meeting place. Day Laborers needed assistance in finding day jobs, food, and housing; as well as health care; job training; photo identification; drivers’ licenses; English language assistance; and protection from unfair and illegal labor practices.
SEEC started its work in 2000, operating from a small office at the corner of 27th Street South and South Nelson Street. In October 2003, SEEC took oversight responsibility for a pavilion located across the street from the Weenie Beenie and in March 2020, the SEEC office relocated to the Arlington Mill Community Center, which provided climate controlled indoor shelter and office amenities for both the staff and Day Laborers
From day one, SEEC’s bilingual staff and volunteers have matched day laborers with employers who are in need of temporary labor, reaching out to them on street corners and parking lots to encourage them to come into SEEC and use its services. As SEEC has identified the specific challenges faced by Day Laborers in Arlington, SEEC worked with the County, the Day Laborers, and a host of local partners to develop the range of services which we now provide
