By Paulette Niemiec
Many people are suffering these days due to the slow economic recovery, especially the transgender population. It's no secret, those who identify as a gender different than their sexual anatomy, find it very difficult to find employment and/or provide an income to survive. Steph Turner, founder of http://www.jendurrserv.com, is one transgender person trying to make a difference and provide the transgender community with hope in a traditionally hopeless situation.
"I noticed the economy slipping and the job market shrinking and decided I needed to do something about it," said Turner. "It's so hard for transgender people to find work, income, financial aid for medical procedures, etc… I knew I had to do something," she explained in a recent interview.
So Turner, after 10 years of research, including over a year of intense internet investigation, developed a website to promote creative ways for people to find work, jobs, earn money and "empower the economically disadvantaged." Her website www.jendurrserv.com was officially launched last June to fulfill that purpose.
"Jendurrserv.com is an organization and website created to help transgender people who are constantly being discriminated against in the work-force. It helps them find the resources they need to help them survive." Turner said, "I noticed the economy sliding from job positions to job roles and discovered through the internet research I did, an opportunity to create something that links all these sites and information together on one website," she explained.
Turner, 51, gave several examples of websites and apps which promote inexpensive services (some with costs as low as $5) that the transgender population can learn how to use to produce income for themselves. These include www.2appos.com, www.fiverr.com and www.Elance.com to name a few.
"This creates an opportunity for unemployed transgender people to build a portfolio of work, get paid and all without having to submit a resume, cover letter or interview for a job," Turner said with an enthusiastic smile.
Turner's website and service has several pages, tutorial videos and self-help instructions to help peoplefind employment, make money and even find ways to raise funds for medical procedures including genital reassignment surgery (an expense most transsexuals can't afford.) Turner, who developed the website with the help of her son, said she feels the uniqueness of Jendurrserv.com is it's ability to provide an extensive amount of assistance, training devices and technologies all in one place. "It pulls it all together and keeps it organized for you."
As the website states, "We are reinventing work to put it to work for you," something Turner hopes will help the transgender community for years to come.
