LONDON, Ky. — Finding a job in these economic times can be as hard as winning the lottery. But there’s one group of people who have a difficult time no matter what the job market looks like: Convicted felons, who are always a last resort for employers looking to hire.

But the Southeastern Kentucky Re-Entry Task Force (SKRE Task Force) is seeking to change that. On Nov. 13, the SKRE Task Force organized The Offender Employment Fair at the London Community Center, in London, Ky. that lasted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fair covered District 10, which includes Bell, Laurel, Knox, Whitley, McCreary, Clinton, Wayne, and Russell Counties. There are nearly 2,100 state offenders supervised within those counties.

“Our goals were to help people with a criminal background, felony conviction, and misdemeanor [get a job]” said Crissy Norman, Co-chair of the U.S. Probation Office. Norman explained that the fair was for anyone wanting a job, not necessarily convicted criminals.

“We didn’t turn anyone anyway,” said Norman. “We put employers in connection with those who are looking for jobs.”

While some companies could not show up because of the current economic situation, Norman said, the turnout of employers was a success. The employers who exhibited at the fair included grocery stores, factories, health insurance companies, lumber companies, automotive companies and many more. “We wanted to let [job seekers] know that there are people out there and that people will hire them,” said Norman.

Norman said this project had been “her baby” and it’s been her dream to help felons get back on their feet. “I have been working at the U.S. Probation Office for 12 years now and I have seen the struggles our offenders face when trying to find employment,” said Norman. “Since I have been involved in the offender workforce development initiative, I wanted to start a project that involved our agency and other agencies to tackle the issues the offenders face when seeking employment.”

Norman said that the ability for a felon to get a job depends on how much they want to work. “I know some felons that have turned life around and are business owners now,” said Norman. “It depends on the crime and depends on what kind of work they want to do. [Felons] do, unfortunately, have to start over and build peoples’ trust again.”

Norman said that, for offenders, it is essential they find work to prevent future crime. “If [offenders] don’t know where to go, they will go back to what they know,” which is crime, said Norman. “We want to show them who to get in contact with.”

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.