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Reno Stephens was working as a contractor with U.S. Agency for International Development for just a few months when he got the word on Jan. 28 that he no longer had a job — and the agency was being shuttered.
“So right now, (I’m) out of a job, out of money,” he told WTOP.
He’s hoping to find the same kind of meaning he found in the work he did as a data analyst for USAID in the area of global health and HIV/AIDS.
So when Stephens heard that area businesses were eager to offer some kind of pick-me-ups for those who’ve been affected by the sweeping firings across U.S. agencies under the Trump administration, he said it made him “happy and joyful.”
Gerry Rogers, the owner of Petals Edge Floral Design in Alexandria, was among the business owners who decided to offer a treat for people in Stephens’ position. She gave away bouquets of flowers through the close of business Friday.
“My father was a 35-year career foreign service officer with USAID. I know that agency intimately,” Rogers said. “I can understand how many of the people in this position must be feeling, whether it’s anger, despair, sadness.”
When Stephens went to pick up a bouquet, he said Rogers mentioned her father’s work for USAID.
“Hearing that from her, and just meeting her in person,” he could tell her concern was heartfelt. “I’m so grateful for that,” he said.
So, in turn, he wrote up a positive review for Rogers’ webpage, “because it was such a gracious gesture that she offered.”
Rogers confessed to being angry on behalf of the federal workers and contractors who’ve been laid off: “There was one woman who had just moved here three weeks ago, only to be laid off.”
For Rogers and her family, taking a job in public service “was something that was very respected. It was patriotic, you were giving to your country,” she said.
She’d also seen how, in her words, federal workers were treated like “pawns” when federal budget battles led to government shutdowns and furloughs.
Stephens said that losing his contracted position at USAID was a real blow.
“It’s not just like losing any job and just moving on. It’s like losing your passion,” he said.
Stephens had turned down other, higher-paying jobs to take the contracting position with USAID. The work gave him the feeling that “this is the field I was meant to be in.”
Asked about the bouquet he was given, Stephens said he couldn’t identify the flowers.
“I just know they’re pink, red, yellow,” he joked. He said that he’ll be giving them to his partner, and he was sure she’d love them.
Stephens has been firing off resumes, and even has an interview coming up.
As for Rogers, she said: “Let’s just hope we can all make it through to the other side.”
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