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Published: Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010 / Updated: Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010 12:04 PM

Pastor on hiatus lands a Census job

YORK COUNTY -- 

Terance Clark is about the business of helping others.

It’s second nature for the Fort Mill man, who has taken three month-long mission trips to Africa.

“The people are so hardworking,” Clark, a former pastor in California, said about people in Africa. “I had a woman who walked seven miles to ask me a question. She got up before work just to ask me a question and was going to walk to work.”

Back in the United States, Clark and his wife, AuDera, continue their mission efforts by teaching, clothing and feeding the homeless. Now, he also is making sure the homeless are counted.

Clark is employed with the U.S. Census Bureau, a federal government agency that is charged with counting everyone in the country — including people who live in alleys and bridge underpasses.

“It’s important that everybody, including the homeless, be counted so that funds can be appropriated in the right way,” said Clark, 46.

The 2010 Census questionnaire is being mailed to every household. It will turn up at homes this month.

“Fill it out thoroughly,” said Jan Smiley, Rock Hill Census office manager. “Mail it back soon.”

She said that’s important.

“An accurate and complete count in South Carolina will allow South Carolinians to get their fair and correct share of over $400 billion annually over the next 10 years and appropriate political representation,” Smiley said.

It takes 10 minutes to answer 10 questions on the form. Seven of those questions are directed at other household members.

In addition to being mailed to known households, the questionnaire will be handed out at group living situations, such as college dorms, prisons, shelters and permanent medical facilities.

“Many of them don’t want to be homeless,” Clark said about the homeless. “They are homeless because of situations. If there are funds,whether it be to provide for education, leadership, or programs, those funds will help them get out of their situation.”

More than 1,000 people like Clark will be employed this year in short term Census-related jobs in 11 counties, including Chester, Lancaster and York counties, Smiley said.

Embracing the mission

During his mission trips to Africa, Clark and others held conferences with pastors there. They shared information on hygiene and infrastructure. The efforts provided the roots for an orphanage, he said.

“We purchased land for them,” said Clark. “We bought them seeds to plant. Now, they are self-sustaining.”

After returning to the United States and relocating to York County, he embarked on a brief hiatus from his life as a pastor, but he did not abandon his mission to help others.

“I began working for MorningStar as their IT,” he said.

During a three-year stint with MorningStar, Clark hired a staff of eight people, installed the ministry’s networks and redid their Website. Then he came to a crossroads.

“I’d come to help them set up their networks,” he said. “It was time to go do some other things, particularly ministry things. I hadn’t done anything in the ministry for three years.”

The couple took on a ministry mission through which they started teaching, feeding and clothing the homeless near Exit 10 in Charlotte, he said. And Clark left MorningStar.

That was March 2009. Later, an advertisement snagged AuDera’s attention.

“My wife saw an ad for the Census Bureau for IT,” Clark recalled. “So, I took the test.”

Clark continued his mission efforts and manned his own IT business that catered to clients in the Carolinas. In August, Clark heard from the Census Bureau.

“I was asked to come in and interview the next day,” he recalled. “They called me that afternoon and said I had the job.”

That was Aug. 31, 2009.

Come Sept. 30, 2010, Clark’s temporary post will be over, but he is not worried.

“I don’t live life based on time frames,” he said. “It’s not the first time I’ve been temporary. I left everything I owned and the people I knew in California to do mission work. Why would I be concerned when there are people who don’t have jobs? At least I have a job for a year.”

So many others lack jobs, and area unemployment figures paint a gloomy picture.

In December 2009, the unemployment rate was 22.5 percent in Chester County and 18.5 percent Lancaster County, said Annie Reid of the Rock Hill Workforce Center.

In York County, unemployment was 15.5 percent, Reid said.

By contrast, in November 2009, Chester County had 21.5 percent unemployment, while the rate in Lancaster County was 19 percent and in York County it was 15.9 percent, Reid said.

As the country emerges from the recession, some employers remain reluctant to hire. Until that happens, the employment forecast does not look promising, workforce center officials say.

But there is hope.

Applications are still being accepted for some Census positions, including support positions, office clerks and field supervisors, Smiley said. About 1,600 people will be hired to fill Census-related posts.

Those hired in field positions earn about $14 hourly and are reimbursed 50 cent per mile for Census-related travel. Office clerks earnan hourly rate of $10.50 while crew leaders earn $15.50 and field supervisors can earn $17, she said.

Though the Census, Clark was no longer an unemployment statistic.

“It’s a great opportunity because we’re working with and for the government,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to help people find jobs.”

And working with the Census improves understanding, he said.

“Now, I have an opportunity to be involved with that and see the process,” Clark said. “I consider that a privilege.”

For more information, call 1-866-861-2010, or go to www.Census.gov/2010.