Latest news with #PortiaMoore
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Local organization hosts annual ‘Walk 2 Reduce Recidivism'
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People across Shelby County were wearing their orange in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. The holiday may have been officially recognized on Friday, but organizations are taking the weekend to show the community they are committed to fighting crime. Rain was in the forecast on Saturday morning. While many at Shelby Farms ran to cover, one group walked for a different purpose. The Transitional Re-entry Adult Program, also known as TRAP, hosted its second annual Walk 2 Reduce Recidivism. CEO Portia Moore said rain was not going to stop them from showing the community that there are those willing to put in the work to make a change. 'As a whole, we're all trying to come together to make Memphis better,' Moore said. Memphis Pride Fest, Pride Parade canceled; postponed until 2026 TRAP is an organization that supports and provides resources to individuals navigating life after incarceration. 'So, I have a job readiness and workforce development program that we focus on,' Moore said. 'Just skilling them up so that we can adjust their mindset for more of a career path.' Two of her clients are Thaddeus Young and Nautica Moore. Young said he was recently released from federal prison after serving more than 25 years. 'I didn't know what I was going to do when I got released. I gave up. I said I was going to the streets,' Young said. 'I said I was going to just do whatever came [my] way, but when I met Ms. Portia, she changed my life around. She changed my mindset.' This event is just one of many events hosted in collaboration with the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement for National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Shelby County offers $5K retention bonus for deputy recruitment 'We want organizations who are truly committed to public safety to come together to be more than just silos, to be a joint unit,' said Tamika Williams, the Deputy Director of the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. 'How do we as a community make sure we are identifying the right individuals that need the support and making sure we're wrapping our arms around them?' Moore said that she believes providing support to people released from prison can help reduce crime. 'If you don't have the employment opportunity, how can you do better,' Moor said. 'You're going to fall into the same category that you did once before because you know that you can get some type of funding or income from that.' Young said he's thankful for the guidance and that someone believed he deserves a second chance. 'I work now. I got a job,' Young said. 'My mind strong. I got patience.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Remote contract workers share their red flags for sorting through scams
Remote job scams are on the rise as more people seek flexible work options. Scammers often exploit inexperienced job seekers by masquerading as appealing offers. Experts told BI that caution, careful research, and networking can help you avoid falling for scams. Portia Moore had already been working from home for five years before the COVID pandemic made flexible schedules popular. She said sifting through scams has always come with the job. "I got spoiled, working from home," Moore, who runs a job board that lists remote gig work that she vets, said. "Back in 2015, 2017 — it was before remote jobs were very popular. So, I kind of really learned how to find legit remote jobs that weren't scams because scams were everywhere." They're even more prevalent now, Moore added, since "everybody's going after remote jobs." More and more Americans are taking on extra work to cope with the rising cost of living. Communities have emerged on sites like TikTok, dedicated entirely to finding legit, lucrative side hustles. Gig remote work — such as copywriting, data entry, and one-off jobs on sites like Fiverr — often offers attractive rates of pay and flexible hours. It is enjoying a resulting boom in popularity. Jackie Mitchell, who gained traction on TikTok for documenting her goal of making $100 a day through side hustles, said scams often advertise themselves similarly to legitimate remote jobs, luring in searchers with less experience spotting clear red flags. In particular, those in dire financial straits searching for a temporary stopgap are most vulnerable. "I feel like the side hustle culture kind of becomes — while I need to have second streams of income at this time in my life — I think the mantra now becomes that everyone should, because why wouldn't you want more money?" Mitchell said. "And I think that becomes dangerous." For her part, Moore has also seen plenty of scammers try to prey on her audience — and says it fits the typical pattern of bad actors aligning themselves with a legitimate brand in order to build trust. "I just had a TikTok go viral over the weekend, and there's so many scammers in the comments saying, 'Hey, I hire data entry for $40 an hour,'" Moore said. "And I'm like, 'No, guys. That's not real.' So it's mostly people who'll say a legit, popular job title, like data entry." Many will pretend to be real, big-name companies, Moore said — and with the advent of AI tools, she's seen the phishing websites people are redirected to become harder to distinguish for the genuine article. She's developed a series of red flags she keeps in mind when searching for listings to add to her site. "If you're getting asked for money, that's a huge red flag," Moore said."It's a job. You shouldn't be paying. If you go to a website and something looks off, or — and I know this is hard to believe — but if someone uses the word 'kindly,' that's usually a red flag." Kristi Roe-Owen, a freelance writer who supplements her income with gig work for companies like Data Annotation, said a green flag for her is when the sign-up and interview process is complex. "They wanted a lot of information about my skills, my contributions, and what I had to offer as a writer," Roe-Owen said. "And then immediately after I finished that initial sign-up process, I was prompted to go through qualifications. That was green flags across the board, for me." Roe-Owen added that building out a network of other freelancers or gig workers helps her learn about postings by word of mouth, even if it's just via a post in her Discord group. "A green flag is also that I've actually read an experience from someone else who's doing it successfully," Roe-Owen said. "That gives me an idea of what to expect." Mitchell agrees — a quick search on social media always helps confirm her hunches. "I find a classic Reddit search does you wonders," Mitchell said. Keeping your wits about you is the most important part of the process, Moore said, and added to avoid being guided by desperation. She also believes that age-old advice endures for a reason. "If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is too good to be true, and you want to do your due diligence," she said. "When you're looking for remote jobs, you do have to take your time. It's a numbers game. You just can't believe that somebody's selling you gold." Read the original article on Business Insider
