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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Downtown Huntsville Inc. is partnering with Downtown Charitable Fund and Land Trust of North Alabama to provide temporary employment to service industry workers who have been displaced due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Between March 27 and April 3, the Alabama Department of Labor reports paying over $6 million in COVID-19 related benefits to over 22,000 claimants. The pandemic has caused a lot of people to lose work, but some laid off employees in downtown Huntsville could have an opportunity to make a paycheck.

“If you have employees that have been laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a program that will be launching this week that can pay them,” said Chad Emerson, the CEO and president of Downtown Huntsville Inc.

The program will assist unemployed and furloughed workers in the Downtown Huntsville Core and Downtown Huntsville Districts. The Land Trust will temporarily hire these recently unemployed workers to remove invasive Japanese Honeysuckle plants from the trails on Monte Sano.

The Land Trust says this project has needed to happen for a while.

“There will be socially distant spaces, you’ll have little zones,” said Emerson. “The Land Trust has put thought behind this. Even if you’ve never been outdoors that much, you can use a pair of loppers, they’ll give you instructions about how to remove it.”

The program is anticipated to begin early April and will pay each eligible employee $10 an hour for up to 40 hours per week.

Mayor Tommy Battle responded positively to the program, saying, “In times of crisis, it is heartening to see the many ways our community has come together to help each other. This creative opportunity to provide jobs and wages for our displaced downtown workers and to help one of our treasured assets is the kind of compassionate creativity that will help Huntsville get through this pandemic stronger than ever before.”

The initial deadline is April 15, 2020, by 5:00 p.m. If interest in the program warrants, an additional application period may be opened.

All eligible employees can directly contact the Land Trust at jobs@landtrustnal.org to learn additional details about the project and seek employment in the project.