A new Lawrence-based temporary employment services company is trying to fill a niche in the market by providing job opportunities to area homeless people and others who are down on their luck.

Mike Brady, owner of the recently opened Lawrence Job Service, routinely finds work for homeless people who stay at the Salvation Army shelter.

“I’m willing to work with them,” Brady said. “If they go out and perform a job, I’ll keep them busy. Everybody needs a second chance.”

Brady said he designed the business to appeal to people who sometimes couldn’t find a job through other temporary employment agencies.

For example, he doesn’t require applicants to have a phone number or a car, which often are requirements for many jobs. He also doesn’t require applicants to make long-term commitments. Brady said he usually had jobs that last as little as four hours to as long as several months.

The company also has a payroll program that pays people as often as once a day, which Brady said was important to many of his clients.

“With my competitors, you may work for them for one day and not get paid for two weeks,” Brady said. “I have people come in and say their car is broke down and they need some quick cash, and I’m able to help those people.”

Since he opened the business in mid-August, Brady has worked with about 2,400 applicants. He estimated that only about 25 percent of the people he employed were homeless, while the rest are college students and others between jobs.

But helping the homeless and other people in need was a goal of Brady’s when he started the company.

“I wanted to give some people who are down on their luck a second chance,” Brady said. “I want to get them back on the payrolls.”

Mike Brady opened Lawrence Job Service with hopes of helping the homeless. The business is at 833 Ohio in the former offices of the Job Services Center, where Brady worked as an employment placement officer.

Paula Gilchrist, director of social services at the Salvation Army, said Brady’s business was meeting an important need in the community.

“He’s definitely filling a niche,” Gilchrist said. “Mike is really the only one we know of on a consistent basis that we can call and say we have people looking for work.

“We have some good people in our shelter. Some of them need a little more flexibility than a 40-hour-a-week job allows. This gives them a chance to get a short-term reward as well as some fast cash. But it’s more than just the money. It makes a difference in how they feel.”

The business is at 833 Ohio in the former offices of the Job Services Center, where Brady worked for 20 years as an employment placement officer.

When the department’s offices moved in 2001 to the new Lawrence Work Force Center on South Iowa Street, Brady began thinking about opening his own business in the Ohio Street location because people seeking work were used to coming there.

“I saw it as an opportunity to help myself and help people at the same time,” Brady said. “I’ve always been in public service and I don’t see this as being much different.”

Brady said the business was working out well.

“We’ve had really dependable people,” Brady said. “I weeded some out at the beginning, and we haven’t had any problems since then.”

He fills jobs for small businesses and individuals and provides services that include janitorial, construction, clerical and even basic yard work. He estimated he employed about 30 to 50 people a day, with wages ranging from $7.50 to $10 an hour.