Travelwoman posted a blog earlier that got me to thinking. Yes, I do actually think from time to time…despite what some of you may imagine. Her blog was entitled What if YOU'd be homeless....soon?
I started thinking back to a trip I took to southern Illinois about a year and a half ago. While there, visiting with my friend Mary, we hiked through many of the beautiful state parks in the area.
While visiting Giant City State Park (you can see it here) near Carbondale, I read about the work done in this state park by the Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC as it was also known. In this particular park, the CCC constructed a beautiful lodge along with 12 cabins on the highest point of the park. The visitor’s center at the park highlighted other work done in the area by the CCC, as well.
The CCC was a work relief program started under legislation proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. You can read about it here. Basically, the program was designed to get unemployed young men working, making a little money to send back home for their families to live & stimulate the economy.
There was a small lake constructed during the Great Depression right here in my own home town. This project was done under the Works Progress Administration again during President Roosevelt’s term in office. This was another means of putting the unemployed to work to earn money for their families & to provide a stimulus to the economy. You can take a peek at that project here.
While I’m not a political expert as many here claim to be, I won’t dare delve into the good, bad & ugly of such projects. But I firmly believe if these sorts of programs worked back then, they could work again. No, as a whole, our country is not as bad off as it was during the Great Depression, but we are all aware of the staggering numbers of unemployed people….people losing their homes due to foreclosure….people without a roof over their head or as the saying goes, a pot to piss in.
Our economy is not just suddenly going to improve one day. The banks are still holding tight on credit & those of us with some money are holding tight to what we’ve got.
I’ve heard President Obama speak of working on infrastructure…work that is badly needed in many areas of our country. And though I don’t know where the money would come from to pay the people to do the work…..why couldn’t something be developed to get the unemployed people of our land back to work…working for our government to put our cities back together…to make money to send home to keep that roof over their loved ones heads…to make money to be able to go out & buy things again…to stimulate our economy.
Maybe this is all just a dream I’ve made up in my head. I just know something has got to give. And I say again, if it worked then, it could work again.
I thank you for taking time to read my blog. Your kind thoughts & input on this topic will be accepted though these are my thoughts & they stand alone. But as I am not a serious politico, please do not attack me for something I’ve simply been thinking of. Thank you.
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| Unemployed?.....Homeless?..... |
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chatillion
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Mar 22 @ 11:27PM
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While I’m not a political expert as many here claim to be, I won’t dare delve into the good, bad & ugly of such projects. But I firmly believe if these sorts of programs worked back then, they could work again...
Agreed. It seems the good and evil have mimicked the same path for success... Certainly no plan is perfect but we need our growing numbers homeless in programs that offer a way to keep them off the streets (read: out of trouble) and into a win-win situation for them and all of America.
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travelwoman
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Mar 23 @ 12:18AM
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Missliss.... I have often thought of that, too. I've spend a lot of time in campgrounds built by the CCC. And when Pres. Obama first mentioned government programs that would also improve the country, I was very excited and hoping he'd come up with a bunch of interesting projects.
Alas, it seems that a lot of projecting is left to the states. And many of the states use the stimulus money for covering their debts and simply being able to continue things like "they always were". Also, some governors (i.e. Idaho) have told their intention of putting big chunks of federal money into savings, for "rainy days" (  ) instead of SPENDING it, in order to get the economy going.
And last but not least... many of the families first hit by homelessness and urgent needs are the single-parent-households, especially those without greater family to help them out, and more especially single mothers with children. How could they leave their kids alone for working jobs elsewhere? And what kind of federal jobs could there be for them?
As I said, I had my hopes up when I first heard of government programs intended to help the unemployed. But.... the souffle has crashed already.... 
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missliss78
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Mar 23 @ 12:43AM
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travel, You've touched on some good points.
While many things are so different today than they were back when these programs were implemented, surely there can be a way found to make something like this work again. Single parenthood was not much of an issue back then, but it is today....and it works both ways...single mom & single dads.
Please, by all accounts...never give up hope!
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ttomtarr
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Mar 23 @ 9:00AM
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CCC did work.
There is a very nice Museum of the CCC in Highlands Hammock State Park in south Florida. It tells of the people of the CCC and their projects, and successes.
Once you learn to recognise their building style, you notice it in many places, particulatly in recreation areas. There are many larger projects as well.
They taught a lot of young men a skill, and then put them to work at it. The experience on top of schooling produced som very fine workers, and beautiful facilities for the public.
They had many men from a farming background, literally hungry men, and the CCC didn't have to deal with drug addiction, lack of motivation, crippling insurance, and fantasy land living style expectations. They just fed them, and taught them a skill, and put them to work. The men lived in a military style barracks.
If Obama wants a real change, he should encourage this labor based recovery, where the money goes directly to helping people. The bussiness based approach, with investment in companies rather than individuaals, smells a lot like Reagan's old trickle down theory, that still hasn't trickled to where most of us are.
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hereshannon
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Mar 23 @ 10:30AM
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Outstanding Blog! I agree with you completely, I think if the government is going to spend money that we don't have it should go directly to work projects. We have all seen how the money will be used when we give it to corporations like AIG. How many Americans could have been employed with the 165 million dollars that AIG gave as bonuses to their execs? With these work programs we would not only stimulate the economy, we would repair our crumbling infrastructure, and restore peoples pride by allowing them to again make an honest living. If only these unemployed people had given huge campaign donations like AIG, perhaps then the government would care about them. 
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EternalFlame
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Mar 23 @ 10:55AM
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Here in Cali, we have the California Conservation Corps. It's a bit different than the original because it's a youth program, but these kids do a lot, including disaster response.
* The California Conservation Corps is the largest program of its kind in the country. Created in 1976, it's modeled after the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps.
* The CCC program matches up California's young people and its natural resources, benefiting both.
* Each year the CCC hires 3,300 corpsmembers between the ages of 18 and 25. They earn minimum wage, $8/hour.
* More than 100,000 young men and women have been a part of the CCC since 1976.
* The CCC is one of California's premier emergency response forces In 2008, corpsmembers devoted more than a half-million hours to fire response, and also fought floods and pest infestations.
* The CCC has 27 locations throughout California to assist with natural resource work and emergency response.
* The CCC is a cost-effective labor force, working for more than 250 local, state and federal agencies each year. Crews tackle more than 900 projects and generate more than $26 million annually for the CCC.
* The Corps has provided more than 9.3 million hours of emergency response on nearly every major natural disaster since 1976. Crews can be dispatched within hours anywhere in the state.
* All corpsmembers advance their education in the CCC. In the last three years, more than 4,000 corpsmembers worked to complete their high school diplomas. The CCC also offers two different scholarships for use after the CCC.
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warmc
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Mar 24 @ 10:51AM
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Very good blog but could you find enough people that isnt on drugs to work? I have a son on them and you cant get him to do anything and he is homeless
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CHARLIgurl1
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Mar 25 @ 4:48PM
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Homelessness is a something that I can only dread.
In England there are street beggars everywhere, but because so many are fake, they stop giving, and thats such a shame for the genuine ones.
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CrackerJackPat
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Mar 26 @ 7:02PM
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Great blog MissLiss!
Funny I was thinking along these lines just the other day.
As many of the folks in here know, I work with the unemployeed, polishing resumes, prepping them for interviews, etc. I've been working extra hours to get things done. AND..... I only see a portion of the unemployed.... many, possibly most will not utilize our services.
These folks are not just the guys from the oil fields which are shutting down. I have a few gentlemen I'm working with that are attorneys, engineers, and accountants. The number of ex-felons that I work with is also increasing and will continue to climb I'm afraid.
I looked down at my dad's pipe rack the other day. Propped in it is his tobacco pouch. Pinned to that and proudly displayed is a pin he earned in the CCC camps. Indiana State Parks have many building put up by the CCC boys. Pokagan State Park in northern Indiana and my hometown proudly offers a number of them. Actually there have probably been some MD gatherings in some of these buildings.
Most of the people I see would welcome the opportunity to work and stay in a CCC camp and be able to send money home for their kids. It's a different crowd these days than the ones who really have no desire to look for work. And believe me.... that crowd will not go hungry. Those who have always held their head high and had pride in themselves are the ones I worry about because they will not ask for a handout.
Yes...... bring back the CCC !
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mystery2u888
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Apr 6 @ 3:35AM
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