Thursday, March 19, 2009

Coprsmember Spotlight

When Melina Vasquez joined the CCC a few weeks ago, she probably didn’t imagine she’d be find herself on a trail in the San Bernardino National Forest, one of the first people in the nation hired with the federal stimulus bill dollars.

March 16, her first regular work day after completing the COMET training, was anything but. It was a major news event, with Melina was interviewed by national and local television crews covering her Inland Empire crew putting the first shovels in the ground to assist the U.S. Forest Service.

Melina, 18, had been eyeing the CCC for a while, and on the waiting list to join for more than six months. When she was laid off from her job in a Victorville chicken restaurant, she began actively searching for employment.

“It was hard to find a job,” she says. “I’d wake up every morning and go after applications. They’d say the same thing, ‘we’re not hiring.’”

Finally, she was accepted into the CCC and went through COMET. “You work as a team with people you don’t even know.”
Melina views the CCC as a great challenge and great opportunity.

“If you want a challenge, the CCC will change your life and bring you that much closer to your goals,” she says. “I love it and hope young people will join and love it like I do.”
Melina grew up in Watts and knew from age four what she wanted to be -- a surgeon. She plans to use her CCC scholarship to help fund her educational goals, which ultimately include medical school.

Her life is not all work -- when she has some spare time Melina likes to play volleyball and listen to music from Korn.

As for being part of the first group of people hired with the stimulus funding, she reflects on her involvement in the recent presidential campaign and interest in current events.

“I’m always watching the news, so it’s kind of interesting that all of a sudden I’m a part of (President Obama’s) plan.”
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Read All About It!

From the New York Times to the San Diego Union-Tribune, from the Boston Globe, to the Hendersonville North Carolina Times-News, and to TV screens across the state, the CCC has captured tremendous media attention this week. The reason? We are the first “shovel-ready” beneficiary of federal recovery funding to actually start using those shovels!

Thanks to U.S. Forest Service recovery money, a CCC crew hit the trail Monday, March 16 near Hemet in the San Bernardino National Forest.

José Murillo’s Inland Empire crew, which includes eight new hires, was swarmed by TV cameras, reporters and photographers, as they put their shovels in the ground and tackled trail maintenance efforts.

Many of the corpsmembers were interviewed, along with Inland Conservation Supervisor Rhody Soria and CCC Communications Director Jimmy Camp.

A substantial story and large color photo appeared the next day in the New York Times, along with Associated Press photos that ran all over the country. But our fame hasn’t ended there. A national NPR radio program wants to interview a corpsmember, and the Los Angeles Times would like to spend a day or two with the crew.

Meanwhile, our trail maintenance continues, with corpsmembers eventually set to work on backlogged projects in all three ranger districts of the San Bernardino National Forest. Along with trail work, the CCC will also help improve energy efficiency at the Forest’s headquarters in San Bernardino.
Click Play > Below

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Overview of the CCC

Employment of Corpsmembers
The CCC hires young men and women between 18 and 25 for a year of natural resource work and emergency response. Corpsmembers earn minimum wage and work throughout the state in urban, suburban and rural areas.

CCC -- Emergency Response Work
For more than 30 years, the CCC has responded to floods, fires, mudslides, earthquakes, oil spills and agricultural pest infestations throughout California. Since 1976, more than nine million hours of emergency response work has been provided.

In 2008, the CCC devoted 141 days straight to fire response, from June to October, calling out the most fire crews in the department’s history.

The CCC can dispatch trained crews of 10-15 corpsmembers within hours, anywhere in the state. Transportation, supervision, tools and safety gear are supplied. Corpsmembers are trained in incident command systems, fire camp support, first aid, CPR, and tool use. They are covered by worker’s compensation and undergo a Department of Justice fingerprint background check.

CCC Partnerships with Other Agencies
Throughout the year, the CCC provides natural resource work for many state, federal and local agencies through work contracts.

The CCC’s largest state work sponsor is Caltrans. Caltrans pays the CCC personnel $18/hour; the agency calculates it would cost $32-36/hour for other labor sources if the CCC were not available.

As a cost-cutting measure, it has been proposed that CAL FIRE could save money by hiring Emergency Workers at $8-10/hour for its fire camp personnel, rather than use CCC corpsmembers. But, while the CCC can be dispatched immediately to fires, CAL FIRE would need to recruit and hire Emergency Workers after the incident is underway. In addition, their wages do not fund hiring, training, workers’ compensation, supervision, tools and safety equipment or transportation.

Apart from the conservation benefits of CCC projects undertaken for government agencies, there are lasting values in the job skills the corpsmembers receive. These skills enable them to successfully join the California workforce after their year in the CCC.

Meeting the CCC Mission
The Public Resources Code describes the California Conservation Corps’ mission as “instilling basic skills and a healthy work ethic in California youth, building their character, self-esteem, and self-discipline, and establishing within them a strong sense of civic responsibility and understanding of a value of day’s work for a day’s wages.” The CCC is also charged with enhancing the educational opportunities and employability of corpsmembers.

With major budget reductions in recent years making it more difficult to meet its mission, the CCC has not waivered from this focus, while realizing increased efforts are needed. High school courses have been provided by two charter high schools (John Muir and Eagles Peak), and since FY 2003-04, the GED/High School graduation rate has increased. IN FY 2007-08, 25 percent more corpsmembers completed their GEDs/HS diplomas than in the previous fiscal year. The CCC has continued to pursue an after-paid-hours education and training program for its corpsmembers. This has included academic courses, career development training, environmental education, community volunteer hours, leadership training and life-skills development.

Teddy's Quote of the day