Ted Reiff's blog

In May of this year I wrote that the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps (SRCC) soon would be opening a reuse store. "Soon" turned out to be four months later than I expected, but for good reason. The building originally slated to house the store was needed for a different purpose, so the SRCC had to find a new location.

In October, I was in Muncie, Indiana, training a couple of different groups in the art and science and deconstruction. The majority of participants were offenders--clients of the Delaware County Community Corrections Department. Other participants were involved in Muncie's Weed and Seed program. We completed two training sessions of 14 days each and deconstructed two of the city's abandoned buildings.

The offenders were all under some type of house arrest, which allowed daytime access to shopping, training, education and jobs, but required that they be in their homes by 5 p.m. The Weed and Seed participants were local community leaders, working with law enforcement to prevent crime and revitalize communities. The Weed and Seed program is funded by Community Capacity Development Department of the U.S. Department of Justice (www.justice.gov/usao/ct/weedseed.html). The program uses a two-pronged approach in which law enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperate to "weed out" criminals in targeted neighborhoods, while community-based organizations "seed" needed human services, including prevention, intervention and neighborhood restoration programs. Deconstruction of uninhabitable houses falls within the latter category of programs.

Myth #1 – No one can make a living wage as a deconstruction worker.
This is an argument I've been hearing since we started TRP in 1993. Our workers earn a wage that is 25 to 35 percent higher than the California minimum and 35 to 50 percent higher than the federal. Can it keep a family of four housed, fed and clothed? No, but then most of our workers are young and just starting out in life -- and don't yet have families. Our crew chiefs are paid 30 to 50 percent more than the average deconstruction worker and our deconstruction managers receive 50 percent more than the crew chiefs. As workers gain proficiency and skill at handling tools and materials, we expect them to be hired by for-profit companies that can afford to pay more. The more people we lose to better paying jobs, the better job we've done training them.

By NICK WERNER
nwerner@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE -- When most people look at the abundance of abandoned homes that dot Muncie's cityscape, they see decay and ruin -- depressing symbols of hard times.