Contrary to popular belief, economic turndowns can produce significant benefits. From a business standpoint (and nonprofit organizations like TRP are businesses), recessions accomplish at least two things. First, leaders are forced to focus on core competencies and eliminate less important activities.

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.