July 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 50

Visitors benefit
from additional
assistance at
special events
from the State
Parks Youth
Corps. At Fossil
Day at Mastodon
State Historic Site,
a youth corps
member helps
a young visitor
discover a fossil.
State Parks Youth
Corps members
discover the
simple joys of
nature when they
" Think Outside "
in Missouri state
park

48 Parks & Recreation

Career Benefits
Observers of CCC-style activity agree that it can be
a life changer for the participants. " We saw tremendous benefits in the field, " Bryan says. " The kind of
job experience they gained was amazing; in fact,
many had never had a job before at all. "
The young people " learned specific skills and
what it takes to work in parks, " Bryan says. " We had
training for all of them in terms of basic skills, as
well as specific-training tools. We sent young people through programs so they could become nature
interpreters. Several are working with us again this
year and others have rolled over and become seasonal employees for us. They have definitely been
able to find opportunities. "
" We've been doing job training for some time
and this year we will have 136 Green Corps graduates, " says Coleman of Washington, D.C.'s youth programs. " It's become one of the largest job training
programs in the country. They learn tree planting,
stream restoration, and urban variations of traditional
approaches to conservation. "
Green Corps members earn community college
credits and a variety of certifications, Coleman says.
His organization also tries to place them in jobs and
send them notices about organizations in hiring mode.
Green Corps videos depicting members at work are
provided to alumni to send to potential employers
" A huge difference today is that most CCC work
was not done in the inner cities, " Coleman points out.
" Like Willie Sutton and banks, we go where the jobs
are needed. "
While many participants in modern-day conservation corps are happy to have either a job or work experience, recognition and reward often extend well beyond

J U LY 2 0 1 1

www.NRPA .ORG

that. For
i nsta nce,
in Missouri,
Bryan says, Governor Nixon hosted a state dinner and invited 20 SPCY
veterans " who were real stars " to the governor's mansion for dinner.

No Fifth Wheels
Few park administrators experienced issues with
such sudden influxes of volunteers and paid workers.
" We have had attrition, and when SPYC started,
there were a lot of questions, " Bryan says. " But once
we got going, we stopped hearing those questions
because everybody benefits from the work. In addition, our people watched these young people, stepped
back and said, 'I have a great job.' "
" There has been a big paradigm shift, " Mukri
says. " Our employees know that these volunteers
and others are critical to what we do. Five years ago,
they might have looked upon them as a fifth wheel. "
One thing clearly different about today's conservation corps movement is that one size does not fit all.
Some programs use only parks employees; others
seek to leverage existing staffs. It all depends on the
resources and goals in the particular locale.
Jennifer McGilvray, a spokesperson for Indy Parks
in Indianapolis, says that to mark the 100th anniversary of their park system, the department came up
with Indy Fresh, which involved parks employees
who were recruited to paint benches, erect shelters,
and mulch over a weekend. All told, 250 employees
in six parks contributed $20,000 worth of services.
" We got a lot more accomplished than we expected,
and we hope to do it again next year, " says McGilvray.

July 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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