They'll Cut Off Your Project: A Mingo County Chronicle

Chapter 5

5 When we began to develop and write the programs for the second fiscal year of Mingo Coullty's War on Poverty, the initial grant received from the OED for program development was almost exhausted. The twO priorities that had been established by the community action groups were community organization and home improvement . Once the programs were written, we requested only 10 8,000 for both priorities, and that amount also included funds for the administration of the agency. The amount of federal funds requested was very modest when compared to many community action programs throughout the COll n try , especially in McDowell County. The community organization component requested seven community organizers to be stationed in seven geograph ical areas throughout the county to assist the community action groups and to provide a communications link between the people and the agency. The home improvement program was designed to make emergency repairs on low income homes. It was proposed that the OEO fund eight carpenters and that the local wel43 fare department assign enrolees from its AFDCU program to receive training as carpenters' aides while repairs were being made on substandard houses. Noah's brother George was the county supervisor for the AFDCU program, and he had assigned 400 of the men to the State Road Commission to cut weeds and clean ditches. Another 150 were assigned to the County Court to dig graves_ Each of the magisterial districts had what the people called a "graveyard crew." The only time that these enrollees worked was when someone in that magisterial district died. The AFDCU program was original ly designed to provide a "meaningful and useful work experience." This objective was certainly not attained in Mingo. The assignments were merely an extension of the Democratic political patronage system. The State Road Commission and the County Court also hired work supervisors and assigned fifteen to twenty men to each supervisor. Their primary COIlcern with the men was to force them to vote for the machine slate of candidates on election day. Many of the enrollees were bitterly opposed to the AFDCU program and the way it was operated. But, afraid of losing their checks, they always did what they were told. After the OEO investigation, the supervisors, fearing that the men would begin speaking out against the program and the county political organization, ordered them to stay away from the community action meetings. This situation was a serious blow to our efforts because these were the poor we were attempting to organize. Including their families, nearly six thousand people were dependent on this program. The State Commissioner of Welfare, L. L. Vincent, after 44 several meetings, agreed to assign thirty men to our home improvement program. But, each time I discussed the matter with him, he reminded me that he had had a serious problem in the beginning, when we had used AFDCU enrollees to assist with the county survey. He insinuated that the problems came directly from state Senator Noah Floyd. When the assignments were finally made and the men reported out to work, we discovered to our amazement that seven of the thirty were physically incapable of performing carpentry work. One man had lost his leg in a mining accident , and one had lost his arm. It was difficult to imagine either of these men repairing the roof of a house. The remainder of the group were elderly men who were not interested in such work. George Floyd, the county supervisor, had made the selections. We complained bitterly to one of Vincent's assistants, Jim Framton, and he assured us that the situation would be corrected. It was corrected, but not until three months later. The community groups, eager to implement the newly funded home improvement program, became very much irritated with the state welfare department and its lack of concern. On two occasions, efforts were made to organize the AFDCU men into an association. But fear of. the politicians dominated, and each time the effort ended in failure. Another failure occurred at Dingess when the local political arm of the Floyd machine won control of the community action group, leaving the poor as powerless as before. The new OEO grant had provided for seven additional staff members to be hired as community organizers . Cletis Blackburn, a disabled World War II veteran, had been assigned the area of Harvey District. He was constantly complaining about how the local politicians...