Below are responses to common questions we’ve run into. Please do not hesitate to contact us if your question is unanswered or if any further clarification is desired.
Are you a 501c3? Why not register as a for-profit?
Yes. We are a fully approved not-for-profit organization. We believe this type of incorporation best suites our needs as well as our values as an organization. The same can be said for our franchisees, who will each operate independent 501c3. While fee-for-service contracts will cover the lion’s share of each Enterprise’s operating budget, roughly 15% will be need to be covered by philanthropic support.
How do I make a contribution to CCCUSA?
Please contact us to discuss your interest. Our contact info may be found at the bottom of every page.
What is a Corps?
Corps are comprehensive organizations that engage and employ young people to complete high-valued service projects for their communities, with the intention of instilling civil values and providing job readiness skills to corps members. Corps members work in small teams called crews, which are typically six to eight members, led by two trained crew leaders. The crews are diverse by design, uniting individuals of different backgrounds, ethnicities, social status, heritage, and gender. Members are paid for their work, and they use both traditional and modern tools to complete their work projects. They serve for a designated amount of time ranging from a summer to an entire year or beyond.
What work will CCCUSA crews do?
The specific work will depend on where each franchise (we refer to as Enterprise) is located. An urban CCC Enterprise may have crews that work on projects such as historical restoration, abandon lot reclamation, or manage a reuse-store. Compared to rural crews who may do work on recreational prosperities, build trails and perform forestry work.
Does a viable market of gov’t contracts exist today for Corps?
The short answer is YES.
Two examples.
Vermont, the 4th most rural state in the union supports the VYCC, Kingdom Corps, Green Mountain Trail, SCA, Northern Forest Trail, as well as dozens of private trail contractors, and organizations like VYCC and others continue to grow.
The East Bay/San Francisco area has two multi-million-dollar Corps programs and a third related to veterans is currently being developed…all within a ten-mile radius.
The government will always have a need to stretch its dollars. In this time of tighter budgets, Corps programs are seen as a way to stretch these limited dollars as they accomplish multiple goals with each dollar spent, becoming highly attractive.
For example – a labor grant, focused specifically on job readiness initiatives, is used in conjunction with a natural resource grant explicitly for the purpose of planting trees. Together, each agency receives twice the outcome they would normally expect for each dollar spent. Natural resources money allows more individuals to go through labor programs and the labor grant allows more trees to be planted.
This is a common example of how CCC Corps will be trained and guided to utilizing public funding effectively. CCCUSA will compete for government contracts at every level and to the degree we complete them ahead of schedule and in the highest quality manner, we will grow.
CCCUSA is a “Corps Accelerator” … what does that mean?
An accelerator is an entity that causes something to happen or develop more quickly. In our case, CCCUSA will act as the nation’s first accelerator for corps – by radically accelerating the number of corps that exist, we believe we can impact our nation on an unprecedented scale.
Is CCCUSA only geared towards young people in cities?
Absolutely not. While most corps members may be from and complete projects in urban areas, we are looking to influence every young person, in every community, rural and urban, from coast to coast.
What are ages of crew members?
Ages 16 to 26.
How do I apply to have a CCC Franchise?
We have not opened up the formal application process but are putting individuals who would like to be trained as a CCC Executive Director and/or Crew Leader on a wait list. We are also open to discussion with community leaders interested in a having a CCC corps in their region.
Can I get a hardcopy version of the site?
Of course! Click here for a link to a pdf version of our site.