The Making of the Book Episode 3

Today we visited the actual KidWorks site. Besides the fact that I'm directionally inept and got us tragically lost on the return trip from Santa Ana, the experience was powerful. We conducted back-to-back, divide-and-conquer interviews with half a dozen administrators of the programs, and the stories they were telling us about life change were the kinds of things you make movies (or write books) about.

It worries me, though, how these already "under-resourced" neighborhoods are going fall victim in this tough economy. I just read in the New York Times how unemployment is the lowest it's been in 16 years. When things drop so dramatically, L.A.'s poorer Latino neighborhoods feel it even harder. The kinds of jobs many have -- landscaping, house cleaning, etc. -- are the kind of luxuries a boss could lop off the budget at any moment. And once these families enter survival mode, the "fluff" -- like their kids' education -- is what gets short shrift in time and money.

The CEO of KidWorks said something striking during our interview yesterday: "Our biggest fear is the recession. If some of our donors decide to drop off, we'll be closing shop by summer."

And to think that a lot of this recession is due to big fat cats at the top of credit card and lending companies who decided to pad their pockets with the money of families who really didn't know any better! When the bubble burst, those CEOs got dethroned, and maybe a few months in white-collar prison. But down the food chain, scores of families are losing jobs and losing their way of life. Beautiful efforts to help these families -- like KidWorks -- are fearful for the future.

I hope justice will be done in this situation.