the poor people themselves might be mature enough to do the job. I'm Rick Wing of KRMA-TV in Denver, Colorado. Our look at the war on poverty in Colorado will take us on a trip to the south: Huerfano County, Las Animas County, Costilla County, and finally the city of Trinidad, 40% of the families in this area have annual incomes of less than $3,000, the accepted standard of poverty. Twenty percent of the adult population has had less than five years of education. The last census reported that only half of the housing in the area is sound with all plumbing facilities. Forty years ago, Las Animas County had a population of some 40,000. Today it's less than 20,000. The unemployment rate is estimated as high as 15%. At one time 40 coal mines were operating near here, giving jobs to nearly 15,000 men.
Today, one mine, four or five hundred jobs. Parts of the Economic Opportunity Act would almost seem written for this region. Job corps camps, youth training programs, adult education, small business health, rural poverty aid, and a great variety of community action programs. But under the law, each community, to get poverty funds, must organize itself and start the ball rolling at home. Will the war on poverty really work in Trinidad? Will it really help this three-county area of Huerfano, Las Animas, and Castilla? - County case worker Bill Cancelia told us the number of people on welfare. - I would think that we could make a safe estimate of about one-third of the population, 55 to 5,800 people involved. - Federal funds are being sought.
School superintendent Hugh Lynn asked for money to keep potential dropouts in school. - We were rather disappointed. We thought that this thing could get off the ground. While they were very optimistic that it might get off the ground early in the fall, possibly by October the first, it isn't off the ground yet. - Las Animas County has applied for $340,000 for job training. - Through this work experience program, Title 5 of the Economic Opportunity Act, we hope to involve 200 men who are unemployed and have families to support, and that we can do projects that would be of a community good nature. In other words, we would involve ourselves in landscaping projects, male orderly or nurses, and care and maintenance of buildings. - But neither state nor federal clearance has yet been obtained. Another phase of the war on poverty is the youth corps. Other Colorado communities have objected violently to propose job corps conservation camps
nearby. Trinidad wants a job camp. As for organizational problems and conflicts in getting the war on poverty started, here's Arch Gibson, editor of the Trinidad Chronicle News. - Well I think the problem would be somewhat the same in any similar community, and that is the lack of qualified leadership. - Since the governor can veto any local poverty program, we asked whether the state was giving the Trinidad area enough help. - Well, I'm very disappointed in this particular direction. Now in our state, Mr. Lindesmith is the coordinator on the state level, and I feel that the program is lacking in enough direction. We have asked specific questions, they were here, they did explain the bill to us. But again, they had nothing to offer in the way of specific answers to specific questions on what to do to set the program in motion and carry it out.
- A man in office, whether he be a governor or representative or a senator or congressman, he's going to do the most for the areas that he's going to get the most votes at one time. These little areas don't elect anybody anymore, and since reapportionment, we have even lost representation. Why, they just ignore us. Lyle Lindesmith, the governor's coordinator for the War on Poverty in Colorado, had this to say about the state government's relationships with Trinidad and Las Animas County. - I'm all aware of the needs, the problems of the Trinidad area. I've been there, I'm going back again, unfortunately we've found one problem which we did not expect. The first meeting that I attended to explain the provisions of the Act, particularly that of the Community Action Program, I found myself almost it seemed in the midst of a civil war because we had certain community leadership who were disagreeing fairly violently on the
approaches that they should take on the leadership that they should have. But solid people are working on this problem, we have other staff members that are going to be there within a few days, I'll be back myself and I'm sure that we will solve the problem of getting started in a worthwhile community action program for the Trinidad area. - The most encouraging thing we found in Trinidad was hope. No one is ready to give up. The problems are being recognized and probably the community will get together. But the main question seems to be, when they do get together, will there be any money left in the poverty pot?
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