Applying Peace Corps Ideas To Hometown In Need

With every disaster comes opportunity: That's what two young men from Wilmington, Ohio, thought when they saw the economic devastation in their hometown, where thousands have lost their jobs.

Mark Rembert and Taylor Stuckert decided to put aside work in the Peace Corps to see what they could do to help fix their own community — and they hatched a plan to start an environmentally friendly project that they hope will put hundreds back to work.

The two are as surprised as anyone to find themselves back in Wilmington, a rural community southeast of Dayton. When they graduated from the local high school in 2003, they couldn't get out fast enough.

"If you asked me six months ago if I would want to live in Wilmington, Ohio, if it meant that I got to work closely with the community, be around my family, you know, earn nothing, when I had a really high-paying job in New York, I would say, no, absolutely not," says Stuckert.

A Hope For Lasting Change

Stuckert, 23, has a still-boyish face and blond, wavy hair. Until last fall, he was in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, but he had to be evacuated because of unrest there. Earlier, he had worked at a law firm in New York. He was trying to figure out what to do next when his good friend urged him to return home.

"I was like, you have to come back. There's so much energy here right now," Rembert says.

Rembert is 24, with dark hair and a beard. He almost bounces with enthusiasm. He also was accepted to the Peace Corps and was set to go to Ecuador. But then, DHL Express, Wilmington's largest employer, announced it was going to shut down its domestic air-freight operations, leaving thousands without jobs.

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