I definitely feel for you, OP! I'm not real far from you over here in the Southwest corner of PA. My father has a construction business that I worked for up until 2011. That's when the bottom completely dropped out and he's now down to a two man crew. He frequently did work for historical sites in the area along with building some rather elaborate homes. He's now down to a 3 man crew living off of many small jobs that he picks up. He works for a couple weeks, finishes the job, and then is looking for something new. So, I know how stressful it must be for your family.

I'll tell you how I managed the situation. While the work slowed up, I took a three week course to get my CDL's. I'm now employed by an oil company. It was about a month long process from starting training to employment. Just don't limit yourself to a single industry and make sure you look into alternative industries just in case things fall threw with construction. Construction here has all but dried up besides a new casino going in and a Wal-Mart nearby, so as others have said, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

As for the government offering help to those who are small business owners or self employed, it's worthless. I know from experience. Government has no problem holding their hand out to collect taxes from you during the good times, but forget it if you need help from them during the bad.

Either way, everyone including myself can use a prayer every now and then in this uncertain economy and I'll be sure to send some your way. I hope you the best in finding a way to prosperity again where you can be certain that you can provide for your family through these tough times.