What did Hoover do to try to alleviate the Great Depression?

As a result, he responded to the economic crisis with a goal of getting people back to work rather than directly granting relief. In October 1930, he established the President's Emergency Committee for Employment (later renamed the President's Organization for Unemployment Relief) to coordinate the efforts of local welfare agencies.

As the Great Depression worsened, however, charitable organizations were simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem, and Hoover tried new ideas to stimulate the economy:

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) (1932) provided railroads, banks, and other financial institutions with money for loans. The Glass-Steagall Act (1932) made getting commercial credit easier and released $750 million in gold reserves for additional business loans. The Emergency Relief and Construction Act (1932) provided funds to the RFC to make loans for relief to the states and included additional money for local, state, and federal public works projects.