Hateful Right-Wing Windbag Phyllis Schlafly Wants To Deny Disaster Services To Those Who Don't Speak English
Hateful Right-Wing Windbag Phyllis Schlafly Wants To Deny Disaster Services To Those Who Don’t Speak English
Those are having to endure the flooding disaster in Louisiana face the prospect of years of rebuilding and may never be able to replace all of their possession or mementos such a family heirlooms and photographs. FEMA is already on the ground and President Obama has greenlighted millions of dollars in federal aid to assist with the disaster.
And now along comes the head of the Eagle Forum, the…
Hateful Right-Wing Windbag Phyllis Schlafly Wants To Deny Disaster Services To Those Who Don't Speak English
Hateful Right-Wing Windbag Phyllis Schlafly Wants To Deny Disaster Services To Those Who Don’t Speak English
Those are having to endure the flooding disaster in Louisiana face the prospect of years of rebuilding and may never be able to replace all of their possession or mementos such a family heirlooms and photographs. FEMA is already on the ground and President Obama has greenlighted millions of dollars in federal aid to assist with the disaster.
And now along comes the head of the Eagle Forum, the…
American Red Cross Internship for Summer 2016 Session in USA
American Red Cross Internship for Summer 2016 Session in USA
Applications are invited for the American Red Cross Internship for Summer 2016 Session in USA. American Red Cross is offering approximately 85 internship positions in almost every Red Cross line of business
Internship description
The American Red Cross invites exceptional undergraduate and graduate students from many diverse backgrounds to join us in a variety of internship programs that…
“In 2012 Rose Cantrell served as an AmeriCorps State member with the Education Corps, a part of LifeBridge AmeriCorps. During and after the Derecho, power outages impacted every county in West Virginia and, due to infrastructure damage in the power grid, lasted more than two weeks in some areas. In more than 100 degree heat, families quickly ran out of food, water, medicine and fuel. Many schools and typical community service sites were closed creating a challenge for AmeriCorps members across the state who needed to continue accruing service hours. Members around the state from programs like LifeBridge and Energy Express volunteered at shelters, ice and water distribution sites, and cooling stations during the disaster.
One of my most rewarding and memorable experiences was when the derecho that devastated West Virginia hit on June 29, 2012. Fifty-three of West Virginia’s 55 counties had massive power outages and that included almost all of Clay County, where I serve. Phone lines were down, roads were impassable due to downed trees, grocery stores and gas stations were closed, ATM machines didn’t work and we were in the midst of one of the worst heat waves we’d had in years.
Big Otter Elementary School was not only located in the small area of Clay that still had electricity, it had the necessary facilities to host a shelter – large kitchen, showers, laundry room, a place to set up an infirmary and it was accessible to countless willing volunteers. There was no “official” way of getting the word out that we were open and available to help, but word-of-mouth quickly spread and entire families showed up.
Almost all of those families brought children. Lots and lots of bored, confused, hot, hungry children. The beauty of having a shelter at an elementary school is that there are lots of options for entertainment. So while the parents showered, did a load of laundry and enjoyed a hot meal, the kids and I read books. We sang, we danced, we colored with the donated coloring books and crayons ... then we discovered the hula hoops. For five solid days – 8-10 hours a day - amid finding enough cots, blankets & pillows for everybody, helping clean tables & empty trash in the cafeteria, unloading truckloads of donated supplies, coordinating with the Red Cross and other agencies, I hula-hooped. First just to entertain cranky little kids, but as the laughter carried, the teenagers came, then the adults. One man said, “The world needs more of this. This is like hanging out with your family on the front porch.” This same man’s home had been destroyed by a felled tree, what little he had left in his freezer was ruined, but still, he was grateful for the camaraderie we created in the midst of chaos.
To this day – over 3 years later – I get hugs from people whose faces I remember but whose names I’m not sure I ever even knew. They remember the smile I offered as we welcomed them, the kindness with which I fetched coffee or helped them figure out who to contact to apply for emergency food stamps or find their lost dog, the pride with which I wore that gray AmeriCorps shirt every day, offering whatever I could in the name of “service” to my fellow man.
This is just one of many memorable, rewarding experiences I’ve had during my time with AmeriCorps and I am honored to have had the opportunity to be part of every single one of them.
To read more about CNCS Disaster Services Unit visit: http://www.nationalservice.gov/focus-areas/disaster-services
In 2014, I served as a team leader in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a team based community service program. NCCC opened doors for me, helping me realize the extensive opportunities of service, including disaster relief. After graduating from the program, I decided to continue my service by volunteering with NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster in Detroit, MI.
The majority of the country had no idea about the massive rainfall, flooding, and sewer back-ups that occurred in Detroit in mid August. NECHAMA and their fellow VOAD member, All Hands, relied heavily on volunteers and NCCC teams to help with their work. NECHAMA recruited AmeriCorps NCCC alumni to volunteer after our service year had ended.
My parents and friends were concerned with my desire to go help in Detroit; fueled by stereotypes of urban decay making the city unsafe. However, I think Detroit deserves and needs the support and help of others. I majored in International Studies at university; part of the reason I joined NCCC was to gain a first hand understanding of the issues in my own country in order to help others abroad more effectively. However, that experience has led me to want to stay and help others in my own backyard, through organizations like NECHAMA. I have come to discover that poverty in America is unique. Serving in this environment has truly changed my perspective, giving me a greater understanding of the systemic issues in our society. For me, serving in Detroit serves as motivation to better our country and our world.
NCCC and NECHAMA members learning about VISTA history while assisting with disaster relief
While volunteering with NECHAMA, I had the privilege of helping to gut and sanitize the basement of Mrs. Berry. When I first walked into Mrs. Berry’s home, she smiled and with great enthusiasm shouted, “AmeriCorps!” as she read my shirt from my team leader year. I smiled back, excited that she recognized the AmeriCorps ‘A.’ Rachael, a fellow volunteer and AmeriCorps NCCC alum who had assessed Mrs. Berry’s home earlier that day, explained that Mrs. Berry served with AmeriCorps VISTA at a YWCA in Highland Park, MI in 1996. I was excited to know we were helping someone who shared our dedication to service and was familiar with the program we just completed. Over the course of the next two days, the team of six I was volunteering with was able to remove all of the personal belongings, appliances, and walls that were damaged by the flood water in Mrs. Berry’s home.
Basement before flood damage
Upon completing our work, we were eager to see Mrs. Berry’s reaction to her dramatically changed basement. Mrs. Berry came down her stairs with a stack of papers in her hand. She was very appreciative of our work. She explained she would not have been able to clean up her basement without our help. She then gestured to the stack of papers and had us gather around her. The papers were pages from a photo album, along with her certificate of completion from AmeriCorps VISTA. With great pride, she showed us the different programs she planned for the local community while serving with the YWCA, including dances for the elderly and school programming for local youth. As she shared her experience, I became very emotional. I thought about how I could not wait to share my AmeriCorps experience with future AmeriCorps alums. I was moved by Mrs. Berry’s positive and giving attitude after facing the hardship of losing so much and dealing with the damage due to the flooding. I understood her desire to help her community, through her continued work in nonprofits.
Basement after flood damage, with team cleaning up
We then asked Mrs. Berry to pose with us for a picture. She agreed, but only if she was wearing her AmeriCorps pin. Making a difference in people's lives, especially for people like Mrs. Berry, is why I continue to be motivated to do this kind of work and help others. Sam, another NCCC alum, explained that one grateful reaction from homeowner can keep you going through the rest of your service. For me, that was the case for meeting Mrs. Berry. The common thread of our AmeriCorps experience served as a connection with Mrs. Berry. Meeting her has greatly shaped my experience here in Detroit volunteering with NECHAMA.
An AmeriCorps team shares its experiences from the disaster response to Michigan flooding
The deployment has been a life-changing experience to say the least. There’s nothing like starting it off with a three-and-a-half-day, 2,400-mile drive, to get the ball rolling. Games were played, poems were written, and way too much fast food was consumed, but the bonding experience was invaluable.
Detroit has been a unique and astounding experience that has inspired many thought-provoking conversations regarding cultural diversity and demographic inequalities. It has arguably been one of the most influential experiences of our lives.
We arrived in Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 22, in the late afternoon to find St. Andrews Monastery, our home away from home for the 30 days, bustling with AmeriCorps members. A number of AmeriCorps affiliated groups have been involved in the relief effort including: AmeriCorps St. Louis ERT, California Conservation Corps, Hoopa Tribal Civilian Conservation Corps, Minnesota/Iowa Conservation Corps, St. Bernard Project, National Civilian Conservation Corps, Arizona Conservation Corps, and Montana Conservation Corps.
The accommodations have been amazing, each team getting their own set of private rooms and a communal kitchen fully stocked with cookware and industrial stovetop. The only real point of contention around the base camp is getting in line for the “good” shower, but everyone has adapted well to the wait.
On the Job
Working around the suburbs of Detroit has been an awe-inspiring aspect of the deployment. The teams have experienced many different demographic areas of the city, from the least fortunate to the ritziest, revealing an astonishing disparity. Regardless of the home, the work process remains consistent.
Each house begins with an assessment team contacting the homeowners and completing a walkthrough of the premises, locating potential risks and estimating the duration for each work order. After the assessment is completed, the homeowner is scheduled for the following day to have work done to mitigate the mold damage and gut the basement.
The work crew starts by completing another pre-work assessment to ensure nothing was missed during the initial assessment and establish a good relationship with the flood victim. After, lights are run into the basement and all personal protective equipment is applied. This typically consists of Tyvek suits, hard hats, p100 respirators, goggles, nitrile gloves, and muck boots.
Needless to say, the AmeriCorps workers are well protected. The physical work requires the removal of all damaged drywall, lathe and plaster, wood paneling, and any furniture or personal belongings that have been affected by the flood. Once the house is stripped of all its damaged components, the crew decontaminates the site with a heavy duty sanitizer and seals off the compromised area for 24 hours.
A Big Detroit Welcome
Although every work order is a unique and exciting experience, not all homeowners convey the same level of zazz. There have been a few notable experiences that the Washington Conservation Corps members have learned a lot from.
Our initial taste for the flavor of the “D” (Detroit) was at our first house with a wonderfully blunt woman, Monica. Not only were we excited to start some meaningful work, but we also had some anxiety about our constructs revolving around what the “D” was really like. Monica greeted us with open arms, immediately inviting us into her home.
It wasn’t long before we received our first lesson on twerking and an invitation to the best soul food barbecue in town. To express our appreciation, we gifted her with a non-permanent salmon tattoo. We left that evening with our first nicknames, the best of which was “Supa-Viza Rob,” and a memory of Monica, that, unlike our salmon tattoo, will never fade.
Experiencing Motown
Despite our mission assignment, we have been required to take one day off per week. These days have allowed us a little time to experience what Motown is like. Our days off have consisted of some exciting mini adventures.
There was the trip to the Palace of Auburn Hills where we had the pleasure of watching the Detroit Pistons get smashed by the Golden State Warriors. Another was a jaunt around downtown in which we explored the General Motors world headquarters, analyzed the art of Heidelberg Street, and investigated the abandoned Packard Automotive plant. These trips allow us some sweet relief from base camp and are a true necessity for upkeep of crew morale.
Detroit has been a unique and astounding experience that has inspired many thought-provoking conversations regarding cultural diversity and demographic inequalities. It has arguably been one of the most influential experiences of our lives.
AmeriCorps teams in Detroit have served more than 15,126 hours; mucked and gutted over 304 flood damaged homes; completed nearly 400 damage assessments; and cleared over 5,030 cubic yards of debris.
Eleven AmeriCorps NCCC teams also responded for Michigan flooding from August through November, and Senior Corps RSVP volunteers supported disaster response efforts by staffing the call center.
FEMA Corps Aids Residents of West, TX After Deadly Explosion
An AmeriCorps NCCC-FEMA Corps team utilizes new iPad technology to support survivors of fertilizer plant explosion
by Jamie Flynn, FEMA Corps, Alpine 2
West, Texas, May 21, 2013 -- Crews remove debris from the parking lot of an apartment building destroyed in the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion.
On April 17th, a fertilizer plant exploded in West, TX. The blast destroyed a nearby apartment complex, a nursing home, schools, and many houses in the vicinity, damaging hundreds more. Of the 2,800 residents of West, 14 were killed as a result, most of them first responders who had been called to the fire that led to the explosion.
Not long after, my AmeriCorps NCCC-FEMA Corps team, Alpine 2, deployed to West as part of the Disaster Survivor Assistance Team (DSAT).
As we pulled into town roughly a week after the event, the damage unfolded in front of us. It started out as a few boarded up windows, but as we moved closer to the explosion site, we observed bricks blown off the sides of houses, garage doors caved in, and piles of debris pushed to the sidewalks.
We arrived at the high school, where FEMA and other agencies had set up their operations. We made our way to an English classroom that was now the DSAT office. On one wall an assignment dated "April 17, 2013" was written on the whiteboard. On another, a enlarged satellite pictures of West with colored dots representing different degrees of damage. The contact info for different agencies, meeting times, and priorities were written in marker next to it. And here we were amid the seasoned FEMA staff, in our crisp blue jackets, feeling a bit out of place and unsure of ourselves.
West, Texas, May 5, 2013 -- Local residents get help registering for disaster assistance during a town hall meeting. FEMA Corps was on hand for on-the-spot registration.
We went over the game plan, were introduced to the FEMA reservists we'd be working with, and tested out our systems and connections to make sure our equipment was ready to go out in the field. Next, a couple of the staff members took us for a drive around town to see what kind of damage we would be dealing with. After some safety briefings and a welcome from the local emergency manager, we headed to our hotel in neighboring Hillsboro and prepared for our first day in the field.
As DSAT, our mission is to reach out to the community and help them understand the steps they can take to get back on their feet. This can mean going door to door, attending town hall meetings, and being present at other community gatherings. We are the eyes and ears of the operation, since we are talking with survivors, business, churches, voluntary organizations and community leaders. All the information we pick up is then reported up the FEMA chain so that the issues we come across can be addressed.
West, Texas, May 5, 2013 -- Bianca Bellino, a FEMA Corps member from New York City, answers a question about disaster assistance before the start of a town hall meeting.
Additionally, FEMA recently developed a way to register survivors at their door. Together with the reservists, we ran the pilot program for this method. In my opinion, it worked great. In the past, after a disaster, people had just three ways to register for assistance. They could call 1-800-621-3362, go online at www.disasterassistance.gov, or travel to the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) set up in their area. As you can imagine, people who have just survived a major disaster do not always have access to a phone, an internet connection, or transportation. But with our iPads, we can bring the DRC to them. In about 20 minutes, we can register the survivor and explain to them the next steps in the process. If we’ve come across someone who already registered, we have the ability to look up their case and inform them of the status.
West, Texas, May 5, 2013 -- Samantha Miller (center), a FEMA Corps member from New York State, answer questions for a homeowner affected by the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion.
FEMA Corps was able to bring this new technology to the field and combine it with the knowledge and experience that the FEMA reservists possess. The working relationship between the two groups was excellent. We learned so much about FEMA programs and the application process just from listening to what they told the survivors. We’d had weeks of training in the classroom, but seeing how they interacted with the people we met made everything all come together.
It’s one thing to learn how to talk to a survivor in the classroom, but it’s another thing to be standing in front of what used to be someone’s house and trying to find the right words to say as they fight back tears. For me, this was the most difficult part but also the most rewarding. It was heartbreaking to listen to the stories and see the damage. But it was also incredibly inspiring to hear someone who had experienced so much loss talk instead about how thankful they are that it wasn’t worse, and that they had their health and their family and the whole community taking care of them. I was in awe of the way the community and the whole nation came together to support those who were affected. It was rewarding to be a part of that process and to see that little glimmer of relief on the faces of survivors who had just taken one more step on their long road to recovery.
West, Texas, May 21, 2013 -- Crews remove debris from the parking lot of an apartment building destroyed in the April 17 fertilizer plant explosion.
Every #femacorpsfriday in March, we'll be profiling former FEMA Corps members - asking them why and where they served, and what they've been doing since graduation. If you're interested in learning more about FEMA Corps after reading their stories, visit www.nationalservice.gov, or send your questions to [email protected].
This week we're talking with Jordan, a FEMA Corps alum from the Southern Region, who served last year with FEMA Corps as a Community Relations Specialist, and now works with FEMA in the Disaster Survivor Assistance program.
Jordan Douthitt
Where are you from, and what were you doing before serving with FEMA Corps?
I am from Escondido, California, and before FEMA Corps, I was getting my bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of California-San Diego.
Why did you decide to join FEMA Corps?
At the time I wanted to spend a year helping others before going to graduate school. I applied for AmeriCorps NCCC and was offered a position within the, at the time brand new, FEMA Corps program. It seemed like an interesting concept, so I joined.
What is one of your most memorable FEMA Corps experiences?
My first time to New York City was directly after Hurricane Sandy. I will never forget the incredible mix of awe at the city itself and horror at the damage the storm caused.
What was your favorite area in which to serve?
Jordan in Washington, DC
I had the pleasure of working in amazing places all around the country. Each was unique and amazing for different reasons. I think I enjoyed the great amount of travelling and vast variety of places combined together most of all rather than any one place in particular.
What was the most challenging part of your service experience?
The most challenging part of my service experience was also one of the most rewarding. The long hours with few days off in response to hurricane Sandy was the most physically, mentally and emotionally draining times of my life. However, it was also definitely the most rewarding, and I have never regretted the hardships.
What did you learn while serving with FEMA Corps that helped you to land a full-time job with FEMA?
While in FEMA Corps I had the privilege of working with a wide variety of amazing FEMA employees. Getting to know them and learning from their experiences was fantastic. The greatest thing I learned was the ability to learn and adapt based off the knowledge and advice of other people with more experience than myself.
What is your current position with FEMA, and what does that job entail?
My current position is within Recovery Operations under Recovery Operations and Readiness Coordination. At the moment, most of our time is spent in the development and improvement of FEMA’s Disaster Survivor Assistance program.
Since working with FEMA, how have you applied the skills and experiences you gained while serving with FEMA Corps?
My work with FEMA Corps has given me invaluable field experience which I am able to use in my current work. I also had the privilege of working within my current work group while I was in FEMA Corps. This created a wonderful work environment with great people that I was able to easily transfer into my current work environment.
Jordan at FEMA Corps Induction in Vicksburg, MS
Do you have any advice for folks applying to serve with FEMA Corps and/or currently serving FEMA Corps members?
The most important thing to understand is that there will be hard times in this program. Understand this and decide that you will make it through no matter what. Yes, the living conditions may be rough. Yes, you will be making very little money. Yes, you will occasionally get tired and annoyed with constantly being around the same people for ten months. Yes, you will be working long hours with few days off at times. However, for all the bad there is much more good to come from this. You will have the rewards of helping survivors recover. You will have selflessly given ten months of your life for the greater good of putting others above yourself. You will have made lifelong friends and crazy fun memories. In the end, it will be the fantastic experiences you remember rather than the hardships you faced.
Thanks for sharing your story Jordan! Next week we'll hear from Katy, who served with FEMA Corps, and is now completing a second year of service with the American Red Cross, through the AmeriCorps Public Allies program.
