My AmeriCorps Experience

Since this is save AmeriCorps week I decided to write a short piece on my experience with AmeriCorps in Indiana.

On June 8, 2008 a 500 year flood ravaged most of central Indiana. In its wake it left a bright blue sky and a community in tears; both of which are common after natural disasters. It has been said that all people have greatness inside of them but most never find themselves in an environment that is conducive to greatness. As for the residents of Johnson County, this environment found them.

The immediate emergency responders selflessly braved the flood waters to rescue the stranded residents in a manner that more closely resembled a Hollywood action flick than small town America. It was apparent from this moment on that the community would rise to the challenge. Mother Nature had set the bar and it was ours to clear. The following is an account of a community rising out of the flood waters like a phoenix out of its ashes, instead of death and destruction it was a chance for new life.

In the days following the flood a proclamations trickled down from the mayor, then the governor, and finally the President of the United States that told the residents of Johnson County what they already knew, this was a national emergency. Luckily for the victims, the community was mobilized long before these documents were drafted. Residents that were spared came in to the devastated areas and began doing anything and everything to help. Soaked and spoiled furniture was hauled out of homes through holes in the walls carved by the flood waters.

The small liberal arts college was transformed into an information hub, first aid center, and food bank. FEMA trailers and tents started to pop up in the areas most affected. The Red Cross and local community churches joined the Army of Salvation and became actively mobilized in the relief efforts organizing funds, supplies, and hope. While there was an unmistakable sadness and depression among the residents everyone knew the worst was behind them. But like a boxer who takes a beating in the first round, they also knew the fight would not end soon.

According to the experts, victims of natural disasters must tell their stories 47 times before true healing can take place. Needless to say, stories were in no short supply in those days. Perhaps it is because this is all that remained. How do you replace shoe boxes full of family pictures, Christmas ornaments from 1958, or the markings on the wall that proved how tall your children were at 12 years old?

Yes these residents needed to tell these stories as many times as they could because now there was no other proof that a normal life had existed. They were given a clean slate that was not wanted or welcomed. By telling these stories they were proving that they do have a connection to this area, that they belonged here, and that when all else is gone perhaps home is really just a collection of stories.

In the months following the flood a new organization was formed, the likes of which our community had never seen and most communities never want to see. Johnson County Community Organizations Active in Disasters (JCCOAD) was the long-term disaster recovery organization that was charged with the mission to restore all homes to pre-flood conditions. It was at this stage that I finally became a part of a community organization.

In the flood recovery I was taken on as an AmeriCorps member and was baptized by fire.  One of my first field assignments was to help in the reconstruction of a house that was nearly obliterated by the flood. Armed with extremely limited construction skills and the unwarranted confidence of most young men in their early twenties, I couldn’t wait to get started. This house had sat empty for almost a year since the flood came to pass. It was not until I began working on this particular job site that I learned the details of this case. A single mother had been living in a hotel room with her five children for over 54 weeks because there was no family around on which she could lean. I worked quickly.

The longer I was with AmeriCorps the more I encountered stories similar to this and I shutter to think how I would have reacted if I were forced to walk that particular mile. Eventually the two year anniversary of the flood came and went with little or no recognition. Everyone had long since told their 47 stories. Most of the people had been given their life back to only the detriment of their pocket books. Life went on, people still celebrated birthdays, people still got married, and people started to tell new stories.

As for me, I also began to tell a new story. I have a story of great men and women who did great things with no compensation and often times no recognition. My story is one of love and hope that is not easily surpassed. I am witness to a community that was unaware of its own greatness only to find it in the face of great adversity. I am certain that when I am old and grey I will be able to tell my grandchildren that I stood with great men and women; that we accomplished unreachable goals and are now better people for it.  It was AmeriCorps that gave me this opportunity and I will never forget.  

Love Don't Cost a Thing

Whenever more than two AmeriCorps members are together there is usually one of them that will ruin the plans of the other two because he or she is broke. When I say broke I don't mean has a couple of bucks in their bank account, I mean eating rice for two weeks straight because your gas bill was high due to the cold weather. There is really no such thing as half-way broke. But I have done AmeriCorps for three years now and have the feeling that I am pretty good about making the sacrifices that need to be made in order to have a fun experience.

 Probably the hardest lesson that I learned during my experience in AmeriCorps was how to be romantic on such a limited budget. With Valentine's Day coming up shortly I felt that perhaps this is a good time to share my limited knowledge on the subject.

 Unfortunately I have never been able to get around having to spend a considerable amount of money on Valentine's Day itself, but by simply remembering the date it is not difficult to save up money to make this possible, especially if you are quick with your tax returns. But on Valentine's day has always been so difficult to be romantic anyway, that most guys end up falling flat on their face. Here is what I have done in the past that has worked out very well.

 Since your lady will be expecting something to happen on Valentine's Day the surprise will already be eliminated. So what I do is have the flowers sent to her work place on February 13^th with the card telling her that a girl as special as her should not have to wait another day with everyone else. This may sound corny but will do the trick. The next day CALL her first thing in the morning, and later show up with chocolates and head off to dinner and a movie and you will be golden. While this will be an average costing date, the flowers the day ahead of time will give you much more bang for your buck!

 For cheap dates throughout the year I have found that going to your local flea market is a great time. First of all there are tons of cool knick-knacks for sale everywhere and you two can get each other something. This will give you and your date a good shared experience and usually lead to a lot of inside jokes, and we all know how important ladies say a sense of humor is.

 Other places that are also fun to go and cheap are frisbee golf courses (usually free once you get into a park that has a course), book stores (usually you both end up whispering to each other which will increase your level of intimacy and find out each other's interest), and finally a weekend volunteer outing. A volunteer experience lets you both feel like you can really accomplish something together, like together you can change the world.

 Whatever you decide, the trick is to make it feel natural and comfortable. Find places where it is okay to talk and where there is time to have space. A big problem most guys have is talking to much to just fill up the dead air (yours truly being example one). Try to do something that may be new to you both. If it turns out to not be fun, don't be a debbie downer, just go with it. For all my AmeriPoor peeps out there, I hope this helps!

Cold Weather Shelters

Perhaps you have see the cult classic movie Office Space, and if you are like me you immediately changed your top five all time favorite movies. What I really like about this movie is the dialogue of what to do when you think your boss is going to ask you to work on the weekend. Last week I had this rush of panic when I knew the temperature outside was going to dip below freezing.

For a little background information, when the temperature on the coast drops below freezing, Cold Weather Shelters open to help the homeless population. When these shelters are opened it logically follows that they need to be staffed. When they need to be staffed they call upon Hands On Mississippi's CERT team, of which I am a part.

Anyway, in Office Space, the main character asks for advice about how to get out of working on the weekend. The answer was to sneak out of the office 15 minutes early on a Friday, before the boss sees you, turn off your answering machine and you would be home free. I had about the same amount of luck as Ron Livingston in that movie. I was roped in to working a Cold Weather Shelter on Friday night. Dangit!

I showed up early to the shelter ready to get started with the work, but not really knowing what to do. We moved tables and chairs out of the way for a seamless registry when the time would come to let in the clients. We set up the area that would seat the near 50 clients who would be visiting us that night and then we made ready the cots they would all sleep on.

Once the scene was set the clients were allowed in the facility on a first come first serve basis. My job had been described to me by a gentleman who I assumed to be in the Air Force. I would stand in the cafeteria and direct people to their seats whilst always being on the lookout for suspicious behavior. Upon finding the suspicious behavior I would report it to the proper authorities and remove the individual if need be. I had become the bouncer at a homeless shelter. Dangit!

Luckily the crowd was orderly and polite and the stereotype of the drunkard homeless man was soundly disproved in my eyes. Dinner was prepared and served by the good people from Loaves and Fishes located in Biloxi. After dinner the tables were cleaned but left in place and the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful.

I don't know if I was hoping for a gang fight, or drug deal, or even a bit of yelling. But it never happened. The shelter couldn't have been more uneventful. Most of the clients that were being helped did not really even want to talk. Not that they didn't appreciate the help, they were very appreciative, it was just like there was a don't-rock-the-boat attitude throughout the crowd. And I can understand that.

I'm not going to say that my life is changed because I worked a Cold Weather Shelter, because it isn't. It might have made for a better story to sit here and say that my destiny has been altered because it got cold on the coast, but that is too bad. I will say that I now have a better understanding of the homeless population and the need for more aid for these people. I don't have the answer and I know sympathy doesn't keep anyone warm. But until I figure it out you can find me at the shelter when I'm needed.

The Red Cross is in charge of these shelters and should be the point of contact for anyone interested in volunteering.

MLK Day of Service

 “If you want to be important, wonderful! If you want to be recognized, wonderful! If you want to be great, wonderful! But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant…by giving that definition of greatness it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”

This is an excerpt from a sermon given by Martin Luther King Jr. on February 4, 1968. He would be murdered two months later.

The holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed to honor the life and fulfill the message of this great man. I think it is only fitting that this holiday is observed on his birth rather than his death. He would not have wanted his legacy to be tainted with even the smallest amount of hatred or anger; rather he would be joyful that in his memory his call to love and service came to fruition.

Martin Luther King Jr. did more than die for something in which he believed. He lived for it. In his memory a national day of service was created to allow citizens to serve others. This is a day to follow the leader by being a leader. King was a leader through his service and his love and we should all strive to do the same.

On January 17^th the nation celebrates again Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Hands On Mississippi will be honoring this day by joining forces with a partner and host site, Back Bay Mission. The Hands On Mississippi team will be working on a one day construction project to help a needy family get back in to their home after they were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

We urge everyone to use this day off of work to serve others in your community. We ask you to take up Dr. King's call and have a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. You don't need to sacrifice your life to be great as Dr. King did, but if you sacrifice your time and choose to serve others you will answer his call and that is true greatness as well. 

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Picture a group of people properly trained, properly outfitted, adequately ambitious, but scared witless. The job of this group is to be the first responders to a certain class of emergencies for which the general public is as of yet unprepared. Our uniforms are recognized by all and we cary a very distinct backpack. Team work is essential and I do have to say that everyone in the group does have a thing for Sigourney Weaver. No we are not the Ghostbusters, even though I do fancy myself a young man's Bill Murray and I happen to work across from a Rick Moranis type character. We are the Hands On Mississippi CERT Team and we are the citizens of the community who will be the faces you see after an emergency.

Earlier this month 32 AmeriCorps members broadened their daily job descriptions when they were trained by a devoted group of fire fighters from the Woolmarket Fire Department. Our instructors taught us the practical, by-the-book knowledge and the tricks they have picked over the extent of their careers. So with this training, we left on Sunday afternoon with a bag of supplies and a head full of knowledge. If we are ever forced to evacuate the area, our team would assemble in Vicksburg and be deployed back to the area within 24 hours of the storm's passing. When back on the coast, our orders will flow through the chain of command and we will begin to do the job we are trained for.

Some crews will be responsible for clearing roads for first responders' vehicles to get through, and some of our crews will remove debris and extract trapped individuals. We will be able to perform first aid and CPR to critically injured individuals and triage the situations involving multiple victims. My particular job will NOT be to cover lady liberty in ectoplasmic ooze and ride her to the rescue while listening to Rita Coolidge's cover of “Your Love” (as seen in Ghostbusters II) although I am capable of that, also.