Americorps Epilogue III: The End

Done! Finished!  N-C-C-C ya later!  Our last week with Americorps NCCC was full of cleaning and meetings, but that’s all over.  I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot cha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ange!  In retrospect, it’s been a truly powerful year, with lots of excitement, frustration and success.  I joined last year to serve, to see our country, and to meet new people.  Check, check and check.  (Plus $1.36 an hour! Mini check!)  Would I go back and do it over again? Absolutely.  Would I do it again a second time? HELL no.  

((Veterans Green Jobs))

We started our year with VGJ in Denver.  A nonprofit that does great work with military veterans and environmental stewardship.  We did lots of warehouse work and weatherized some homes too.  Right before we got deployed to Joplin, a few of us got to attend the grand opening of the warehouse where we'd spent our fall.  Lots of politicians and media were on hand and it was cool to see all the work that our team (and the 2 NCCC teams that came after us) come to fruition.  If you’re ever in Denver and need a donated couch or a vanity mirror…VGJ!

((New Orleans Habitat for Humanity))

Following our stint in Denver, we headed south to the South where we worked with Habitat.  A definite highlight of my year.  We spent our weeks working with volunteers from every corner of the country; hanging drywall and mixing cement.  We spent our weekends running around the Crescent city eating po-boys and listening to jazz.  A truly amazing city and really rewarding work.

((American Conservation Experience, Arizona))

After N’Awlins, I traveled to Flagstaff Arizona to work with ACE building barbed wire fence and marking trails.  Hard, hot work, but it was really scenic and all the employees and all the European volunteers with ACE were great to work with.  

Oh, and it was really scenic.  Did I say that?

((Joplin Tornado Relief))

Following our stint in Arizona, we responded to the F-5 tornado that ravaged Joplin MO.  We arrived 36 hours after the storm, and spent the next month running call centers, databases and leading volunteers in debris removal.  I was in the field leading volunteers, and it was the single best part of my year.  Americorps always talks about the “compelling need” of the places we do work, and Joplin was as compelling as it gets.  Working with homeowners who had lost everything, and actually having help to offer them was great.  We were kicking some ass at the front lines of the destruction, and it was a very powerful experience.  I worked in Joplin with more conviction, more pride and more IcyHot back patches than I have anywhere else.

Americorps is all done now, and I’m headed back to Washington. Thanks to everybody who made this year as great as it was.  Thanks to all the organizations and people we got to work with (VGJ, NOLA Habitat, ACE, St. Louis ERT).  Thanks to my family for supporting my decision to spend this year away from home and away from making any money.  And finally, a big big thanks to everybody I met in Americorps; especially my team: Water 4. (Good luck girls!)

All the goodbyes on Friday were one of the hardest things I had to do all year.  With all the amazing experiences and friendships from the last year, leaving Americorps is bittersweet, but I am looking forward to being home and searching out a new adventure.  Thanks for taking the time to read about my year.  It's hard to believe that it's over, but it's time to head home! Cue the "Peter, Paul and Mary." It's jet-plane time!

THE END

Americorps Epilogue II: The Postcards

And we're (sortof) done! We finished our work at Mt. Evans, and we've got a week of meetings before NCCC is done and I can retire my polo shirt and cargo pants for good. With the year wrapping up, I thought I'd dedicate a quick post to all the postcards from this past year.  A juvenile-(and pretty stupid)- facet of my year to be sure, but it was great to hear from home. Plus a donkey in sunglasses is just funny.  

If collecting tacky cat postcards is cool, then call me Miles Davis.

Here are some favorites that I received this year, in no particular order.  Many thanks to everybody who wrote.

((FROM))

(Ben Weiser)

(Katie V and Patrick)

(Hans Liezen)

(Kelsey Schill)

(Nick Ptacek)

(Olga Z)

(Anna and Patrick)

(Erika W and Sean Wolf)

(Jess Kaari)

(Tanner Lawrence)

(Aunt Barb)

(Anna, Patrick and Karla from Water 7)

Most of the postcards above have made an appearance here at some point this year, so here are a few pictures of some that I sent out.  NCCC involved a ton of road trips and travels through weird parts of the country, and looking for postcards made every rest stop a treasure hunt for awkward, mail-ready curios.  Once again, some favorites:
((TO))

Americorps Epilogue I: Colorado

Back in colorful Colorado!  Since being replaced in Joplin, I made a trip home to Spokane for some 3-on-3 basketball, and then returned to Colorado to wrap up my service year with some camping and conservation.  We’ve spent the last two weeks split between work at Mt Evans and work in the San Luis Valley. 

We started out at Mt. Evans, quarrying rocks to be used in rock steps along the trail to the summit.  It was gorgeous up there.  Mt. Evans is one of Colorado’s 14,000 ft peaks, and the views were pretty spectacular.

That weekend, my old Spokane buddy Sean Wolf joined us for some camping and for the hike to the summit. 

After Mt. Evans, we headed south, to the San Luis valley where we built barbed wire fence and did some invasive plant removal (fancy talk for weeding).  We also paid a visit to Great Sand Dunes national park:

We spent one night hiking from our campsite to an abandoned mine (dubbed the “glory hole”).  There we witnessed the outflight of some 250,000 bats (dubbed “night prowlers”).  The outflight lasts 25 minutes at dusk, during which time we used every Batman quote we could think of. 

I am the night! 

Tomorrow and throughout next week, we’re back at Mt. Evans, putting the rocks we quarried to use in the trail, and next Thursday is our LAST DAY OF WORK.  We do have another week or so of wrap-up before they release us into the wild.  Like Free Willy being released into the ocean.  Or like a colony of “night prowlers” being released from the “glory hole.”  As for me, I will be returning home to Washington to resume my duties as a stay-at-home son.  Those tortilla chips won’t eat themselves, mom and dad!  Two weeks left!!!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 4

Farewell Joplin!  My team got about five days notice that we were leaving Missouri and being replaced by a new group.  Initially, I was pretty upset to be leaving with so much work left to be done, but each passing day makes me realize how tired I am.  We’ve been here for a month and we’ve had a total of two days off, so it’s probably for the best.  Our last work day was Monday, and we’re set to leave tomorrow. 

The past week or so, the volunteer numbers have begun to take a noticeable dip.  On the first Saturday after the Tornado, we had 3200 volunteers (chaos, considering they were being led in the field by only 100 or so of us).  This last week our numbers have hovered right around 200 a day.  It is a month after the storm now, and this decline is understandable, but frustrating all the same.

To keep the cleanup effort moving forward with fewer numbers in the field, we have started to take volunteers with heavy machinery.  I led a couple guys this week who brought tractors, and we also had a bunch of skid steers and a bulldozer.  With one tractor and two guys, we cleared three giant trees out of a back yard; a task that would have taken all day with a 40 person crew.  With 40 person crews becoming harder and harder to come by, it’s good to have the machinery to turn to.

Since we got here, alot has happened, and there is a marked difference driving through town now versus when we first arrived. I mentioned last week how nice it has been to see lawns and gardens poking through the debris.  This week I saw a more tangible sign of progress.  One guy we had helped last week has started to build his house back, and the freshly framed walls really stand out against the backdrop of the city.  

Like I mentioned at the top, our time here in Joplin is about up, and soon we’ll be back in Colorado.  We have a few off days before returning to the trail building that we had been expecting for this project.  It’s bound to be a comedown after the surreal experience that we’ve had here in Joplin, but I’m grateful that we got to come here at all, especially during such a crazy stage of the response.  Good Luck Joplin!

((Happy 20th Birthday Tyler!))

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 3

Lots of little changes this week. We moved twice, first to a church, and then to a high school outside of town.  Our new digs are pretty nice.  We’re still on cots in one big room, but we have wi-fi, cable, and a gym to use.  Also we have a kitchen, so we’ve started eating real food.  Up until now, we haven’t done any grocery shopping, instead relying on donated food and whatever people on the street are giving out.  That means hot dogs.  We were eating 3- 6 hot dogs a day, so the kitchen at the high school is a great change.  I was beginning to forget what vegetables looked like.

I’ve been hearing stories of the looting more and more lately.  One woman I met yesterday told me that the storm killed her husband. When she walked outside for help and saw what had happened to her house and neighborhood, she started to vomit and had a heart attack.  She was rushed to the hospital, and spent two days recovering.  During those two days, looters raided her house and took everything that the storm had left behind.  Fucking hyenas.  Now that we’re three weeks past the storm, looting isn’t as rampant, but every day we come across metal scavengers.  The volunteers we lead move metal to the curb, and people drive the streets picking pieces of copper and steel from those piles to sell.   It’s not illegal, but it makes me grind my teeth all the same. 

On a less acidic note, it has been great this week to see more grass.  The storm covered yards and parks with shingles, sheetrock and insulation.  One woman called it shitty-maché.  As you can kinda see from this satellite photo, the whole debris field was a big beige mess.

As the cleanup has progressed, we are starting to see more and more of what was buried beneath; green instead of brown.   Working in such a huge debris field can feel a little inconsequential, so its great to feel like we’re getting closer.  

Happy birthday mom! Happy (early) birthday dad!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 2

Another busy week in Joplin.  We’re still working long hours in the field clearing debris, but we’re getting a little better at it.

I spent the better part of this week bucking trees and clearing debris.  Well, watching volunteers do these things.  Every day is a frantic mess, but I really love the job.  I’m constantly running around; making sure we have enough work and water for all the volunteers.  I get to spend my time in between shooting the shit and talking to volunteers about their connections to the city.  It rules.

The volunteers are great and there has been a ton of them so far.  We’ve processed 15,000 volunteers in the two weeks since the storm, and there are lots of folks who don’t register and drive the streets handing out food and water.  It has been powerful to see the wave of support for the town.  We had 3000 volunteers last Saturday, which was overwhelming for the 100 of us who were leading them, but too much help is a great problem to have. 

All this positivity has been great, and surprising considering where we're working.  It's tragic to be clearing yards, finding waterlogged photo albums, shattered electronics and destroyed books.  So many things that were once so important and sentimental are now lost among a six mile trash pile.  Somebody told me the other day that there is more debris in Joplin than there was in New York after 9/11.  Difference is, all the debris here came from homes and schools, not offices.  The positivity here has been crucial.

I spent a couple days this week away from field work, doing search and rescue.  Going in, I was terrified.  In my head, that meant finding dead things and resuscitating pets with CPR.  In reality, we were investigating smells. S&R had already completed three complete searches of the tornado zone and I was leading groups in a fourth.  We walked up and down every street and alleyway in our zone, sniffin’ at stuff.  All we found were a couple dead cats and a bunch of rancid food.  Lots of fridges and freezers had been disconnected, and after a week of hot humid weather, any left behind chicken or hamburger starts to smell really putrid.  

Until next time…

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 1

To quote Bad Boys II: Shit just got real.  We got rerouted to Joplin Missouri to help with the relief and cleanup efforts here, and it’s been quite a week. 

((Sunday)):

Sunday night, Joplin Missouri was hit with one of the most devastating tornadoes to date.  The storm ravaged the town, leaving a six-mile long pile of debris where there were once houses and schools.  8000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.  At least 136 people were killed (44 are still missing) making it the deadliest tornado in well over 60 years. 

((Monday)):

We left Denver early, still destined for Saint Louis.  Somewhere in Kansas, we got the call that we were going to Joplin instead.  We stayed that night in Lawrence Kansas and caught up on news from the storm.  The extent of the destruction was horrifying and it was a little intimidating to know that we would be there the following day.

((Tuesday)):

We arrived in Joplin in the morning.  Some 36 hours had passed since the storm had hit, and the volunteer center and the Red Cross shelter were swamped.  I spent Tuesday working at the shelter and at a nearby donation center.  The donation center shut down around five for another tornado warning.  All the residents staying in the shelter were moved into the basement, and we spent the evening in the basement of the volunteer center, waiting out the storm.  Quite a Missouri welcome.

((Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)):

Wednesday was the first day I actually saw the fallout from the tornado.  The pictures coming out of the city are harrowing, to be sure, but they really don’t capture the scope of it all.  Cars were flipped over, trees were pulled out of the ground, houses were ripped to shreds, and all that stuff was visible as far as you could see.  The wreckage goes on for miles and miles.  Even outside of the worst stretches of it, lots of homes were hit by falling trees.  It’s amazing what 200 mile per hour winds can do.

I got moved to the field on Wednesday, and I spent the rest of the week there leading groups of volunteers clearing debris.  We were working on the fringes of the tornado’s path, cutting up fallen trees and moving slash and debris to the street for the city to pick up.

Working with the volunteers has been awesome.  I led with one other Americorps employee, and we had anywhere from 40 to 90 volunteers at our disposal.  The homeowners were very grateful and it was great to see how empowered the volunteers felt to be helping out.  With a workforce that size, it was a little stressful keeping them all busy and keeping them organized, but at the end of every day, we had accomplished a ton, and we heard some amazing stories from the homeowners and volunteers.

The days were long (14- 17 hrs of work), but they were affirming too. Without a doubt, this has been one of the most intense weeks of my life.

Joplin got hit real bad, and they are going to need lots more help for years to come.  Here’s a link if you would like to donate and help the red cross meet their immediate needs: 

http://www.redcross-ozarks.org/joplin/

Thanks!