first week in Joplin!

Hello everyone!!

I know it really hasn't been that long since I've blogged, but it feels like forever! We've been so busy in Joplin trying to coordinate everything. So the church were staying in is not the most ideal circumstances..but we're getting by. Other volunteer groups have been coming and going, so it's been difficult to always accomodate them, but oh well. We've already messed up once on our 10 oclock curfew, but we were only at wal mart grocery shopping! But we can't help it because it's literally the only time we have! ahhhhhh!

So anyways, Joplin is unbelievable. I would have never in my wildest dreams expected the destruction to be this bad. With that being said, the community of Joplin feels that they are doing well and WAY ahead of the game because they have beaten FEMA's estimations on how long it should take them to get certain things done (search & rescue, recovery conditions, etc.). Many of the homes have been demo'ed and the lots have been cleared....they're kind of in an "in between" phase right now between finishing up all the demos and debri clearing and then the rebuilding stage. The hard part is figuring out how all of these people are going to afford to get their homes rebuilt! It so so sad. We got to drive by the FEMA trailer park and it is enormous....I was driving the van at the time and I had to focus on not crying. We also went to "ground zero" of the tornado destruction...it was horrible. Of the 1 mile wide and 6 mile long path that the tornado left, this was the worst of it. Most lots are cleared, but the hospital that was hit is still barely standing and looks awful. There's a few homes standing here and there where either the people died or moved away and cant be contacted. The city is working out all of those details. Another thing at "ground zero" that they did was rebuild part of a park that was there. There was a memorial built for the volunteers that focused on "The miracle of the human spirit"....if I ever had doubts before, I truly believe in that now. In the memorial they also took an Americorps hard helmet, painted it gold, and sat it on part of the memorial. From the very beginning Americorps programs have been running the show. In a sad way, we're practically famous around here! It made me extremely proud to be an Americorp member helping out here today. Tuesday marks the 6 month anniversay of the tornado and they are having a huge memorial service to remember that day the 162 people that are gone because of it. Even though it will be emotional, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

So, my team is working with Americorps St. Louis at the Americorps Recovery Center (ARC). The tornado happend at 5:41 on a Sunday evening, and Americorps St. Louis had their recovery center set up before dawn of the next day. They act as a "hub" for the community...homeowners come there to get free assistance, and then we organize that data and match the community volunteers to appropriate work sites. Outside organization, like Salvation Army, churches, etc., also are in contact with us because when we have lots of volunteers we can send some there. Some volunteer groups are scheduled, but sometimes people just walk right through the door and say they want to help. We have huge white boards that list assignments and properties and what tools are needed. It's amazing how the process works! This idea of  "volunteer reception center" really took affect after Hurrican Katrina. They described to us how after a disaster, there is a "second disaster" when thousands of volunteers show up and do more damage than good, which definitely happened in New Orleans. Because of this center, like I said, Joplin is beating FEMA's estimates. Also, every volunteer hour that we get logged, the city of Joplin gets paid approximately 20 dollars. This is what helps them stay out of debt as much as possible. I never really thought about how the city pays it off..but I was absolutely amazed by this! For the first two weeks, I get to be in the office, greeting volunteers and helping them get sent to the correct work sites. Also, because homeowner's properties are constantly changing, we get to update databases and speak to homeowners about what all needs to be done. Half of us stay in the office and do that sort of work, and the other half of my team is out "in the field" supervising other volunteers and workforce investment board (WIBs), planting trees, removing debris, etc. The state issued a grant to Joplin to hire either people who lost their jobs because of the tornado or people who were previously unemployed to help out with the recovery effort. Those people are the WIBs.

The work here is super exciting, and I'm very sad that we are here on our shortest spike. It seems like 4 weeks here isn't near long enough. But my team is definitely motivated to do our best while we are here! I'll do my best to keep sneaking upstairs in the church to get wifi so I can give updates! :)

Love
Abby