news watch

it's a very strange thing to spend my friday night in front of the television in my extended stay hotel room watching as oklahoma and st louis, missouri get ravaged by tornados. it's even stranger to not only wonder if I will be deployed out there sometime soon, but to know that a few of my fellow FEMA corps members who were deployed last week to moore, oklahoma, are currently seeking shelter from the tornados and some are even staying the night in the joint field office they've been working in because it's too dangerous to head back to their housing. as of now, they are all okay and out of harm's way, thank goodness. never have I ever been more on top of the nation's weather forecasts, let alone knowing people in the midst of those dangerous storms. such is the nature of working with FEMA, I guess. 

my thoughts and prayers are with the people in oklahoma, missouri, and any other areas that may be affected by these storms throughout the night and this next week. 

fourish months

as I sit in my extended stay hotel room eating peanut butter out of a jar with banana in hand and of monsters and men playing on my ipad in the background, I've only just realized how much I appreciate these moments of silence and decompression. 

this past saturday, we moved from our first location in illinois to another suburb of chicago (aka more permanent housing)  and jumped right back into work on memorial day. we've been working six days a week from early in the morning to late at night and there's not much time to just sit back and take it all in. our work days are spent going from home to home registering people who had flood damage for assistance. some homes were hit with several feet of water and others had an inch or two. going door to door from affected neighborhood to affected neighborhood asking people if/how much damage they had in their homes has taught me not only how to build stamina (walking around in 85 degree weather with what appears to be 1000% humidity decked out in thick boot socks and steel-toed boots has prepared me for anything) but also how to be patient and listen to others. it has seemed so easy to fall into a routine of just asking someone if they have registered with FEMA or if they would like me to help them register that moment and to forget the reason that I'm going around asking people if they have registered. many of the residents in these neighborhoods have experienced heartache and frustration from losing thousands of dollars worth of hardwork in their basements or their personal keepsakes that were held in their basements as storage, including irreplaceable childhood photo albums. it's the moments that I'm able to find a place and time to sit by myself (rare to find in an extended stay where I share a bed with my teammates) that I'm finally able to reflect on the work that I am a part of every single day. 

it's easy to get disheartened when you have a day where, not only do you come home to an aching farmer's tan that is slowly taking over your forearms, but you also don't feel needed or wanted in a community. but tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to assist another person. I think it's important to remember to stay positive and remember that, even if I can't see it every day, we are having positive impacts on communities affected by disaster. and hearing people say, "wow, FEMA? this is a surprise..thank you so much for coming out here to check in on us. you've done so much and we cannot thank you enough" really turns a long day right around.

oh, and the endless complimenting from older retired gentlemen on our steel-toed boots doesn't hurt too much either. 

ps. did I mention my FEMA corps team made some big strides in the FEMA world lately and was recognized on the website for our work in new york with hurricane sandy recovery? (#casual)

https://www.fema.gov/about-fema/employee-news-and-announcements/fema-corps-becomes-critical-part-femas-new-york

village hall meeting

tonight after work, we were invited to attend a town hall meeting at a village just outside chicago. we spent two and a half to three hours talking with flooding survivors and getting them registered for assistance with FEMA. working with and interacting individually with survivors was a wonderful experience and we were greeted with incredible warmth and hospitality by not only the residents of the community but by the local officials. one survivor in particular mentioned that he was "glad his tax dollars were going to people with smiles on their faces" (which, after an eight hour work day already under our belts, we were impressed that we were even still smiling at that point). being greeted and appreciated by people who had their basements and/or first floors of their homes wiped out from the flood was really moving. though some people had pretty extensive damage and others had minimal, the community as a whole was able to come together and instead of being frustrated with each other and with the situation, they were incredibly gracious and kind. 

the people I have met through this experience thus far have made this journey more than I could express in words. 

fourteen weeks later

it's been fourteen weeks today that I've been on the road with FEMA corps. living and working with the same seven people has presented its challenges as well as its benefits. not only have I been living out of a duffel for fourteen weeks, but I've also gotten to know the full extent of the meaning behind the word "flexibility." we've driven across the country in a van with each other packed to the brim with duffels and might-as-well-be-bulletproof-CIA-looking laptop cases all the while wearing our thick wool and pseudo wool boot socks stuffed in our steel-toed boots. if I were someone else reading that last sentence, I would probably 1. tell the blogger she must be exaggerating and to calm down a bit 2. want a photo of these laptop cases to prove the intensity of their exteriors, and 3. ask the blogger why they're doing this again? 

time has gone by both incredibly fast and painstakingly slow. I have no idea how I got to be sitting in a hotel in illinois anticipating my assignment for the next day (that I won't know the details of until 8am tomorrow morning) but I'm really glad I'm here. there have been struggles and frustrations (what else can you expect when you live and work and sleep and eat and breathe the same air with the same small group of people day in and day out) but if anything, I've learned that I am a much stronger person than I had realized. our work assignments change day to day and we don't know what they are until the morning of and that alone has taught me to be not only flexible but patient. no matter what we get thrown into or expected to do, we will figure it out and not only succeed, but do so with flying colors. I've learned an entirely new vocabulary while being with FEMA corps and would never before have thought I'd be able to carry on fluid and cohesive conversations with FEMA employees who have worked with the agency for several years. but now I can. and am proud to do so.

it's strange seeing my friends and family on facebook who are graduating from college and moving to graduate programs in other states because that world seems so different than the one I live in right now. the world of disaster relief revolves around the weather channel and being aware of tornado warnings and knowing exactly how quickly I can pack up my duffel should we hit the road tonight to respond to a disaster. it's a new world and one that is more fast paced and unpredictable than any I've been in so far and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be fully immersed in it for ten months of my life. 

 

illinois

found out monday we'd be leaving for illinois. left work almost immediately, drove back to long island, packed within 45 minutes, and crammed back into the van to move to our next location. we said goodbye to new york and two days later found ourselves living in the chicago suburbs. 

after arriving on wednesday, we were able to settle in (somewhat) and gather our bearings before beginning work at 8am sharp the next morning (which is a half hour later than when we reported to work in new york, not to mention our commute here is seven minutes versus an hour and a half when we were living in long island...needless to say, although our long island traffic friends may be missing the presence of our large silver van every morning, the mornings have become much more pleasant and traffic-less for us corps members).

we started work immediately thursday. we were deployed to illinois three days after several counties were declared by the president. the recent flooding (occurred one month ago) has wiped out several neighborhoods, villages, and towns across the state. thursday through saturday we have been going door to door in communities and checking in on residents to see if they have registered with FEMA yet. being registered benefits the residents because they will then be able to see what they may or may not be eligible for, assistance wise. FEMA works with several voluntary agencies (ex the red cross) and by being registered, the disaster survivors have the opportunity to get in touch not only with FEMA, but with all of the voluntary agencies that FEMA works with.

not only have I fallen in love with the slow pace and lush greenness of illinois, but I'm thoroughly enjoying this deployment thus far because we have had a lot of personal interactions with people who were affected (either severely or not so severely) by the flooding. this flood has been said by a few to be the worst illinois has seen. my team and I have been out in neighborhoods that, after the flooding, were only accessible by boat. several residents had firemen come save them from their homes on boats and rafts. 

I enjoyed new york and the unique work we did there, but I'm also very excited about being here and in involved in the disaster survivor assistance aspect of FEMA (ex registering people and helping to answer their disaster-related questions). 

a day in the life (and then again not really)

I was visiting my sister in boston over the weekend and after talking with several of her friends about "what it is exactly that I do on a daily basis" and "what a day in the life looks like," I figured I should probably explain those questions to the blog world as well. working in queens in the hazard mitigation area of FEMA, we've been working on collecting data on properties that have either filed claims for flooding or are located in certain flood zones. the hope is that all of that data will be compiled to create a database to send to the state of new york which will then help residents of new york figure out what to do regarding elevating their homes, etc. in hopes that they can mitigate (or best prepare) their homes so that they won't get flooded the next time a storm or heavy rain comes. so we've been going out to areas such as breezy point, the rockaways, and staten island, to collect data on certain properties. we're not inspectors and don't go inside people's homes or even on their property; we merely collect data based on the observations we can make about what we can see of the outside of their property (such as whether there is a basement versus a crawl space, one or two stories, elevated machinery on the outside, etc.) 

BUT that "day in the life" description isn't so relevant anymore, seeing as how we've been deployed to illinois for the flooding that has been happening there. in the middle of a training today at the office, we found out we'd be leaving for chicago tonight (but won't be getting there until wednesday seeing as how it's not exactly next door to long island and we aren't allowed to drive our 15-passengers across several states throughout the night...go figure) so we finished up with training, headed back to our extended stay immediately, and packed away our duffels and our small neatly contained khakified lives back into the van within forty minutes and left for chi-city. 

as far as we know, we'll be registering applicants via the ipads we've been given (temporarily of course) in the counties that were declared in illinois and working to help those with flooded properties register for assistance. but more on that once we arrive.

in the meantime, I'll be hiding in my small corner of the van under my ever stylish americorps nccc hoodie (the only one I currently own...) and listening to pitch perfect til we arrive in our next city for the night! 

happy may

growing up without seasons on the west coast, it's nice to have a change of pace and live somewhere (temporarily of course, let's not forget "FEMA flexible") that shows the city leaving winter and entering into spring. 

since we've spoken last, I've been able to join my FEMA corps members in a little meeting/conversation with richard serino (the deputy administrator of FEMA and the man who came up with and presented the idea of FEMA corps to washington dc), helped a FEMA employee with his marriage proposal via performing a flash mob for his fiancé in downtown manhattan, and successfully drove a minivan through brooklyn and queens. all equally impressive, yes?

work-wise, we have moved from breezy point on to staten island gathering data for properties that have been flooded (either from sandy or from something else...example would be poor drainage system, etc.) we've also switched to four-day work weeks (10 hour days mon-thurs) which has allowed me to have the luxury of having today, friday, off to hop on a bus to boston to visit my sister one last time before heading back to the west coast. having fridays available have also allowed us to have more time to work on our americorps nccc positions (for instance, I will be planning service learning trips for our team and looking at places to present at to hopefully encourage others to apply for FEMA corps). in two weeks I will be utilizing my free friday to make a FEMA corps presentation at an at-risk youth center in queens, ny, with a few other corps members. that same friday, I'm also hoping my team and I will have the opportunity to go to some of the homes that were devastated by sandy and do some mucking and gutting (aka taking out the rotten and moldy insides of homes so that they can start to be rebuilt). 

also! (late and delayed...apologies...) but my team and I helped with a park cleanup two weekends ago, which was a wonderful experience. the community was extremely welcoming and grateful for our help. and because that park cleanup was an annual event the community put on every year, some members of their local government, including representatives, were in attendance and one was so kind as to personally thank us and encourage us to email her should we need letters of recommendation for school, jobs, etc post-FEMA corps. there was also local media coverage at the park cleanup and my teammate and I were asked a few questions and included in their video. if you'd like to see yours truly actively helping out communities in long island, please feel free to watch this little vid (I start talking around 48 seconds I think?)  http://vimeo.com/m/65046482



speculation about where we will be deployed to next seem to tend toward the midwest due to flooding that has occurred in several states, but really, we probably won't know the whereabouts until the day before we're deployed (sorry moms and pops!) in the meantime, we're all taking in as much of new york city as we can, whether it be out in the field gathering data, driving our van around long island to various service opportunities, or spending weekends doing flash mobs in manhattan (a normal pastime, right?)

(link to our flash mob video posted below)

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=11DgeMygReQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D11DgeMygReQ