 
Dear Texas and Florida Officials,
When major natural disasters strike, national service acts
as a force multiplier, providing key resources and significantly expanding the
capacity of existing organizations on the ground. The Corporation for National
and Community Service (CNCS) has deployed more than 1,400 AmeriCorps members
and Senior Corps volunteers to areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
This includes Americans serving with FEMA Corps and AmeriCorps Disaster
Response Teams (A-DRTs) – CNCS’s elite, specialty-trained disaster response
crews. National service members are supporting feeding and shelter operations,
clearing debris, mucking and gutting homes, handling donations, manning
survivor call centers, conducting damage assessments, registering disaster
survivors for assistance, managing volunteer recruitment, and more.
In response to Hurricane Harvey, more than 800 AmeriCorps
members are supporting recovery activities throughout Texas, including
communities in Corpus Christi, Austin, Beaumont, Houston, Brazoria County, and
regions of Coastal Bend Texas. To date, these AmeriCorps members have cleared
nearly 2,000 cubic yards of debris, mucked and gutted dozens of homes (video),
assisted more than 31,000 survivors at shelters, and helped more than 1,100
survivors register for FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (video). An additional
200 locally serving Senior Corps and AmeriCorps members are assisting with
donations and volunteer management throughout Texas.
In response to Hurricane Irma, more than 400 Senior Corps
and AmeriCorps members have supported operations in Florida, Georgia, and
Puerto Rico. The AmeriCorps members are providing disaster survivor assistance,
supporting logistics operations, and are working with Save the Children to
implement child-friendly spaces in shelter environments. In addition, in collaboration with Volunteer Florida, Florida-based AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs have been involved in
emergency food, shelter, and volunteer operations.
For more information about how we are continuing to support the
response, visit our Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane
Irma webpages. For constituents interested in helping
people affected by the storms, please direct them to the National Voluntary
Organizations Active in Disaster to learn more about volunteer opportunities
and donation needs.
If you have any questions about the national service disaster response in your community, contact the Government Relations team at GovernmentRelations@cns.gov or 202-606-6707.
Sincerely,
J.P. Fish
Director, Government Relations
Corporation for National and Community Service
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