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The Corporation for National and Community Service
(CNCS) Disaster Services Unit (DSU) has agency-wide responsibility for
coordination of CNCS disaster services activities. The DSU provides expertise,
ongoing support, and access to a network of dedicated volunteers. CNCS
subscribes to the belief that all disasters are local. Our focus is on
enhancing and adding value to what already exists in communities and infrastructure
-- working in partnership with State Service Commissions, local government,
nonprofits, and faith-based organizations.
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USM's TRIAD AmeriCorps Members Help with Tornado Clean-Up
University of Southern Mississippi's Training, Resources and Information for the Advancement of Disability (TRIAD) AmeriCorps members recently served USM to help clean up debris. On February 10th, an EF4 tornado ripped through the campus, leaving debris and damaged buildings.
TRIAD Service AmeriCorps focuses on assisting students with disabilities in the transition to adulthood. This transition includes national service, employment, post-secondary education, adult healthcare services and more.
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Mississippi
Tornadoes and Severe Weather
Volunteer
Mississippi Update:
Volunteer Hattiesburg, the state’s newest
Volunteer Center, is spearheading a Joint Volunteer Response Center (VRC) in
the Hattiesburg Train Depot. The
VRC will operate from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to noon
on Saturdays, and will be closed on Sundays until further notice. Volunteers
will be registered and deployed to help at various sites managed by local
organizations. Any relief organization needing additional volunteers can submit
a request at the physical location of the VRC, or by emailing Dena Parker
at r3smdena@megagate.com.
This is a tremendous feat, made possible by collaboration
between Volunteer Hattiesburg and R3SM,Inc., the USM Center for Community and Civic Engagement,
Lamar County and Forrest County Emergency Operations, the United Way
of South Mississippi Volunteer Center, Mississippi VOAD partners,
Volunteer Mississippi, AmeriCorps programs
and other city, community and faith-based organizations. Please share your
volunteer photos, videos and stories with us via Twitter and Facebook.
Volunteering
Volunteers
wishing to help with disaster relief can go to the VRC located at the
Hattiesburg Train Depot (308 Newman Street).
Want to help
with Hattiesburg area recovery, but don’t want to do manual labor?Volunteer Hattiesburg will be training volunteers
to assist in operating the Volunteer Response Center at the Hattiesburg Train
Depot. After training, you can quickly make use of your new-found skills
registering volunteers.
Donations
Items: If you are a company or an organization
with access to large volumes of items and would like to donate them to disaster
relief efforts or other humanitarian efforts, please visit AidMatrix Mississippi.
Financial
Donations: You may
also donate funds to the Governor’s Disaster Relief Fund, support Salvation Army
Disaster response by texting STORM to 80888, and text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster
Relief.
Current
Programs on the ground include:
-
NCCC-FEMA Corps
15
members have been deployed to Mississippi to support FEMA response operations
in affected areas.
-
AmeriCorps NCCC Southern Region
9 members have deployed to Hattiesburg, MS to support Recover,
Rebuild, Restore Southeast Mississippi’s (R3SM) with Volunteer Recovery Center support, needs assessments and
training other emergency management organizations to utilize the VRC database. The team will conclude their deployment on 4/14/13.
Hurricane Sandy
In response to Hurricane Sandy, CNCS Disaster Service
Unit is coordinating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, the American Red Cross,
Points of Light, Hands On Network, and state and local authorities, among
others to provide much needed services to Sandy impacted areas.
As ordered by the
President of the United States, CNCS is one of several government agencies
designated to work with HUD Secretary Donavon on the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding
Task Force.
- More than 2,400 national
service participants have deployed in response to Hurricane Sandy,
- Currently, 205 national service
members are on the ground providing Volunteer Reception administration and
support, mucking and gutting and debris removal services.
NEW JERSEY
Currently more than 32 national service members are supporting
response and recovery efforts. Overall,
more than 808 national service
members have responded to support disaster response and recovery operations.
Members are working
in Atlantic, Monmouth and Ocean counties with county FEMA Voluntary Agency
Liaisons, Weekend Warriors, municipalities, and faith-based organizations such
as the Southern Baptists and the United Methodists to administer Volunteer
Reception Centers, recruit and train unaffiliated volunteers and leverage these
volunteers to support homeowner identified work orders for mucking, gutting and
debris removal.
Current Programs on
the ground include:
-
Minnesota-Iowa Conservation Corps
8 members have deployed to support Volunteer Reception Centers under FEMA Mission Assignment.
-
Southwest Conservation Corps
7 members have deployed to support Volunteer Reception Centers
under FEMA Mission Assignment.
-
Texas Conservation Corps at American YouthWorks
10 members have been deployed to support Volunteer Reception Centers under
FEMA Mission Assignment.
-
Washington Service Corps
4 members have been deployed by the American Red Cross to support Client
Casework Management in Toms River, North Jersey and North Brunswick.
-
Washington Conservation Corps
3 staff members have deployed to administer Volunteer Reception Centers under
FEMA Mission Assignment.
-
CNCS Disaster Cadre
1 CNCS staff member is deployed to support FEMA Mission Assignment deployed
program throughout the state of New Jersey.
Additional support
in NJ has also been received from the following programs:
- AmeriCorps VISTA
- AmeriCorps New Jersey State programs
- AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps
- Minnesota and Iowa Conservation Corps
- AmeriCorps St. Louis
- Great Oak Charter School AmeriCorps
- American
Red Cross of Greater Columbus
- AmeriCorps
Together We Prepare
- Washington
Service Corps
- College
of New Jersey VISTA Program
- New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Violence
AmeriCorps
- American Red Cross Preparedness and Response Corps
deployed to NY, NJ, and PA
NEW YORK
More than 173 national service members are supporting response and recovery efforts from
Hurricane Sandy in New York. Overall,
more than 1,300 national service members in New York have responded
to support disaster response and recovery operations.
Current Programs on
the ground include:
-
NCCC-FEMA Corps
161 members have been
deployed to New York to support FEMA response operations
-
AmeriCorps NCCC
North Central Region
9 members have been
deployed by the American Red Cross to support Client Casework intake in New
York City. This team will conclude their
deployment on 4/1/13.
-
Washington Service
Corps
3 members have been
deployed by the American Red Cross to New York City to support Client Casework
Management.
Additional support
in NY has been received from the following programs:
- American
Red Cross of Greater Columbus
- RSVP
of Westchester
- Massachusetts
Service Alliance, Barnstable County AmeriCorps
-
Washington
Service Corps
- AmeriCorps
National Civilian Community Corps
- Community
Service Society NYC RSVP
- Service
Society VISTA
- Habitat
for Humanity
- VISTA
-
YouthBuild and
many more…
CONNECTICUT,
MARLAND, RHODE ISLAND, & WEST VIRGINIA
More than 460 national service members from the
following programs have support disaster response and recovery operations since
the landfall of Hurricane Sandy:
- Massachusetts
Service Alliance
- AmeriCorps
VISTA
- Ready
to Learn Providence AmeriCorps
- Eastbay
Community Action AmeriCorps
- AmeriCorps
Together We Prepare
- Council of Southern Mountain RSVP
- West
Virginia’s Promise AmeriCorps VISTA
- Washington
Service Corps
- American
Red Cross of Greater Columbus
- Teach
for America
- RSVP
- Waterbury
AmeriCorps
- Northwestern
Connecticut Area Health Education AmeriCorps
- Health
Service Corps
- Public
Allies
- United
Way of Southeastern Connecticut AmeriCorps
- Bridgeport
Foster Grandparent
- AmeriCorps
National Civilian Community Corps
NEW
DISASTER EVENTS
For
information on new disaster events, please visit FEMA’s daily situation
report.
RESOURCES
How to
Volunteer or Donate to Hurricane Sandy Response Efforts
The
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) regularly updates
volunteer information at the online hub for national service response to
Hurricane Sandy: http://www.nationalservice.go/sandy OR check into one of the Volunteer Reception Centers operating in
New Jersey and New York:
New
Jersey VRCs
Atlantic County VRC
(609) 508-2189
Brigantine
Community Center, 265 42nd Street, Brigantine, NJ 08203
acamericorpsresponse@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/acamericorpsresponse
www.twitter.com/AC_Americorps
Monmouth County VRC
(609) 508-2500
Monmouth
County VRC
Croydon
Hall Gymnasium
900
Leonardville Road
Middletown,
NJ
americorpsmonmouthcounty@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/americorpsreliefmonmouthcounty
www.twitter.com/AC_monmouth
Ocean County VRCs
732-804-9859
115
6th Ave., Ortley Beach, New Jersey
And
775
East Bay Avenue, Stafford Township
oceancountyamericorpsresponse@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/ocaresponse
www.twitter.com/OceanCountyAmeriCor
New York
VRC
http://newyorkcares.org/volunteer/volunteer_opportunities/search_projects/projcodesearch.php?projcode=hurricane+sandy&location=&neighborhood=&dow=&x=0&y=0&pass=1&page=1
National
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD) has posted information on
how individuals can give their time or resources to those affected by the
storm. For more information, please visit: http://www.nvoad.org/help
American
Red Cross Disaster Relief - Become
an American Red Cross Spontaneous Volunteer by contacting Leslie R. Fletcher,
Director of Volunteer Administration, at leslie.fletcher@redcross.org or (215) 405-8558 or (267) 246-4521.
Jersey Cares - Anyone who wants to volunteer in NJ can call 1-800-JERSEY7.
Disaster
Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990
The
Disaster Distress Helpline provides 24/7, year-round crisis counseling and
support. The Helpline is staffed by trained counselors from a network of
crisis call centers located across the United States, all of whom provide:
- Crisis counseling for those who are in emotional distress related
to any natural or human-caused disaster
- Information on how to recognize distress and its effects on
individuals and families
- Tips for healthy coping
- Disaster-specific resources and referral information.
If you
would like to learn more about how to prepare your family and/or community
please visit www.ready.gov.
The CNCS Disaster Services Unit can be reached at DSU@cns.gov and is staffed by:
Kelly DeGraff, Senior Advisor
Katrina French, Disaster Services Program Officer
Jen Prall, Disaster Services Program Officer
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