Hurricane Sandy- A Response

Journey to New York November 14-19, 2012

Satellite of Sandy pre-landfall

Long Island Storm Surge map

Recently I was given the unique opportunity to travel to New York to help with the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Response effort. I volunteered to go and my employer the Volunteer Center of North Texas (http://www.vcnt.org/disaster/) was kind enough to allow it. As the Senior Manager of Disaster Preparedness, I work every day to prepare North Texas for large disasters and this would allow me to see a large response in a metropolitan area, while providing support to the local staff. 

Waiting at La Guardia Cab Stand

Hurricane Sandy was at Category 1 strength when it made landfall just south of Atlantic City, NJ on October 29, 2012. At 1,100 miles in diameter, it has been noted as the largest Atlantic Hurricane on record. FEMA has opened 76 recovery centers (37 NY, 31 NJ, 8 CT) and more than 453,000 people have registered for assistance. The Long Island Volunteer Center has registered 2,378 volunteers since the storm began. 

Long Island Railroad

AmeriCorps Trailer outside church

My arrival on the scene was more than two weeks after the storm and I was expecting to see blue tarps as I flew in to New York City. I was surprised when I saw none. You see in Texas, when disasters occur, they are usually tornadoes or hail and blue tarps follow quickly. I would learn later that a lot of the damage from Sandy was flooding and is devious in that you can't always see the damage on the exterior. It took two planes, a cab, three trains (though two of them were just due to my error and lack of understanding of the Long Island Railroad) and a 1/2 mile walk to get me to the United Methodist Church in Hicksville, NY. Yes, Hicksville is the name of an actual place and I have now been there. 

Matt and Phobe in the "office"

Women's Dormitory Space

I was excited to see an AmeriCorps trailer as I approached the church. I had heard there were a lot of AmeriCorps members (including FEMA corps) that were a part of the response and I had hoped to get to meet some of them. My first contact at the church was the receptionist Chris, who was quite kind to this weary traveler and showed me to a conference room to await other staff who were off-site at a meeting when I arrived. Phoebe Bicknell and Matt Lyttle from Volunteer Fairfax (Virginia) arrived a bit later to brief me on the disaster response. They had been on site since Sunday, November 11 and had been able to lay quite a bit of groundwork in their time there. They had begun to work with local emergency management to begin identifying volunteer needs and coordinate the housing situation for the volunteers staying at the church. I learned that there were about 30 people staying at the church. Some were affiliated with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) (http://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/About-Us) and were doing muck out/debris removal from homes. The other group staying there was from AmeriCorps St. Louis (http://www.americorps-stl.org/) and they were out at the FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers gathering information about community needs that volunteers might be able to address. Yes! An AmeriCorps team. 

I learned that our part of the response would be support the Long Island Volunteer Center (http://www.longislandvolunteercenter.org/), which like the Volunteer Center of North Texas and Volunteer Fairfax (http://www.volunteerfairfax.org/) is an Affiliate of the HandsOn Network (http://www.handsonnetwork.org/). It is this affiliation that allowed me to participate in this response. A few quick facts about Long Island that I learned along the way. Long Island is 118 miles long and 23 miles wide. It is comprised mainly of Suffolk and Nassau Counties. The population during 2010 census was 7,568,304 people and If it were a state it would rank 14^th in population and 1^st in population density. That means this disaster affected a lot of people over a large geography as much of the response was along coastal areas which Long Island has in abundance. 

My first night accommodations

A beautiful treat

Cafeteria/church basement/office

That first night I found a couch in the youth room of the church to sleep on as all of the floor space in the women's dormitory space next door was taken. It was more comfortable than I expected to be while on this disaster response assignment. The next morning Phoebe and Matt took me to a local bagel place so we could get breakfast before meeting with the Long Island Volunteer Center (LIVC) staff. We also stopped at a bakery for treats on our way back to the church.  I was trying to get as much information as I could from the Volunteer Fairfax team as they were both leaving that afternoon. I will admit to being a little anxious at the prospect of taking the reins from them alone. Fortunately when I met Diana O'Neill and Pat Moynihan from Long Island Volunteer Center my concerns were completely alleviated. They were wonderful 

Pat/Phoebe/Diana/Matt

and had been handling this response since the beginning. Diana is the Executive Director and Pat is a long-time volunteer. The most amazing thing about LIVC that I learned is that they are made up of 24 staff members and they are 100% volunteers. Not one of them is a paid staff member. Each and every one of them was impacted personally by the storm. Some were without power for up to 15 days, others had trees fall through their roof and nearly all of them had friends or family members that needed help with cleanup as well. Their dedication to the effort was heroic. They had been through so much and yet they were doing everything they could to help others serve the community. I was humbled to be in their presence and to help in any way I possibly could. 

New office space

The first thing I was able to actually do was to participate in the Long Island Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster (LIVOAD) conference call. It was on this call that I learned about the larger response and the work being done in the community. I provided the report on the previous days efforts by the AmeriCorps team and that LIVC was making efforts to secure a facility to serve as a volunteer reception center. It was nice to work with the VOAD there as I am familiar with the collaboration that takes place within VOADs (I serve on four counties in Texas- Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin). Many of the players were the same and the good work translated easily.  After the meeting we moved the "office" from the women's dormitory space to the youth education office as the ladies who were working in the field were being disturbed by the after hours work that needed to be done on the computer. Immediately after moving the office we headed to a meeting with a board member of LIVC in order to discuss the potential site for the Volunteer Reception Center. This site would be a place where the different groups who could use volunteers would operate. The coordination between groups is crucial to large relief operations. Also participating in this meeting was Kellie Bentz, Director of Disaster Services with Points of Light, who had facilitated my engagement in this disaster response, Bruce Bailey, Executive Director of AmeriCorps St. Louis, Gwen O'Shea, President LIVOAD, and the LIVC board member who had client contacts with regards to real estate on Long Island. Apparently real estate for such and endeavor is limited on Long Island and the coordination meeting was quite necessary. 

Work Order System Captured information from community

After the meeting I was taken back to the church to get settled and to prepare for a training that would take place that evening. Upon arrival at the church I was able to meet with Starbuck Ballner of Nechama- Jewish Response to Disaster (http://www.nechama.org/). His group has a unique specialty in that they are willing to take on spontaneous volunteers and lead them in heavy duty clean-up efforts. While the coordination was in the early stages, the Nechama group had been on the ground working in the affected communities already and were eager to partner with LIVC to put some of the 2300 spontaneous volunteers to work. 

Color coded work order needs

The training that evening was on a work order system created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. People needing assistance could call 211 to ask for help and the operator would go through a series of questions about their needs. Do they have power? Can volunteers help them with cleanup? Do they have fallen trees that need to be cleared? The operator could create the work order in the system and then relief agencies could assign themselves to the projects. The information is found on a map, so that projects could be in a concentrated area. Projects were color coded- red meant the project was unassigned, yellow meant it was assigned, green meant completed. There were also indications as to the type of work that needed to be complete. This seemed a most efficient way to get the help to the people in the impacted communities. I was happy to have the training as it may be something that could also be used in north Texas should a disaster occur.  

Water and fruit are my friends

That evening I slept on the floor of the office space. I was overcome by a terrible stomach ache. I attributed that to the poor eating habits I had acquired while on the assignment. I never drink coffee and I had 2 cups. I had been eating fast food and few healthy items at all. I resolved to take much better care of myself for the rest of the response.  More fruits and vegetable, and lots of water. This helped tremendously.

Thank you AmeriCorps St. Louis

The next morning all of the groups gathered for breakfast in the cafeteria/basement area. Each group was responsible for their own meals and had storage space in the church kitchen. I asked the AmeriCorps leader Lisa if I could give her team something at their morning meeting. You see, AmeriCorps Alums of North Texas (http://americorpsalumsnorthtexas.wordpress.com/) of which I am a part had conducted a September 11th commemoration project in which we created thank you cards to two specific groups. We made cards for Veterans and for AmeriCorps 

Opening their cards

members serving on disaster relief assignment. I was just able to give them their cards in person rather than having to mail them. I really enjoyed their smiles and laughter as they opened them. Most of the cards had been written by alums like myself who had served previously and just wanted to encourage the members during challenging circumstances. It was great to see a project through to completion.  The St. Louis group really seemed to like them and it was a good start to the day. 


Afterwards I had to make arrangements for setting up a meeting with Mary Beth Guyther, Program Officer with the Long Island 

Meeting with the Long Island
Foundation

Community Foundation. She was meeting with LIVC to ascertain the needs the community might have and to learn about the response. I had to coordinate with Karl Acker caretaker from the Hicksville Methodist Church to find a meeting space as the basement area was regularly used for a food and clothing pantry on Friday mornings during the specific time we needed to meet.  I was quite pleased to be an active participant in the meeting. I was able to provide information on the Hurricane Sandy Response (using much of

Food and Clothing Pantry 

the information provided from Phoebe, Matt, Diana, and Pat) as well as share from my previous experiences with disasters on a large scale and I also spoke of the work being done in North Texas. She had a lot of questions and the meeting ran well past the hour she had initially allotted.  Afterwards I participated in another VOAD conference call and provided updates while Sara Hamilton, from Boston Cares conducted training with Pat and Anna Lyons (another dear member of LIVC that I met just

HandsOn Connect Training

 that day). Sara was helping them learn the finer points of HandsOn Connect a Salesforce based system that would allow volunteers to sign up for posted service opportunities.  While LIVC had already been using this system, Sara knew all of the bells and whistles and helped Anna and Pat learn more tricks of the trade to make it easier to post things and to get some templates made for upcoming posting with the Nechama group and others. 

Such a blessing

I am immensely grateful to Pat for taking me in for the next three days. While the church was a kind and considerate 

My home away from home in NY

accommodation, I was blessed to be provided with an actual bed to sleep in in her beautiful home in Cold Spring Harbor, NY.  She and her daughter (law student extraordinaire) allowed me to stay in their guest room.  That evening Pat took me to a local pizza place where I was able to get "real" New York pizza. As we drove to her home she showed me the giant trees that had fallen all around and that had at one time taken down power lines and blocked roadways.  There were piles and piles of wood everywhere. People in the area won't exactly be looking for firewood this winter. 

AmeriCorps St. Louis
builds a registration area

Tools for cleanup efforts

Volunteers of all ages and ethnicity

Handing out
personal protective equipment
like gloves and dust masks

The next day (Saturday, November 17th) as there were no meetings scheduled for LIVC and Diana and Pat were otherwise committed I made arrangements to go to Long Beach with the AmeriCorps St. Louis group.  I was quite excited to get a chance to be "in the field" with an AmeriCorps team and to be working directly with volunteers. The team was setting up an area for registration when Pat dropped me off (not only did she provide a roof over my head, she was also an amazing chauffeur).   I was surprised to find the Indiana Department of Homeland Security had a mobile

Sending volunteers
out to do surveys

Long Beach grid for
volunteer assignments

command center and several trailers of supplies on the site. A group I had never heard of called Humanity First (http://www.humanityfirst.org/ an organization started by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) was leading the efforts to get volunteers out to help

with the response. There were 6 main projects for the day- home cleanup, street cleanup, beach cleanup, donations sorting, feeding with the Red Cross, and door-to-door surveys in conjunction with the police department. Next 

Command Center from 

Stuff  in the stands of the
ice rink

door to the Volunteer Site where I was working was the Ice Skating rink where they were taking donations of all kinds. The piles of donations were taller than my head and completely filled the stands. Volunteers were working furiously to sort through things, but I don't believe and army of volunteers working night and day would be able to get through all of the stuff that was in that ice rink. Like ever. I find donations management to be a particularly difficult part of any disaster. People mean well and want to help, but dealing with the stuff while maintaining health standards is virtually impossible . It's a mess. However, I did get some ideas that might help with donations management planning in North Texas from the Volunteer Fairfax team. 

Debris moved to the curb
 in Long Beach

Piles of Debris in Long Beach

More than 500 volunteers came through the area that day and were assigned to projects. I was struck by the religious, ethnic and diversity of ages that were participating. I saw everyone from Southern Baptists to the Church of Scientology (who have very fancy jackets). Little kids to older folks. Everyone pitching in as best they could. 

Long Beach 

What moved me the most was the smiles on the faces of the 
volunteers as they dropped off tools and gloves. People who did not know each other at the beginning of the day were laughing and joking with one another at the end of the day. It seemed as if they did not want the day to end. I loved working with the AmeriCorps St. Louis team. They reminded me so much of the National Civilian Community Corps Teams I had worked with years before. They seemed like such a close and cohesive team that truly enjoyed working with one another. They also seemed to be very low key and flexible when it came to disaster and that is incredibly crucial. Every time the situation changed, they adapted and did so with positive attitudes and eagerness. 

Damaged pier with debris on shore.

Tree in local park near
Cold Spring Harbor

Sunday, November 18th our schedule started a little later in the day, so Pat took me around to see some areas that had been impacted by the storm. I got to see the beach and a pier that had been damaged by the storm with parts washed up along the shore. I was thankful to get to several beautiful areas of Long Island, but it was marred by reminders of the storm along the way. The rest of the day was spent in the office at the church working on posting volunteer opportunities, following up with organizations who needed support and helping to create reports on the LIVC response from the early stages of the disaster.  

Long Island VOAD Long Term
Recovery Committee Meeting

Monday morning began with a meeting of the Long Island VOAD Long Term Recovery Committee (LTR). It was very well attended with approximately 45 people representing about 40 agencies present.  It was nice to put faces with the names of all of the people from the conference calls. I really enjoyed seeing Gwen again who ran a very informative and efficient meeting. Topics included unmet needs, donations management, matching funding with needs, disaster mental health, disaster case management, an overview of some FEMA programs, and discussion of upcoming training for long term recovery. There was also an application process for participation in the LIVOAD Long Term Recovery Committee and a request for volunteers to lead these efforts.  While it was still early in the process for LTR, I was encouraged by the 

participation and knowledge of the people in the room. 

Long Island Volunteer
Center office

Long Island Volunteer Center

After the meeting Pat took me to see the actual Long Island Volunteer Center. Their office is on the fourth floor of a home that had been converted into office space primarily used by lawyers. I was glad to have gotten the chance to meet Anne who was there answering phone calls and returning messages. Pat and Anne swapped stories of the disaster with one another as most of the staff had been scattered throughout the response. While each of them took on different responsibilities, I got the sense that just seeing each other and sharing was comforting. In fact, this was the sense I got in each of the meetings I had participated in. That they all really liked working together and their compassion for the community was overwhelming. They absolutely had frustrations and most of them were uncertain as to where the next stage of the response would take them, but they were determined and wouldn't give up.  

One of hundreds of
fallen trees

After stopping by the office, Pat then showed me the neighborhood where Diana lived where the trees looked as if they had been knocked down by angry giants walking down the street. One after another we saw the remaining trunks with root balls the size of small cars sticking up out of the ground. The trees had ripped up sidewalks and in at least one case ruptured a gas line that caused a fire in a home less than a block from Diana's. I just admire the determination it takes to sustain a response with the reminders constantly surrounding you. I have helped with disasters many times, but never one while being personally affected. 

Me and Diana

Me and Pat

As she drove me to the airport at the end of my time with the Long Island Volunteer Center, Diana told me a story of the scallop shell that is the symbol for the LIVC. It is a symbol from the Camino de Santiago which is a large network of ancient pilgrim routes across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James. People take the journey for many reasons and must rely on the kindness of others to take them in and help them along the way. At the end of their journey they receive a scallop shell to symbolize the journey.  I was allowed to pick my scallop shell to commemorate the end of this journey. 

I was reluctant to leave. They had just gotten the approval to begin the process to open the Volunteer Reception Center the day I was leaving. I knew they had a long road ahead of them and I wouldn't be there to help. I know the support I provided was valuable, but it certainly wasn't as much as I would have liked to have given. I assured them they could contact me if there was anything I could do from back in Texas.  I hope they do. 

31 days of simple service



Class Tracking Poster

This month marks the 15th year of serving my community (though that community location has changed a time or two). It all started when I joined AmeriCorps *National Civilian Community Corps on October 1, 1997. While I continue to serve, I feel I have gotten a bit off track from the true joy of it. This past year I experienced something I had never felt before. I had been participating in a project consistently for 9 consecutive years and it had become drudgery and obligation and I was really not serving anyone well. So I did something I never thought I would do...I quit. Just like that. Turned in my key and said "best of luck". Now there were other things going on and the leadership had changed and while I still believe in the mission of the organization, I could not actively participate and still really like myself. It had gotten pretty bad. I had come to realize there was absolutely no joy in the project any more. After 9 years of hard work, I realized I had nothing more to offer. So this brings me to this month of simple service. I was prompted to begin this journey by a challenge offered up at my yoga studio. The challenge had two parts, set a goal for the month of October and participate in 23 yoga classes. I decided that my goal would be Complete 31 days of service in the month of October in order to celebrate my 15 years of service. Reconnecting with that which means so much to me I did the cliche thing and looked up service in the dictionary. The first definition will work quite nicely- Service- an act of helpful activity. Each day I will keep my eyes open for opportunities to serve. Some days I will already have planned what to do, others I will wing it and hope something comes up. It shouldn't be too hard as I work for a volunteer center and I live in a city with a plethora of needs. What will count? Anything I want really. The point isn't to check off the list. It's to serve intentionally and with some sense of WANTING to be helpful.

Day 1- I couldn't start this without planning for day 1. So I gathered up my recycling and dropped it off. You may say it has taken me a month to do this one as I recycle every day. But that really is the point. I recycle. I have a separate receptacle at home and I use it for paper, plastic, aluminum and glass. It's not hard, but it does require attention regularly. Also, I picked up the newspaper off the sidewalk as I went into the office rather than walking over it. That one made me grumble a bit, but for no good reason. Someone has to do it.

My Volunteer Susan

Day 2- I have a wonderful volunteer that works with me named Susan. We made plans to go to a surplus store to look at bicycles. These are left behind by students after the semester is over and they sell them for $40. Susan found a great cruiser with a basket on it and I helped her transport it to the bicycle shop. I enjoy having Susan's help with recruiting volunteers, so any opportunity to help her is just a bonus. Also, donated some sharpies to the yoga studio for tracking classes in the month of October. Just wanted people to be able to make the tracking poster pretty.

Red Cross Training Class

Day 3- I serve as a volunteer partner at the American Red Cross. That means I help a staff member and provide backup in emergency situations. Jonathan (the Red Cross staffer) asked me to attend a pilot training for New Employee/Volunteer Orientation and Disaster Services Overview. He wanted my perspective on the class and to show me what the content might be as an instructor for them. It was interesting to see what they had put together and I got to see several friends and some of my favorite volunteers that I had not seen in a while. It also reconnected me to the reason I volunteer for the Red Cross. They have a unique culture in regards to volunteers and I love that you can't easily tell the difference between paid and volunteer staff. The fact that they have 97 volunteers for every 1 paid staff member is exciting to me. More organizations should follow this lead in my opinion. Also, brought stickers to yoga for the poster because as adults we don't spend nearly enough time playing with stickers.

Day 4- Much more of a challenge today. Just irritated with some co-workers and not feeling much like serving. It happens. I ended up staying a little late staring at a spreadsheet and prepping for a meeting the next day. Was in a rush to leave and my last stop was the work room to grab something off of the printer. When I got there I realized I had the opportunity to be the tiniest bit considerate. I could refill the paper in the large copier. So that's what I did, a small helpful activity that I should probably do more often.

Day 5- Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, pretty self explanatory title. These are the non-governmental organizations (some faith based) that help communities before, during and after disasters occur. I participate in four of these VOADs as a part of my job. You might say “wait a minute isn’t this supposed to be about service?” Well you are correct, but the reason I am in my field is because my job is service. I chose my current position because it blends my passion for service with my need to eat and have a roof over my head. Besides my job is to attend such meetings, not to take on leadership roles necessarily. However, for Tarrant County I have become the secretary, which means I am a member of the executive committee and I help set the agenda and take the minutes and make sure people are kept informed about what is going on. On this day we held a meeting and it was a notable one because our president stepped down. She was a great leader for us, and the organization has grown stronger this year because of it. But her opportunities dragged her away to Longview, so we are going to have to replace her. The meeting went well and we had some new members join and others expressing interest.

Me N Maddie

Gabe and Elijah

Day 6- My brother and his wife went to a conference with their church. I had the distinct pleasure of helping the grandparents watch over their three beautiful children the ENTIRE weekend while they were away. I don’t often get to spend time with my nephews and niece (Gabriel 8, Elijah 5 and Madeline 2), but this weekend was full on Aunt Lisa time and we had a blast. Birthday parties and watching the Avengers movie may not sound like service, but when you are watching kids and are not used to doing it over several days it is WORK.

Day 7- While in Oklahoma I got the opportunity to help my brother Mickey install a toilet in his new home. I know you are thinking GLAMOROUS life, right? I enjoyed the opportunity to help out as I had helped install some before when I was in Alaska with AmeriCorps. Also, it was the first time I was able to see his new home. It was a family bonding moment as well, but dad or Mick will have to tell you that story.

Proud Homeowner

Day 8- Serving always makes me grateful. Expressing true thankfulness for what you have been given and how others have served or provided is important. I decided this day would be a day of gratitude, so I wrote 5 thank you cards.
1. Jess- the owner of the yoga studio Super Yoga Palace because I am extremely grateful to be able to come somewhere and feel. Be. Do.
2. Mike/Laura- the leaders of my church home group. They serve so tirelessly and I don’t think they get nearly enough thanks.
3. The Stewart Family- they welcomed me into their home for dinner and getting to spend time with Al and Chris and their amazing children (Grant, Curt, Isla, Emery) is always so special to me. Plus the food is delicious.
4. Andea- the leader of my Women’s Bible Study. She too gives so graciously and I wanted to take the time to thank her for her kindness and leadership.


Freshly painted wall

5. The City of Dallas- yes, you read that correctly. The City of Dallas has a graffiti removal program. Recently one of the structures on my favorite trail was defaced with graffiti and not the artistic cool kind. Someone had crudely sprayed male and female genitals on an area I pass each time I go for a run, walk, ride. I was so glad when they painted over it that I wanted to thank them. You KNOW they can’t get many thanks. If you every want a group volunteer project, you should consider joining them. They don’t destroy the artistic stuff and that is something I appreciate.


AmeriCorps Alums of North Texas Leaders

Day 9- In 2005 I started the AmeriCorps Alums chapter in North Texas. Ever since then I have been trying to re-engage individuals who have served in AmeriCorps in a variety of ways. Networking events- so people can get to now one another. Service projects- to help the community in some small way and to help alums continue their LIFETIME OF SERVICE. We also try to provide support to current programs with training and consultation whenever possible. Well today we had a meeting of the leadership where we planned out our next event and worked on our strategic plan. It was a lot of fun and I am eager to see how things turn out. I really enjoy working with people who enjoy service as much as I do.

Dallas VOAD Exercise

Day 10- Dallas County VOAD has a Disaster Tabletop Exercise on this day. It was facilitated by the City of Dallas and was a very eye-opening experience. I learned a lot about how the city and county hope to work with the agencies that are a part of the VOAD to help people in times of emergency. This event reminded me why I am in the field I am in and why I do what I do. I truly hope that the work we do to prepare will ultimately make the community safer and better able to handle a crisis when one occurs.

Day 11- Upon review of my calendar I cannot think of a single service I provided to anyone on this day. Unfortunate.



Edward gets a corndog

Day 12- I have a dear friend, Nancy, who has a little boy, Edward (5), she is raising on her own. I love this kid. Each year he asks if I am taking them to the Texas State Fair. Each year I do. The kid had three goals for this adventure. He wanted to see the giraffe. He wanted to eat a corn dog and he wanted to play a game. We managed to see the giraffe and eat a corn dog, but they had some weird game playing system where you had to buy a card that was expensive, so we didn't end up playing. Two out of three ain't bad.

Day 13- I started writing a letter to my cousin who is in prison. I haven't sent him anything in months. He's a year younger than me, but is more like a brother than a cousin. We were very close growing up. He got caught up in drugs and has been in an out of jail most of his life. I got a letter from him, so I decided to write back.

Day 14- One thing you notice when you start regularly riding a bike is that there are a lot of hazards out there. Squirrels, little kids on bikes and especially large sticks that end up in your path. I went for a walk/run this day and threw sticks off the side of the trail. There had been a storm the day before, so there were quite a few.
Also, I helped serve communion at church on this day.

Day 15- I went to the store and bought a huge thing of grapes. I brought them in to the office to share with some co-workers.

Day 16- Some days it is all you can do to help someone when they ask. Our yoga teacher asked for help blowing out the candles at the end of class. So I did. At this midway point in the challenge, I felt my energy waning.  I had to remind myself that sometimes the small things mean a lot.

Day 17- This day I was contacted by a local AmeriCorps Program to help review their grant that they were writing for 2013. I was unable to help out as I intended to apply to be a reviewer for the State Commission for these grants. So instead of reviewing it, I found them a completely awesome substitute- Dhriti, who is the person I would want to review any grant I would write. So sometimes serving isn't doing the work yourself, but connecting resources. That little nugget was 100% for free.

Me n Edward at the Arboretum

Day 18- The was the day I applied for the position as a reviewer for the AmeriCorps grants for the State Commission. I don't know yet if I will be accepted, but I am excited to try. If selected I will get to see if programs are able to deliver services to the community and that AmeriCorps Members will have a good experience. 

Day 19- Nancy and I took Edward to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy the day and to see the Chilhuly Exhibit. It was a lot of fun and was kind of exciting to "discover" the artwork hidden throughout the entire garden. It was also Fall when they have the pumpkins everywhere. Edward kept trying to find a pumpkins too big for him to sit on. It was awesome to watch him enjoy everything so much. I found out later that it was Nancy's first time to the Arboretum as well. We will definitely need to go again.

Day 20- My boss gave me free tickets to get into the Texas State Fair. I had hoped to be able to take my family as they were coming into town to see me run my triathlon the next day. Well, there just wasn't enough time to get there. I gave the tickets to Dhriti who was planning to go anyway and was going to have to buy her tickets. Also, Dhriti almost always signs me in to the yoga classes we attend together. On this day, I signed her in. Yes, it was such a momentous and rare occasion it warrants me writing about it.

 



Potluck Crew

Day 21- Dhriti and I joined several other community members for a Pay it Forward Potluck at the coffee shop Mokah which is next to Super Yoga Palace (our second home). We were there to learn more about the efforts being made in the local community to help at-risk, neglected, exploited and trafficked youth through the Letot Center www.breatheplaynamaste.org and www.letotgirlscenter.org I had heard about these work that was being done. I knew they taught yoga to the girls who were staying in the facility. I had always been curious to know more, but never took the steps to ask. It was a wonderful event where the community all brought food and asked great questions. I am excited to find a way to help support this effort in the future. 

Day 22- Once a year they offer free yoga classes at studios throughout  the Metroplex (Labor Day, September 3, 2012). At the last class of the day a guy was handing out free yoga mats and gave me one. Now, I knew I already had a mat.  The guy seemed so eager to hand them all out quickly and when he handed me one I decided I would give it to the next student who started coming to the studio regularly and who needed one.  Dhriti's friend Misty had been coming consistently and we decided that she should have it.

Day 23- There are several AmeriCorps Programs in North Texas. A few years ago the AmeriCorps Alums of North Texas started joining forces for National Service Days. Last year was our most successful year for this partnership. We hosted joint projects for Martin Luther King Day of Service and held a great Life After AmeriCorps Event with several programs participating. On this day we began our planning for 2013 and the events we would host all together.

Day 24- Another day where the act was simple. After yoga class the instructor has to lock up. Sometimes it can be a pain to try to close the security gate and hold the door open. I helped by holding the door open so she could close the gate. 

This was also the day of what I like to call my "final exam" at work. We had our annual Disaster Exercise for the Mass Care Task Force. We were testing our Volunteer Management Systems and our ability to communicate internally and with the community in times of Disaster in North Texas. While we still have a lot of work to do, the exercise went relatively well. We are inching closer to the goal of having a safer, more prepared community.

FEMA Corps visiting Texas

Day 25- I was super excited for the opportunity to speak to two FEMA Corps teams who are in Texas for training. I was invited by Jonathan Wallace of the American Red Cross to talk to them about the Red Cross and AmeriCorps Alums. It was great to see their eagerness to learn about disaster response and how the Red Cross works. I was just so curious about their experience and just to talk to them. Their program has a lot in common with the program that I was in 15 years ago. You could say it felt like many things had come full circle with this meeting. I did not get to talk to them much, but it was nice to show them around and to show them the response vehicles and supplies.  I also hope that this is just the beginning.

This was also my first opportunity to participate in the HandsOn Network Disaster Task Force Conference Call. I had recently been approved as a member of this group which is putting in place a network of volunteer centers across the nation which have a disaster component. It was great to hear the ideas shared and to talk about our Disaster Exercise which had taken place the day before the call.

Day 26- I participated in the community reviewer training for the AmeriCorps grant process today. Still don't know if I will be chosen to help out with the project, but hoping that it works out.

Another unique opportunity presented itself. I was asked to write a letter of recommendation for the Points of Light Foundation on behalf of AmeriCorps Alums of North Texas. They are applying for a grant to get AmeriCorps Alums involved in Disaster Relief. It required a pretty quick turn around, but I was happy to help. I hope the grant works out as we could certainly used more trained/experienced people to help with local and national disaster response.

SYP at Clyde Warren Park Opening

Day 27- This was the day of the opening of Klyde Warren Park. This park was built over the highway in downtown Dallas. I had been looking forward to this event for weeks. I combined many of my favorite things- a community coming together to celebrate, the great outdoors, music, food trucks, yoga, spending time with friends, taking public transportation, and fireworks. I had gotten four wristbands to attend the concert that evening. Dhriti and I wanted to invite people from our yoga studio so we could all support/celebrate Jessica who was performing. Any opportunity to bring the community closer is a good thing. So when Alicia and Craig said they were available we were excited. The best part was that they came in costume. Alicia showed off her killer make-up skills and Craig wore a home-made Storm Trooper outfit. Let me just say, you have not been to an event until you attend with a Storm Trooper. He was CONSTANTLY getting stopped by people wanting to have their picture taken with him. It was fabulous. He made a lot of little kids (and many adults) very happy when he posed with them. It was a wonderful evening and I don't know if I ever enjoyed an outdoor community event more. Trombone Shorty blew me away (pun intended). I really liked their music. Definitely would like to see them again. But the Polyphonic Spree were the highlight of the night. I had never seen them before. The only thing I knew about them is that there were a lot of them and they wore robes. It was easy to see why so many of my friends like them. Their music is light and energizing. Makes you want to go dancing through a field...wait, maybe a park. :)

Day 28- Civic service day. I voted! I never knew that early voting was a possibility. I always thought that you had to have a reason like you were going to be out of state on election day or something. I got a thing in the mail that told me the polling places and the hours, so I went after church but before the 29 Gifts yoga workshop. There was a bit of a line, but nothing like what I imagine there will be on election day. It is quite a relief to have it already done.

Day 29-Today I got another amazing opportunity. The CEO of my company sent me an email. Seems there is the training that she was invited to by the Points of Light Foundation. State Service Commissions Executive Directors and HandsOn Network Executive Directors have been invited to Spontaneous Volunteer Management Training at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Since my CEO had a conflict, she asked if I could apply to attend instead. She was given the green light, so I submitted my application. I won't know until the end of November, but I like my chances.  I think it would be a great opportunity to learn how to work better with State Service Commissions and to see better how things will operate nationally.  



Alums at Blue Mesa

Day 30-Our monthly event for AmeriCorps Alums of North Texas was a Networking LAB (Lead*Act*Build) at Blue Mesa. Blue Mesa has great specials from 4-6:30 on weekdays. We took advantage of the free quesadilla bar and chips (AmeriCorps Alums love free stuff almost as much as AmeriCorps members). We had a good crew come out and there was a lot of great conversation. People sharing job openings, others telling of job changes, volunteer projects getting hashed out and of course telling service stories.

Day 31- My act of service today was to show my boss how to create a blog. She just came back from the Bahamas and apparently she has some stories to tell.

Reflection- I have greatly appreciated this challenge. I pushed myself and I feel much stronger because of the consistent and elevated practice. It's one thing to do 23 classes (or 30) in one month, but to attach a personal goal to it was amazing. I would not have been so intentional or so mindful of this month had it not been for this challenge. One of the most tangible effects of this experience was bringing the students of SYP closer together. I know several of the students much better from talking about the challenge and the shared experience of a common goal (23 classes).  We talked before class, after class, on facebook and even took our adventures off the mat entirely a time or two.  We encouraged one another, acknowledged difficulty and celebrated our accomplishments. I am grateful to have had the opportunity and I look forward to future challenges with this amazing community.