Where I left off in Houston:
Being almost three months after Hurricane Ike, our numbers at the DRCs were shrinking and thus many of them closed down. For about a week, we had three sites rather than four, each staffed with three Corps Members. This means that one monotonous task (signing in FEMA applicants) was to be done by three people. It made for an interesting dynamic. Needless to say, our team was able to knit many a scarf, make many a friendship bracelet, and read many a novel. Our time at the DRCs really boosted the talents this team has... Beyond the craziness of our job, many good things came out of it. I met some amazing people working with FEMA. Not only were the staff members helpful, hysterical, and always engaging, I encountered some pretty unique community members with stories that I couldn't have imagined. Of all the things we did at the DRCs (granted, there weren't that many), the part that will stick with me the most is the way my team could change the attitude of an applicant from devastated and confused to hopeful and optimistic. Even though printing off a pale green, pink, blue, or yellow routing sheet was as small a task imaginable, the conversations we had with those clients have surely made an impact on our lives and hopefully a small part of theirs. I wish the people of Texas a speedy and successful recovery from the storm.
What happened next:
Working for AmeriCorps NCCC is more than just the hands-on service. In the midst of the visible work we do, there's paperwork. Each team member has what we call a team position. (WARNING: we like to use acronyms... I'll explain) Two CAPpers serve as our recruitment team, our POL works to gain sponsors to host a NCCC team in the future, our PT coordinator runs daily Physical Training, our Peer Helpers assist with team conflict and building team morale, two SLIs coordinate service learning activities and lead reflections, two photojournalists snap photos of teammates at work, always sure to include the "A" in such photos, and I, the media rep, work diligently to gain media coverage in the community as well as the hometowns of my teammates. During each project, Corps Members have certain goals they strive to reach in their team position. I set goals such as gaining coverage in our sponsor's (FEMA's) media, and running a story in at least three hometown newspapers. Throughout the project, I work on calling newspapers and other media outlets trying to achieve this goal. Each time I call, there's paperwork to fill out, and each time I get covered, there's more paperwork. At the end of the project- guess what? More paperwork! All so that the staff back in Sacramento, as well as headquarters in DC can have record of all the work we've been doing.
On top of the responsibilities our team positions offer, each project requires a briefing with the staff before we depart, and a debriefing upon return. This time period is referred to as transition, what we're technically in right now. These presentations include basic information about the project- where we were, what the community was like, what the sponsor was like, what a typical day looked like, pros and cons of the project, a summary of each team position and their accomplishments, and a summary of the Independent Service Projects we did. Typically, the presentation is 30 minutes in front of our Unit Leader (one of four staff members that "manage" seven teams- in my case, Ben Richey), Support Team Leader (like my team leader, only she's in charge of all the "behind the scenes" work that goes on in Sacramento while we're traveling the country), and various other staff members. We must wear our AmeriTux to these presentations (i.e. white polo, black cargo pants, and black steel-toed boots). Due to the nature of this project and the fact that 16 teams were debriefing from FEMA projects, we were set to debrief with three other teams that also spent time in the DRCs in Texas. We didn't find this out until we were halfway done with what we thought would be the greatest debrief ever. Since our project wasn't the most exciting in the world, we figured we'd make our debrief as engaging as possible. Somewhere along the lines we came up with the idea of explaining all that needed to be explained in the format of a CD Collection Infomercial... you know, like the ones that run on cable TV at 4 AM and seem to never end. We worked diligently to write parodies of popular songs... things like The Brady Bunch Theme, Supertramp's Dreamer (later known as FEMA), Beyonce's If I Were a Boy (remade as If I Worked for FEMA) and other greats. I spent hours creating this 15-minute video on my computer, and the end result was many laughs from our audience and a ton of fun on our 4-day road trip. So far, I've only been able to upload the video to Facebook, but I'm working at getting it on YouTube. The link for the video is on my last post, so check it out if you have time- it's pretty hysterical, and a great depiction of the personalities on my team!
Now, I'm at the end of my wonderful 2-week holiday break. I realized I've missed Wauwatosa much more than I originally thought. I've had a great time visiting all my friends, and will miss them much, but I know I've got a family waiting for me in Sacramento, and houses need repairing in Southern Miss. I'll fly back early Sunday morning, brief on Monday, and embark on a five day drive down to Hattiesburg on Tuesday morning. Surely there will be more updates in the near future.
I'll leave you with a few links that I'd like to share with the world:
1. This is FEMA's tribute to AmeriCorps NCCC and all the help we've provided them with in recent months. The first interviewee is my teammate, Jen. She rocked it.
2. This is a song covered by Bon Iver, one of my favorite artists, at a show I saw in August. I just think it's ridiculously beautiful. You should watch it.
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