Back in action

Hello readers in reader land...it has been quite some time since I last posted.  Mainly because I was on summer break for 10 days.  10 awesome days at home.  It was full of time with family, friends, sleep, relaxing, golf, plenty of beer, and much more.  The essentials mainly.  I caught up with my friends I have missed, caught up with family, golf my best 9 holes ever, and slept past 6am on Monday through Friday which hasn't really happened in 5 months.  Needless to say I had a great time.  It went by fast, but it was the break I needed to come back to campus and feel refreshed for round 3.

So we got back to campus on Monday the 6th.  Tuesday we were thrown right into transition stuff.  SO fun.  We had classes, briefing meetings, random things to fill the day, per usual.  Our team had our briefing on our project in Tallulah, Louisiana.  Before the briefing we were kind of apprehensive about the whole project, but after the meeting, we felt better.  There were plenty of opportunities for creativity in the project working with children, mucking and gutting a school, and interacting with the community.  We had our River 10 creative juices flowing.  Vicksburg wasn't looking so bad as a place to live after all.  Wednesday was supposed to be used as a clearance meeting day, packing, cleaning, etc.  HOWEVER, around 10 or so our Unit Leader and Team Leader called a meeting with our team to share some news with us.  Our Tallulah project has been cancelled because of asbestos taking over the entire school we were supposed to be working in.  Zero good.  SO River 10 will be heading to Lake City, Florida on Disaster Relief for Tropical Storm Debby!  The main idea of AmeriCorps is to be responders to natural disasters such as a tropical storm or hurricane.  I was really hoping that we would have to be apart of a disaster relief team (I know that sounds terrible, but hey whatever) because I know that it is work that is essential to helping a community in dire need.  One of the main reasons why I joined AmeriCorps was to go on a disaster relief.  Here I am in that position, and I am really excited.

So let me give y'all a little overview of the next 4, what could potentially be 6, weeks in Lake City, Lake Lake City B*tch (song reference for you rap fans)...
Our project takes place in Lake City which is a little inland located about an hour from Tallahassee Florida.  Lake City is located in Columbia County which is one of two counties hit hardest by Tropical Storm Debby.  These two counties are among two of the poorest counties in Florida, two that were affected the most by Tropical Storm Debby, and these counties are two that have the highest rates of unemployment. Needless to say, this area needs a team to come help.  Lake City pumped 395 MILLION gallons of water so far and has 485 homes or buildings damaged.  As of July 24, a month after Debby hit, debris pick-up started.  Some homes flooded with up to 5 feet of water, some were flooded all the way to ceilings, while others flooded with a little less, but still a significant enough to be damaged. 

What we will be doing to help...
Our team will be canvasing for the first few days.  We will be going door to door to areas most impacted to do needs assessments.  We will be cross-referencing the existing needs that are on a list to see what has already been completed by other organizations.  Once that is done, we will go into homes to muck and gut the homes.  What this means in a nut shell is we will be going into homes and pretty much remove debris that can no longer be used in the house.  We will basically be leaving the frames of the house, if they are not completely damaged.  This will be a majority of our project with hopes of completing 28-30 homes by the end of what they want 4 weeks, potentially all 6 of this spike.  We will also be delivering disaster recovery information door to door to the home owners.  Since Lake City is still a disaster zone, we will also be in town cleaning debris from the roads to make the city roads 100% functional since right now 95% are functional roads. 

Our housing...
We are a liiiiiiiiittle spoiled by our housing situation.  Most disaster housing is not ideal for a team to stay in.  However, we are being housed in the Cabot Lodge.  Yes, a hotel for 4 weeks.  Pretty nice digs we at least hope.  There is a pool, wi-fi, free breakfast and access to a kitchen at the Emergency Operations Center down the street.  All of the girls on our team will be sharing a nice cozy hotel room and so will the boys.  We are pretty excited for the hotel.

Our sponsor...
Our main sponsor is Catholic Charities.  This organization's mission is to provide services to anyone in need regardless of race or religion.  There are a number of organizations working in Lake City to help repair and rebuild, but they are our main sponsor.  We will also be working with Columbia County which is the county Lake City is in.  We have 2 main site supervisors that we will meet when we arrive.

We are leaving tomorrow (Saturday) at 8am and we couldn't be more excited.  There are plenty of opportunities for ISP's while there and even the potential to sneak out for a little team trip to Disney World.  The staff has been telling us how excited they are for us and how great it is we are going.  I am really excited to be put in a situation where I know the place I am going needs immediate help.  Today we are all packing and preparing for the next 6 hectic weeks ahead of us.  The drive is about 8-9 hours and we go right into orientation when we get there Saturday night and Sunday.  Work begins Monday in full force.  The 9 member of River 10 are ready to take on this disaster relief project!

That is all I have for now.  Very exciting news for us.  I hope all is well wherever you are.  Big Happy Birthday to Momma C! 

I will fill y'all in on new stuff next week when I have some time! Keep it classy.