We arrived in Branson on Saturday. We headed straight to the Volunteer Reception Center the AmeriCorps St. Louis team has set up and was operating out of. We were briefed on what was going and how we were going to be used. They decided to split us up with half in Taney County and half in Stone County.
I am on a team in Stone County working with 3 of the AmeriCorps St. Louis members running the Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) there. Nick, my Team Leader has designated me as an Assistant Team Leader (ATL) along with one of our team's two ATL's, Alex. He and I are the leaders of our group of 5.
Our first two days we worked 7 am to 7 pm with briefs and debriefs before and after work. We also had a half hour commute back to our housing in Branson. Long days with little sleep. Monday we switched hours to 8 am to 5 pm and my team of 5 moved into a church here in Kimberling City, MO so our 16 hour days have turned into 10 hour days, something I am thankful for.
Our jobs at the VRC include Volunteer Intake, Project Coordinating, and being Field Leaders. I've been able to try my hand at all 3 and find them all enjoyable.
Volunteer Intake includes greeting volunteers who come in and getting them set up with intake paperwork. Also getting them name tags and wrist bands. All of the damaged areas are blocked off and people can only get into them by going through a National Guard checkpoint. This is to prevent looting. Volunteers can get in with a wrist band.
Project Coordinating includes getting volunteers set up with work sites to go to, contacting homeowners to find out what work needs to be done, and making sure they have the resources they need. We also prioritize what houses we work on based on insurance coverage (we work on uninsured or underinsured homes) and demographics. We place a high priority on the elderly, single parents, and the disabled.
Field team leaders are out in the field making sure volunteers have work to do, are being safe, communicating with homeowners, and are getting things done.
I have mostly been in the office, but have gotten out in the field a little bit too. The volunteers we have coming in are great and are a lot of fun to work with. The day I was out in the field leading, when I got back to the VRC the Intake Coordinator said some of the people I had worked with that day had come back in and commented on how great I had done as a leader. Made me feel good. :)
Like I said, we've moved into a church here. The Kimberling City Methodist Church is taking VERY good care of us. We've got cots set up in the basement classrooms of the church with plenty of room. We have a man named Richard who comes in each morning and has a hot breakfast ready for us at 6:45 am. So far breakfasts have included pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and a ham and potato bake. I'm excited to see what tomorrow morning will bring. When we get back around 6:30 pm at night someone has already heated up one of the many casseroles that have been brought to us in the refrigerator. We also have a table full of baked goods. I never thought I would gain 10 pounds doing disaster relief.
Right now we have March 15th set as our last day of work here. We are planning on traveling back to denver on the 16th and 17th. Having Sunday the 18th off. Debriefing and office work on the 19th and then off work until the 26th when we will be heading out to our 3rd round projects. I am scheduled to go to the Cultural Center in Eudora.
Our VRC is in an old, empty grocery store.
Amanda at the project list. We have the board practically memorized.
People have been great about donating lunch for our volunteers.
We had a baseball team bring in a pallet of water for our volunteers!
It's crazy, but disaster really has brought out the best in people. We're really feeling the love of the community. They are so grateful we're here and thankful their neighbors are willing to help out with clean up and recovery. In the six days we've been here, we've become a part of Kimberling City, MO.
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