Americorps Wrap-Up (4 months later)

Soooo, kind of fell off on the blogging for the end of my Americorps term, but here is a quick wrap up (bullet format since you probably don't care this far after the fact):

• The team spent 10 long, exhausting, and frequently cold weeks in Memphis working on the Arkwings property and cutting privet (an invasive species-think kudzu) off an isthmus into an oxbow lake that would be used as a natural area with picnic tables and such. This was a long and arduous task that took a chunk out of team moral. While in Memphis however, we were able to see lots of cool sites including Graceland, the Rock and Soul Museum, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Peabody Hotel, and the Memphis zoo.
• After 10ish days of transition, River 5 headed to Greensboro, North Carolina to work with Habitat for Humanity. We were to spend the last 6 weeks of our time doing rehabilitation on homes that Habitat had bought to fix up or old Habitat homes that needed weatherization upgrades to help the families decrease utility bills. HFH Greensboro was an awesome organization with awesome people who treated us great. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not allow us to fulfill our full 6 weeks.
• When a huge tornado went through rural Bertie County, North Carolina on April 17th, our team was called to action. We packed up our belongings and headed to the small towns of Windsor, Askewville, and Colerain to provide relief. We spent most of our time simply helping people sort through the rubble and destruction to find the few belongings that could be salvaged and then move all of the rest to the road so that they could start over. These were long days (12 hours generally), but very rewarding. It was amazing to be able to help people in such an immediate time of need and for them to invite us into their lives at such a tough time. The attitudes were equally incredible, with gratitude and a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm for life the most common. We spent Easter Sunday with the Red Cross, going door to door making sure that everyone's needs had been met. A quite interesting way to spend Easter (a sermon is already written from this experience that will be preached on an Easter Sunday sometime in the future). We finished our time in Bertie County by working to overhaul the organization in a large donation warehouse so that things could be sent out to survivors in an orderly manner and so that everyone could get what they needed. After 11 days, we headed back to Greensboro to return to Habitat...
• But not for long. After 2 days back on the job, we were called to Tuscaloosa, AL to aid with the recovery process there. This was very important to me because this tornado had hit so close to home. I was glad to be able to go to T-town to help. We spent almost our entire time in Tuscaloosa working with the Holt Relief Center, a makeshift center set up in the devastated Holt Community. A family had the center up shortly after the tornado in half of an auto body shop and the center expanded from there. While we were there, the center expanded to include a circus sized tent for clothing, a Salvation Army food truck, and an extension to the roof to allow for more room. Our center became a center of activity and a key resource for all of Tuscaloosa as the recovery process continued and other, short-term distribution centers closed up. We spent about two weeks in Tuscaloosa before heading back to Vicksburg for the end of our year and graduation.
• On May 26, 2011, Americorps Class XVII of the Southern Region graduated. Each corps member had completed 1700 hours of service and 80 independent hours. Many received President's Volunteer Service Awards and Congressional Awards.
• Looking back, I am able to appreciate this experience so much more than I did as it was going on. Never again will I get the chance to be around 140 people giving a year of their life to serve communities so wholeheartedly. It was an incredible opportunity and I met so many incredible people, both within the corps and within the communities we served.
• An update that is actually time relevant is forthcoming. Stay tuned.