| Summary/abstract: | - Hurricane Katrina revealed nature at its worst, destroying everything in its path along 90 miles of America's historic Gulf Coast. The breaching of the levees in New Orleans simultaneously created a tragedy of epic proportions and spotlighted profound, pre-existing generational despair and hopelessness linked to racial inequality. And Hurricanes Rita and Wilma stretched the limits of our nation's already overtaxed ability to respond effectively--and also tested the emotional and spiritual fortitude of the survivors. But like the horrors of September 11, 2001, the hurricanes of 2005 also showed America at its best. Even before the storm made landfall, Americans opened their hearts--and their wallets--to help their fellow citizens in need. America's armies of compassion--individuals, church groups, schools, and nonprofit groups large and small--sprang to action by raising funds, conducting clothing and food drives, and organizing a myriad of other efforts to help. By some
estimates, more than 45 million Americans reached out in some way to help. In all, U.S. organizations raised more than $3.5 billion in individual and private contributions to support the relief effort. What's more, an estimated 550,000 Americans have volunteered their time directly in the Gulf region--by all accounts the single largest non-military volunteer response in our nation's history, far exceeding the more than 140,000 volunteers who participated in hurricane relief activities in Florida in 2004. In the early stages of the disaster, the volunteers and staff of the major relief organizations offered hurricane survivors and evacuees safe places to stay, food, basic healthcare, information on available benefits, counseling, and, not least importantly, a caring and sympathetic ear. Over time, hundreds of nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and volunteer groups--many recruited, trained, and coordinated through National Service programs--journeyed to the Gulf Coast to assist
in the recovery process. In addition, scores of new charities rose from the rubble to provide desperately needed goods and services. But the scope of the disaster--which affected an estimated 10 million people and covered an area the size of Great Britain--created demands beyond what the official and unofficial relief mechanisms could support. As Scott Francis, one of the first AmeriCorps members to arrive on the disaster scene, put it, "Trying to comprehend the devastation in the Gulf from television or the newspapers is like looking at the Grand Canyon through a straw." The storm and its aftermath presented an unparalleled challenge for the nation's network of social service and volunteer organizations, particularly in the area of mobilizing volunteers for what will be a long period of recovery. The key issue was local capacity. Where entire towns were washed away, essential services lost, police and fire units devastated, and livable housing scarce, established local
nonprofit and governmental entities had virtually no capacity to support the great desire of volunteers from across America to help. Months later, even after access to roads, electricity, phone service, sewage, and water had been largely restored, it remained extremely difficult to house and support the tens of thousands of Americans ready to donate their time to the recovery effort. Consequently, in addition to providing desperately needed direct services, National Service programs looked to build up the capacity of the region to enable large numbers of volunteers to contribute. Thus far, more than 35,000 participants in the Corporation's AmeriCorps, VISTA, NCCC, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America programs have contributed more than 1.6 million hours to the hurricane relief and recovery efforts since last August. And National Service participants have coordinated or enabled the work of an additional 92,000 community volunteers, who have cleared tons of debris, served tens
of thousands of meals, put tarps on thousands of roofs, and mucked and sanitized thousands of houses. One of the great advantages of the National Service is that it can play a critical role in continuing to mobilize resources for recovery and rebuilding efforts over the long haul by building the capacity of local nonprofit groups to do what they need to do and to tap the great generosity of citizens from across the country to help. Its experience over the past 12 months leaves National Service poised to strengthen the nation's disaster response and recovery mechanisms, to build stronger communities, and to nurture and leverage the culture of service and civic participation that continues to grow and prosper in America.
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