What was most enjoyable about helping Hurricane Ian survivors, Grace Anne recalls, was forming relationships with the survivors.
“It was also a great professional opportunity,” she said, “as I was placed where I’d never served before. I began as the logistics deputy and transitioned into the role of public information officer, engaging community members, passing out flyers and brochures about the services we were providing, creating and maintaining social media pages.
“Public information office is something I’d never done before or even considered myself qualified to do before.”
They were from the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa, with five Iowans and Anne, who is based in Mankato. She and five on her team flew to Florida on Nov. 11 for a 30-day Hurricane Ian deployment. They returned Sunday.
“So Conservation Corps is an umbrella organization under AmeriCorps, and whenever a disaster occurs, AmeriCorps sends disaster response teams to respond,” she said. “Conservation Corps specifically sends a lot of crew members and supervisors to those events.
“I decided to help because I had been involved with previous disaster responses prior to Hurricane Ian. I knew I had to join, to be able to speak to survivors about their experiences and provide a glimmer of hope in their despair is the most important aspect of that work.”
Anne’s supervisor on the team was Jacqueline Boorom of Iowa, who served on the deployment as field specialist for the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa.
“Overall, the amazing part of it was just giving back to people in a way that helps them get back to their livelihoods,” she said. “That’s the most rewarding part of it.”
“One couple that stands out was the last homeowners we helped before we returned to Iowa,” Boorom went on. “They were in their 60s and the husband was still working but the wife had just undergone chemo. She had stage 4 cancer and had a hard time walking around. Her hands were constantly in pain. When the hurricane happened, their house started filling with water.
“The husband hoisted them up onto the countertop where he was chiseling into his own ceiling to get her to safety in the attic. They luckily decided against that because that’s how so many in their region met with their demise. So they ended up swimming out of their house.”
They swam to a neighbor’s house, which was on slightly higher land, and found safety. “That story just really sat with me for a while,” Boorom said. “The husband was so incredibly grateful and relieved his wife and dogs — they raised golden retrievers — were alive.”
Anne said their team for the whole mission had about 77 active crew members and supervisors from various Conservation Corps around the country, including contingencies from California, North Carolina, Texas, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa and Florida.
One woman she helped was so thankful, Anne said. “We chatted away for over three hours. She was incredibly grateful that we had sent people out to help with their home,” she said.
“A lot of times the work with a contractor would cost upwards of $15,000,” she said. “The fact that we were doing it for free as part of a volunteer effort changes the whole dynamic of healing from disaster for homeowners who are there and rebuilding.”
The most difficult part of disaster response is being in the midst of the trauma people are experiencing, Anne said.
“We’re out there removing 30-plus years of memories at people’s homes and setting them at the curb for the city to take to the dump. If people have lost everything, it can weigh on you. But you have to remind yourself that the work you’re doing is the first step.”
Anne is a veteran with the Conservation Corps, though Boorum isn’t. Anne began with the Corps in June of this year and became part of a crew built specifically for veterans who were looking to get into a field after their military service.
She said they are now considering establishing a specific crew for veterans to respond to fires and other disasters.