Update: On May 6, HODR officially transitioned the RI RCC to Serve Rhode Island, a local organization that will continue with the operation of the RCC for the long-haul. For more info, click here.
Project Update April 22:
For the past 3 weeks our small team on the ground in Rhode Island has been continuing to make a big impact during this Coordinative Services Project. HODR is not engaged in a full-scale volunteer project, rather we are lending our expertise and ability to manage requests from the community and match them with volunteers teams from other responding organizations and local volunteers that are working in the field.
We continue to work closely with United Way 2-1-1 and other members of Rhode Island Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (RI VOAD). HODR has taken the lead role in facilitating requests for volunteer assistance that come into United Way 2-1-1. United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island is a telephone service that works similarly to 9-1-1 and 4-1-1. By dialing 2-1-1, Rhode Islanders receive a 24/7/365 health and human services help/hot line staffed by information referral and state-health and insurance counseling specialists. In this case 2-1-1 has become the primary needs intake point for those in need of direct volunteer assistance, usually in the form of clean up assistance.
Rhode Island Recovery Coordination Center (RI RCC)
HODR launched the RI RCC in partnership with the RI VOAD to facilitate collaboration between both national and local agencies to identify and effectively meet the needs of the community. The RI RCC provides resources and referrals to residents in need of assistance as well as coordinates with voluntary agencies to deliver services directly to those in need. Another main role is that we have been hosting coordination meetings for agencies and organizations participating in the response and recovery efforts in order to encourage communication and collaboration between groups, avoid duplication of efforts, and ultimately maximize impact on the community in its time of need.
Collaboration
The Jewish Community Center (JCC) and NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster have welcomed the HODR team into their volunteer base and continue to be our home away from home during this Coordinative Services Project.
Based on the many volunteers already in the area, we do not anticipate launching a full-scale HODR volunteer project. Over the next couple of weeks, however, we are continuing to power the RI RCC in cooperation with RI VOAD, 2-1-1, Serve Rhode Island (SRI) and Rhode Island Emergency Management (RIEMA). Other organizations involved with the recovery efforts in RI include: Christian Aid Ministries, Christian Disaster Relief, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mennonite Disaster Service, NECHAMA, Samaritan’s Purse, Serve Rhode Island, Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, and the Jonnycake Center of Westerly, RI.
Special Needs
HODR alum Bill Sr. and friend/new HODR volunteer Mark S answered the call to build a displaced family a handicap ramp for their new mobile home. The family was forced to vacate their flood damaged rental and purchase a mobile home nearby. One of the family members suffers from limited mobility issues and can not climb stairs. In order to even enter their new home a ramp needed to be built. Two days after receiving the call HODR volunteers had solved the problem and the family moved in. Click here for photos of HODR in Rhode Island.
Transition
Will conclude our efforts here by May 7, and are working to identify a local agency to transition the database and work request coordination.
This project has allowed us to utilize HODR’s expertise in workflow and volunteer management on a small scale, and we want to thank all of the supporters of this project & HODR, as well as the many organizations and agencies that are actively participating and working together toward an effective response all around and strengthening the state coordination system under RI VOAD.
In response to the recent historic flooding in the state of Rhode Island, HODR has launched the Rhode Island Recovery Coordination Center (RI RCC) to assist in the coordination of recovery efforts state-wide.
On Monday, HODR was asked by Rhode Island Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (RI VOAD) & RI Emergency Management to coordinate the work requests for the state. We started arranging an exchange of information between responding agencies immediately and I arrived in RI Wednesday to set up shop. We have opened the RI RCC as a central hub for inter-agency coordination, and will be here over the coming weeks to help connect residents affected by the flooding with organizations that are here to help.
So far since the series of floods 12,000+ people have applied for FEMA assistance, and more than 300 have called United Way 2-1-1 (an information referral service) for volunteer assistance; about 250 of those calls have been requesting clean-up and debris removal services. We are working closely with the United Way 2-1-1 call service in order to collect needs from the community and channel them out to responding agencies.
In March, RI received more than 15 inches of rain through three separate storms, each of which resulted in flooding in many areas. The last rain storm especially, which ended on March 31, left many residents in need of volunteer assistance and outside services to deal with the affects of the flooding.
Over the past weekend most flooded homes were still pumping water out of basements and first floors. This week and since the flooding first started agencies have stepped up to offer assistance, and the coordination of efforts has begun. Assessments of homes and work requests for voluntary agencies are now underway and the gutting and muck outs begin.
There’s a really strong presence of local volunteers as well as local and national organizations helping with muck outs and providing other assistance to the affected communities. We’re doing all we can to put all those pieces of the puzzle together to help with an efficient, collaborative and coordinated response. Thanks to HODR alumni including Jay Starr, David Eisenbaum & Sue Glassnor who are on the ground or en route to lend their “HODR coordinative services” in home assessments and to help support the RCC.
We’ve played the coordination role in the past in Gassville, Arkansas following tornadoes in 2008 and in Gowanda, NY after the 2009 flooding. Never thought we’d be responding to something so close to HODR’s homebase of Massachusetts, but great to be able to help a neighbor in need.
Check back to www.HODR.org for more over the coming weeks, and follow us on Twitter for daily updates @HODRopsUSA
With on-going projects already underway in Haiti & Iowa, and with HODR wrapping up our 6-month long response in Indonesia today, we need all the help we can get raising awareness and support of our efforts. Thank you all for your involvement & on-going support.
After a two-week assessment in American Samoa, HODR will not be deploying a project. Residents are proactively clearing debris from the tsunami and the clean up phase will be over shortly. In the interim, residents are utilizing a combination of the shell of their homes, community spaces, temporary structures and tents to live in. The island seems focused on moving straight into the rebuild phase, however that process will not start for months due to the challenges of residents waiting for funding, and building materials and supplies being brought on-island. While there was significant damage in some villages, the community is on the road to recovery and there is not a strong need at this time for volunteer support.
We’re heading out of American Samoa but HODR’s work doesn’t end there. Continue to follow our Operations Teams on Twitter: @HODRops
For more information on our active volunteer response project in Indonesia, click here.
Thanks for your support and for following our efforts and work in the South Pacific.
We’ve been on the ground in American Samoa for one week and it’s been a busy one…
We’ve traveled to the affected villages and talked with village chiefs, mayors and residents. The highest concentration of damage from the tsunami is in the Village of Amanave (check out video) with around 75 homes destroyed or majorly damaged.
Given the pace of debris removal and clean up we believe that these phases will be completed in the coming weeks through local efforts. Then demolition of damaged but standing structures will begin after new permanent homes are built. Many are using the shell of their damaged homes in the interim as their primary dwelling until they can build a new home.
We’ve met with CRWRC, Mennonite Disaster Services, World Vision, Catholic Charities USA, American Samoa VOAD, and the American Red Cross to share information and talk about the recovery efforts underway and those in the planning stages. We spent a couple of hours Friday helping Catholic Charities and the American Red Cross distribute food and water in Amanave. Distribution sites strategically placed throughout the island have also aided in the collection of needs and data on the affected population.
There may be a need here for both short term and long term case management and project/workflow management, meaning tracking and managing rebuilds and helping individual households.
We’re also exploring the costs and logistics that would be involved with hiring skilled labor with the thinking that we could potentially hire some locals to act as construction managers for unskilled volunteers to be utilized in rebuild effort. The unknown at this point is exactly when the rebuild phase will begin.
We toured a potential volunteer housing site that the Mennonites and CRWRC may get off the ground, and could be open to others like HODR if we set up a project.
Lots going on, lots to keep figuring out. Keep following us on Twitter (HODRopsUSA) and www.HODR.org as we continue in the assessment.
In the meantime you can support our efforts in the Samoan Islands & our recently announced volunteer project in Indonesia in response to the recent earthquakes. If you’re interested in volunteering with us in Indonesia or a potential project in the Samoan Islands, email Tom at info@HODR.org and you can support our work with a donation to our South Pacific Disaster Recovery Fund.
This video was shot on 10/14/09 by the HODR assessment team in American Samoa, as Bill & Jeremey learn about the situation and needs of people affected by the 9/29/09 tsunami. This video shows an example of how some people are living post tsunami, now that they have lost just about everything.
More on our Samoan Islands Tsunami Assessment: Photos Video More info
See daily updates from our assessment team on the ground on Twitter @HODRopsUSA
The Village of Amanave on the island of American Samoa was struck by a tsunami on 9/29/09. This video was taken by the HODR assessment team on 10/14/09. Approximately 75 families were affected in Amanave.
More on our Samoan Islands Tsunami Assessment: Photos Video More info
See daily updates from our assessment team on the ground on Twitter @HODRopsUSA
Over the past couple of weeks the destruction that has hit the South Pacific has drawn worldwide attention. This string of disasters has devastated the Samoan Islands, the Philippines, and Indonesia with typhoons, earthquakes, and a tsunami.
In response to these events HODR has a team on the ground in the Philippines that is also monitoring the situation in Indonesia, and are now also heading to the Samoan Islands. On September 29 a powerful 8.0 earthquake created a series of tsunami waves that struck American Samoa and Western Samoa. Some of the waves are estimated to have been as high as 6 meters (more than 19 feet) high, and initial estimates show that as many as 15,000 people have been affected. Bill and Jeremey are en route and will arrive in American Samoa late on Sunday, October 11 to start the assessment.
HODR is launching an “assessment,” which to us is a fact-finding mission: What is the scope of damage on the ground? What are the needs of the community? Do the needs overwhelm the local ability to respond? Are there gaps in the response efforts that we can help meet through volunteer efforts or coordination services? Where can we be most effective? Answering these questions helps us figure out if, how and where we are needed most.
Check back to www.HODR.org for updates and if you’re new to our site, take a look around at photos, videos and updates from past projects to get a true sense of the power of volunteers in disaster response.
Get Involved
If you’re interested in volunteering on a potential project, please email Tom at info@HODR.org.
You can also support these efforts by donating to our South Pacific Disaster Recovery Fund.
HODR has recently been welcomed as a member of National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)! NVOAD is forum for organizations involved in disaster response to “promote cooperation, communication, coordination and collaboration” among agencies to serve disaster survivors and affected communities.
NVOAD membership is a major step in HODR’s growth and evolution. As a nationally respected coalition, NVOAD membership brings with it significant responsibility and a strong network of disaster response and recovery organizations.
Whether you volunteered with us for a week years ago or made a donation yesterday, everyone who has supported HODR should be proud that you helped us build and continue to build this organization into an innovative disaster recovery nonprofit that now officially stands as an NVOAD member alongside some of the best programs and organizations in the nation.
Thanks to National VOAD for acceptance as a member organization and thank you to all of our supporters!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information please contact:
Beca Howard, Communications Manager
781.570.9412Beca@HODR.org
CARLISLE, MA, 10/12/09 — Within the span of five days the South Pacific was been devastated by a string of natural disasters. Hands On Disaster Response (HODR) is on the ground in Indonesia and the Samoan Islands, and has launched a fundraising appeal to support the recovery efforts. HODR, a recently accepted National VOAD Member, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of volunteers to bring direct assistance to survivors of natural disasters both in the US and around the world.
The organization’s South Pacific Disaster Recovery Fund aims to raise $250,000 toward the recovery efforts following the recent series of disasters.
“There’s a tremendous amount of suffering in the South Pacific right now after the recent string of disasters. Fortunately, we have experience in two of the affected areas having run successful campaigns to address the needs in 2006 following a super-typhoon in the Philippines and an earthquake in Indonesia,” says Marc Young, International Operations Director for HODR.
HODR projects organize volunteer work to meet the unique needs of the community, and can include everything from debris removal to rebuilding homes and schools. On the organization’s 2006 deployment to the Philippines volunteers rebuilt and renovated elementary school and daycare facilities, built fishing boats to restore the livelihood of fishing villages, and dug out nearly 150 homes buried by the mudflows. HODR’s 2006 Indonesian earthquake response mainly focused on rubble removal and salvaging materials, which residents quickly used to rebuild.
South Pacific Tsunami
On September 29 a powerful 8.0 earthquake created a series of tsunami waves that struck American Samoa, Western Samoa, and a small northern island in Tonga. Some of the waves are estimated to have been as high as 6 meters (more than 19 feet) high, and initial estimates show that as many as 15,000 people have been affected.
Sumatra Earthquake
On September 30 a devastating 7.6 earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra and within 24 hours a second earthquake of magnitude 7.0 hit, causing further damage on the stricken island.
HODR assessment teams in both the Samoan Islands and Indonesia are meeting with local officials, visiting affected areas and evaluating the recovery needs in order to determine further involvement and the potential for volunteer projects.
After an extensive assessment of flood affected areas in Georgia we have found that the clean up/muck/gut phase is moving along rapidly and in most areas will be completed in the coming days.
Affected homeowners wasted no time and began piling damaged household items and building materials on the curb and into dumpsters provided by the counties. Local and National voluntary organizations have also pitched in, with groups like the Latter Days Saints organizing upwards of 930 volunteers during the first weekend post flood.
The Red Cross estimates that just over 2,500 homes suffered damage statewide across some 20 counties. The hardest hit was Cobb County with approximately 1,000 homes having suffered damage.
Our evaluation found that the current needs of those affected are being met and a HODR project is not needed at this time. We will continue to monitor the long-term recovery and keep a watchful eye for any needs that may surface in the coming weeks and months.
We would like to thank our friends at Habitat For Humanity and the Georgia State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (GA VOAD) for their assistance and information sharing.
The Greene family of Roswell, GA also deserves a BIG HODR thank you for their Southern hospitality and tremendous support of our efforts in Georgia.
Please stay tuned to www.HODR.org and twitter.com/HODRopsUSA for the latest on what we’re up to.
