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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2001 | FEMA - News Desk 202-297-6795 |
Navajo, Mille Lacs Band and Denver AmeriCorps Members in Houston to Help With CleanupFifty members of Denver's National Civilian Communtiy Corps (NCCC) and 22 members of the Tribal Civilian Community Corps (TCCC) – 11 from the Navajo Nation in Arizona and 11 from Mille Lacs Band in Minnesota – arrived in Houston this week. The volunteers traveled more than 1,000 miles by van and will be in Houston for three weeks to assist United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) with cleanup of flood–damaged homes. AmeriCorps will help with removing damaged goods, mud, Sheetrock and the cleaning of homes belonging to the elderly and disabled flood victims. "We're proud to be part of FEMA's important work in helping Houston citizens recover from this devastating flood," said Wendy Zenker, Acting CEO of the Corporation for National Service. "We're especially pleased that members from the Navajo Nation and Mille Lacs Band are joining the AmeriCorps *NCCC teams already on hand to help Houston families get their lives back together. When FEMA calls, AmeriCorps is ready to serve." This is the first time AmeriCorps has sent its Tribal Civilian Community Corps to assist in disaster response. AmeriCorps is a federal national service program that engages more than 50,000 men and women in intensive service to meet community needs. AmeriCorps *NCCC is a branch of the program for 18 to 24 year olds who work in teams to carry out community service projects. "These people are either straight out of high school and didn't know what to do after graduation or have bachelor's degrees and could be making $50,000 to $60,000 a year, but instead chose to work with us," said Kevin Rumery, AmeriCorps supervisor. "They are definitely soldiers for community service." Although state, federal, local and volunteer agency people continue to cooperate in the long–term recovery effort, there is still a need for help with cleanup. "AmeriCorps will provide a vital component to our recovery efforts but this is a major disaster and will require a long-term, large–scale recovery effort," said Kenneth Curtain, FEMA voluntary agency liaison . "The flooding has been overwhelming to many Texans and we still need help from local volunteers." For more information and to volunteer help with cleanup, those interested may call the UMCOR Hotline at (713) 822-8815. ###
Note: FEMA's new interactive website, with information about the Southeast Texas disaster, is available at FEMA. This includes copies of news releases and links to other sources of disaster-related information including the Division of Emergency Management (DEM), Texas Department of Public Safety, at State of Texas.
High-quality, digital photos of the Texas disaster operation by FEMA's photographers, are available to the news media; call 832-513-4409. Radio actualities are available on the FEMA Radio Network (1-800-323-5248). Additional FEMA information is available on FEMA's World Wide Website at FEMA. Additional information on cleanup efforts can be found on UMCOR's Website at UMC. For more information on how to join AmeriCorps, visit AmeriCorps. For more information, contact Aaron Reed (DEM)at 202-297-6795 or Michael Lampton (SBA) at 817-684-5600. Release No. DR-1379-TX-NR086
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