Fall 2011
National Service Training Roundup
AmeriCorps State Programs Update
ICVS Disaster Response
The ICVS is the primary agency responsible for disaster volunteer 
coordination. Working in conjunction with Homeland Security Emergency Management and the Iowa Disaster Human Resource Council (IDHRC), the ICVS provides services to local communities impacted by disaster. These services include disaster volunteer coordinators, volunteer reception center training, and coordination of national service resources to meet community needs following a disaster event. With the extensive network of Volunteer Centers and National Service programs, disaster volunteer management assistance is more readily available to help communities in need. During federal declarations the ICVS is tasked through the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) to provide disaster volunteer coordination assistance. Below is a synopsis of the summer 2011 disaster declarations and ICVS response.
April 2011. Several tornados and straight line winds created a large swath of damage in northwest Iowa. Counties that received a presidential declaration include: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Ida, Monona, Pocahontas, and Sac.
ICVS response - Limited assistance was provided for this event as many nonprofit and voluntary organizations were assisting communities that were hit the hardest. ICVS did meet with Buena Vista University to discuss the college campus response to the volunteer needs and determine appropriate volunteer coordination activities.
May 2011. The Missouri River flooding event began. All six western counties in Iowa were impacted and received a presidential declaration for public assistance. On October 7, Governor Branstad appealed the individual assistance declaration that was denied in July. A total of 975 homes were reported with damage from minor to destroyed all along Iowa’s western border with the majority of homes impacted in Pottawattamie County.
ICVS response - (Sioux City) ICVS staff members, Julie Struck and Kristin Honz, were deployed to Sioux City to assist the newly created Siouxland Volunteer Center (SVC) with disaster volunteer coordination. The SVC was started from the Volunteer Generation Fund grant and part of their mission is to provide disaster volunteer management resources during disasters. Also, a team of 15 AmeriCorps members from the Dept. of Natural Resources Keepers of the Land program provided support at the SVC answering phones, providing data entry on volunteers and coordinating teams of volunteers in the surrounding communities that were providing sandbagging assistance. Also, AmeriCorps members provided coordination in the field at the Tyson Center, the hub of the Sioux City sandbagging operation, helping organize volunteers and with the sandbagging efforts. With the assistance of AmeriCorps, ICVS and the SVC managed over 3,300 volunteers contributing nearly 6,500 hours of service filling 242,450 sandbags.
(Hamburg) - The Dept. of Natural Resources Keepers of the Land AmeriCorps program was deployed to Hamburg to provide assistance to the Iowa National Guard for levee patrol. A team of 10 AmeriCorps members on rotation of one week intervals patrolled the secondary levee around the town of Hamburg. While patrolling the members were responsible for checking the integrity of the levee against plastic issues, sand boils, animal holes, cracks and any other defects. Members also assisted in repair of the levee when needed. This was the longest deployment of AmeriCorps members for the Missouri River flooding event. Members provided levee patrol during the months of July and August.
(Mills County) - The Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps program provided assistance to Mills County Public Health. AmeriCorps members helped staff a call center that was established to provide individuals and families impacted by the disaster to get help and those wishing to volunteer to provide help. Also members provided several community outreach efforts that included: creating and conducting “Camp No-lacka-wawa” for children of families affected by the flood, conducting property damage and unmet needs assessments, and reaching out through various community events to provide information and resources to flood impacted families.
One AmeriCorps member serving with the Iowa State of Promise AmeriCorps program remains in Mills County assisting the county public health office with disaster related outreach activities. The remainder of the activities conducted by ICVS and AmeriCorps were completed on or by August 30.
(Council Bluffs) - In partnership with the Iowa Disaster Behavioral Health Response Teams (DBHRT), AmeriCorps members from across the state assisted in going door-to-door providing information to homeowner and renters living in the potential flood areas of the city with pre-evacuation guides. This community outreach activity took place the weekend of June 16-17.
July 2011. Severe winds damaged many rural properties knocking over trees and downing power lines. A presidential declaration for public assistance was made for Tama, Marshall, Story and Benton counties.
ICVS response - AmeriCorps assistance was requested at Otter Creek Park in Tama County for debris removal after the severe storms. A team of six AmeriCorps members spent three days chain sawing trees and removing debris in the campground, along the trails and through the park.
The ICVS is very appreciative to all AmeriCorps programs and members that lent a hand in helping communities respond to and recover from the disasters of 2011. AmeriCorps continues to be a vital part of disaster services in Iowa.