Volunteer center going to half-days
By KATY YEISER
Staff writer - dailyjournal.net (Johnson County)
July 4, 2008
Five out-of-state disaster relief experts have come and gone from the county.
They drop in for days or weeks at a time, helping workers at the county's relief center coordinate volunteers or assess damage.
The remaining two experts left Thursday, and the flood relief efforts are now in the county's hands.
Their departure is a sign of where the county is in the recovery process, said Jann Johnson, supervisor for the flood relief volunteer center.
The center will be open only for half-days next week and close the week after, Johnson said.
"We're in a lull where most people have got their homes cleaned and are waiting for them to dry out," she said.
About 700 volunteers registered at the volunteer center for flood relief at Franklin College and visited 346 sites across the county.
They delivered food and cleaning supplies as well as helped flood victims with their damaged homes.
But only a few people are left to clean out their homes and not as many volunteers are being used on a daily bases, Johnson said.
For example, she said, about 30 people helped clean homes and deliver food and supplies to those who didn't have transportation in the middle of the week.
Because of the declining need for relief efforts, the center is in the process of closing down, Johnson said.
When people need to start rebuilding, reopening the center to coordinate skilled volunteers for repair work such as painting or putting up drywall will be up to the newly formed county recovery committee, she said.
The long-term committee will be formed of school, government, community, church, business and other leaders to focus on specific tasks, such as fundraising, education and construction.
The two experts brought into the county agreed that the county was ready to move on to the long-term recovery stage.
Don Corbishley of Rhode Island and Doris Peadilla of California spent their final night in the county helping members of Mount Auburn United Methodist Church pass out cleaning supplies and food to about 65 flood victims in Friendly Village trailer park in the Center Grove area.
Peadilla arrived in the county Monday and was supposed to stay until next week but didn't need to stay any longer because of the declining need for volunteers. She organized volunteers and sent them to different areas in the county.
Both said the community's effort to rid most of the debris, gut and clean homes and coordinate volunteers was one of the most efficient they have seen after a natural disaster.
"When I came two weeks ago, they didn't know where to start," said Corbishley, who is the interim disaster services program manager at the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island.
Corbishley assessed damaged homes in Amity, Franklin, Edinburgh and Prince's Lakes and told people what to do with their repairs.
Now most of the debris is gone, and neighbors have helped each other prepare their homes for repairs, Corbishley said.
Peadilla came Monday thinking she would see debris still littering streets and sidewalks.
"I was impressed to see things were cleaned up," Peadilla said. "I think the county is ready to move forward."
The public health emergency response director at the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles did relief efforts for the wildfires in northern California last year and this year and said the county's zoning technique was something she will try and incorporate at her center.
The United Way divided the county's flood damage into eight sectors and organized civic and church groups in certain areas.
"It gave each community a point of contact. It kept that community feel going because it was the same person in their area helping them," Peadilla said.
She said although the county's was done on a much smaller scale, the idea could be put in action in a city like Los Angeles.
During the experts' stay, county volunteers and workers were able to develop manuals and an understanding of how to respond to disasters, Johnson said.
The consultants learned, too, Corbishley said. He has been with the American Red Cross for five years and has studied how to handle natural disasters, but all of the bookwork went out the window when he arrived.
He didn't truly learn how to assess the damage a flood can do to an area until he was out talking with the victims and seeing their damage in person.
"I've learned more here in two weeks than I have learned in my five years at the Red Cross," Corbishley said.
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Johnson County Volunteer Center for Flood Relief
· Franklin College Campus - Dietz Center for Professional Development
o (317) 738-8006 and (317) 738-8807
o 251 South Forsythe Street, Franklin, IN 46131
o UPDATE: Open Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
o Volunteers need to report here to help with flood relief efforts