We're Not Broken Just Bent



No nothing is as bad as it seems,

We’ll come clean

Just give me a reason,

Just a little bits enough

Just a second we’re not broke just bent

The incidents like what happened at the Boston Marathon remind me of a couple things. First, that I love my city and home. I have been watching the news and reading articles about what happened and it’s really been bringing me down. It’s such a tragedy, but I know that Massachusetts is tough and they’ll get through this. Secondly, there is a reason why I am in FEMACorps and spending my time in a JFO everyday filling out paperwork. It’s all about helping people- whether it be from Sandy which destroyed thousands of homes and displaced thousands of families or from a man made bomb which injured over 100 people at the Marathon. Working for FEMACorps is all about making sure that anyone who has been through a traumatic experience gets back on their feet and gets back to where they were before.

                I don’t want to keep talking about this matter because I’m sure we’ve all heard about enough of it and it’s really bringing me down- to be quite honest.  Instead I will tell you about all the secret fun Green 5 has been having. Why does it have to be secret? IT DOESN’T! I think it’s more secret in the sense that Green 5 doesn’t know they’re having fun, but they are.

                One of my Corps Members, Tyler, has taken it upon himself to buy Green 5 an “Everyday’s a Holiday” desk calendar and has put it on the dashboard of Goldilocks, our 15 passenger van. Every morning we hop into the van and the person sitting in the passenger seat has to say “okay, it’s about that time of year, you guys” and rip off the day before an announce the new holiday. So far highlights have included: Draw a Bird Day, Farm Animal Day, and Winston Churchill Day.

On Draw a Bird day, all Green 5 CMs were REQUIRED by me (while at work, DON’T TELL MY UL!!) to draw the best bird they could. At the end of the day, we got back in the van and everyone had to present their birds, tell us its name, and give a brief description of the bird. The most creative bird went to Jen because although she was saying all day long that she couldn’t draw, she actually drew a bird and the outline of it had all positive words that described our team.

Farm Animal Day forced Green 5 slightly out of our comfort zones on the way into work. Tyler insisted that we sing “Old McDonald” during our morning commute. So, we went around the van with each person picking a farm animal when it came their turn and then the whole team joining in on the chorus. The next part of Farm Animal Day that we assigned was that each team member had to draw a farm scene with the animal that they had said during the song. It was fun and it got us excited for the day at work.

Winston Churchill day wasn’t that exciting, but we made the most of it anyway. Not all Corps Members were up to speed about who Churchill was/ why he was so important, so I made it Tyler’s job to read the Wiki page about him, summarize it, and then send an email to the rest of the team with the explanations. The summary didn’t prove to be too riveting so instead we talked in British accents on the way home after work!

Green 5 has also been working really hard to pick a “team song” which isn’t a song that relates to us at all, but instead a song that we can turn up in the van and all sing along to. First it was going to be a Taylor song (obviously), but not everyone could agree with that. Then, it was going to be a Beyonce song, but then we realized that we were too tone deaf for that. Then, it was going to be a One Direction song, but most of the boys turned that down quickly. All of these possibilities had been discussed on the drive from New Mexico, so by the time we got to New York we still hadn’t decided and usually on the way to and from work each day we were too busy chatting or too tired, so we just listen to the radio. Eventually we started listening closely to the radio because we kept hearing the same few songs over and over and over and over… much like any radio listener in the world. We then established that we would pick the song “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink and featuring Nate Ruess from Fun. We didn’t pick the song for the melody or the lyrics; we picked it because we had heard that same song in almost the same spot on the way home from work at least four days in a row. We then decided that not only would we learn all the lyrics to the song, but we would keep the duet style alive and sing the song according to our genders. The boys are clearly still not thrilled about this, but they are going to learn it whether they want to or not.

Another fun weekly “tradition” Green 5 has happens according to the day of the week. We have decided that Mondays suck. I think everyone can agree that Mondays are rarely fun or rewarding and Green 5 has decided that they are the worst. Tuesdays, on the other hand, are crazy! I am not sure why Tuesdays are so crazy, perhaps it has to do with the bird drawings… I also think that two CMs, Jen and Sam, decided Tuesdays would be crazy before they even got into AmeriCorps so it’s stuck and it’s reigned true thus far. Weird Wednesdays come next and let me tell you, they’re really weird. Last Wednesday was Farm Animal Day, which is obviously weird. Then, later that day Sam and Tyler sat in on a meeting between FEMA employees and State employees and they said it was wild. They learned from one of our lead POCs that “the past is history, the future is mystery” and they disseminated that information to the rest of us. It was weird, to say the least. Another weird thing about last Wednesday was the van ride home when Green 5 thought that one of our teammates had a stroke or something (joking, so no offense to anyone) because as soon as we got in the van, he fell asleep. We went over numerous speed bumps and potholes and yet Jason slept right through. It wasn’t until someone reached over and woke him up did we conclude that he was not having a stroke or anything, but he was just tired from his long day out in the field visiting schools. It was weird and hilarious and slightly scary for a second. Thursday and Friday have not been labeled yet, mostly because Thursdays tend to be uneventful and Fridays are amazing due to the weekend; however, I feel as though their labels will come yet.

On Monday, my Service Learning Initiator (SLI), Jason, along with a few other SLIs hosted a cultural potluck dinner. Four different SLIs cooked four different dishes from four different communities represented in New York City. They put up posters around four different rooms and asked the participants trivia questions about the communities after we ate the food. Two of my CMs and myself decided to stick together and work as a team throughout the event. Curice, Jen, and myself literally ran through the hotel hallways after scarfing down food shouting the answers to the questions and talking about how good the cooking was. In the first room we went to Jason cooked chicken parm to represent Little Italy. It was really good and we got to learn a little about the history of Little Italy, which is located in Manhattan. Next, we walked two doors over and got some yellow rice, pigeon peas, and fried plantains from the Puerto Rico room. The fried plantains were amazing; probably because I didn’t know the cook had put sugar on them! Regardless, it was delicious. Our third stop was at the end of the hallway where Trey had cooked stir fry tofu and green beans. I don’t know what kind of sauce he put on this food, but it was so good! There wasn’t much left by the time we had got there, so after I ate my three green beans, I had to reach over and steal one from Curice (trust me, it was necessary). Finally, we headed to the Caribbean room where I had cooked some shrimp and Sam had cooked some rice. It was obviously amazing because my team cooked it, but seriously, everyone was raving about it. The night was fun and it ended with a brief team gathering where we talked about what we learned, but then ended up joking around and getting off topic. Overall, we did learn a lot while still having fun and it showed a lot of growth between my CMs.

By the end of last week Green 5 showed a lot of improvement in team’s dynamics. The workload at FEMA isn’t as substantial as we thought, so it tends to be pretty slow, but with joyful van rides to and from work as well as PT, cultural pot luck dinners, and other team events, we make the most of it. Occasionally my team will get to go out in the field on site visits, which seems to really boost morale. I just hope that they continue to see the difference they are making and don’t get too side tracked on the paperwork surrounding them.

This City

This city never sleeps,

I hear the people walk by when it’s late,

Sirens bleed through my windowsill,

I can’t close my eyes….

…The traffic starts and stops, but I need to move along

My first week working in the Big City: a short memoir by Molly.

We arrived in the Big Apple last Thursday and started working on Monday. Thursday through Sunday consisted mostly of not knowing where to go, how to get there, and exploring all the wrong places. We currently live in Whitestone, Queens, NY so it’s not the glamorous city life that everyone imagines. In Whitestone, Green 5 and 10 other teams reside in an extended stay hotel where we sleep 4 to a bedroom. It’s tight, cramped, hot, and everything uncomfortable you can imagine, but it’s not that bad because I live with three of my closest TL friends (sorry, Kimmy G- you are missed). My team is enjoying their time, but we are definitely finding it difficult to find time to hang out as a whole. I have one room of my four boys and one room with my three girls on opposite ends of the hall from each other, so gathering and bonding has become minimal. We ride to and from work together and they spend time together at the JFO, but it is a different environment than I was expecting. At least it’s not living in a yurt with one outlet like one of our teams is doing.

So the weekend ended and reality settled in as 14 of us drove in a van down narrow city highways onto crowded city streets around busy city blocks and finally parked in a small city parking garage. We walked into the JFO having pretty much no idea what to expect and I assume that most of us walked out of the JFO 4 hours later still not knowing. It was a good introduction to how things run around here, I think. Tuesday wasn’t much better for me or my team. The system in the Public Assistance office wasn’t working properly and my team sat at a few tables doing busy work for their NCCC jobs while I worked on spreadsheets, emails, paperwork, and my Brickbreaker skills. Finally, Wednesday came and the PA department introduced Green 5 to the Transportation unit. My team has now been working directly with FEMA employees to inspect roads, buildings, schools, and any DOT entity that was affected by Super Storm Sandy. They will be going off-site many times a week to inspect the damage and write up reports of how much damage was done and if the applicant is eligible or not. Most of their work will be done inside the JFO, but there are many times where they will be able to drive somewhere throughout the day. As for me, the PA deputy chief has asked that TLs act as a liaison between the FEMA employees and my CMs to ensure that all needs and deadlines are being met. I can also be assigned special tasks at any point, however, that part is not mandatory for me as I have other work that is sometimes more pertinent, which is exactly what happened on Wednesday and Thursday.

Every Thursday the FEMACorps TLs have what is called a “Brown Bag” where we get the day off from our FEMA work to do any paperwork we have for our roles as traditional TLs. We also get the privilege to work with a new department in FEMA called the FCIT (“F-sit”) team which stands for FEMACorps Integration Team. They are the people we will communicate through to any higher-ups in FEMA and they talk to us when they need help with AmeriCorps NCCC issues. It’s all very confusing, I’m sure, but all you need to know is that the TLs have plenty of support, help, and time to do our work. During this week’s Brown Bag, a FEMA Reservist named Sheryl- someone who works for FEMA 10 months out of their year and reports to any and all disasters at a moment’s notice. She told us about how she began her career at FEMA, how she moved up to being a Reservist, and how we can use our experience here to gain a better career after AmeriCorps. Sheryl told us that she lived in Florida in 2004 when the four hurricanes hit the state causing much damage and destruction all over. Even though she lived in Orlando, in the middle of the state, she was greatly affected because the four storms came within three weeks and weakened the infrastructure and environment. Sheryl had lost everything and was having a difficult time recovery, so she looked to the Disaster Unemployment Assistance for help and found that she could actually start as a Local Hire for FEMA. A local hire is exactly what it sounds like- someone who works for FEMA because they live near the affected area. After proving herself as a sound employee and applying for a position as a Reservist, Sheryl was called back by Region IV across the country from Florida; however, as soon as they found out she was already stationed and living in Florida, they accommodated her and kept her in Florida.

Talking with Sheryl, we were all motivated to keep going strong and work our hardest to make solid connections here at the JFO. (This didn’t happen right away though because it’s currently an hour after she spoke to us and I’m blogging instead of working with the PA department- Hey! I had a rough day yesterday, I deserve this down time!) Anyway, she proved to us that this year of service will be worth it because even though many things haven’t gone our way and we have been moved, disappointed, confused, and overall “too flexible” we could end up with a job at FEMA where we could spend the rest of our days stressed out, over worked, and still “too flexible” but nonetheless helping others in need.

The rest of our days here at the JFO are spent working hard on assignments and projects and worksheets and meeting new people in all different departments. It’s a really interesting place to work even though 90% of the building is cubicles and offices. Everyone is always so friendly and they are genuinely excited about FEMACorps being here and helping out. After we leave work (we work from 8-4:30) we go back to the hotel, do PT, cook dinner, and then hang out or do more work before we go to bed. Luckily, we get the weekends off, so we plan on spending our time exploring the city and what it has to offer. We also get to do some hands-on service projects like mucking and gutting homes!

P.S: LOOK AT THIS MAP I MADE OF ALL THE STOPS WE TOOK ON OUR VENTURE ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!!!!!