Wow, what a year! I really dont' even know where to begin. This last month has been beyond hectic between disaster relief, and graduation although looking back it seems like all a blur. My team was called away from Lebanon, Tennessee April 30th to help out with the devastating tornadoes that swept through the south. Working with Catholic charities in Jackson, MS for a week we began by removing debris and chainsawing down trees that fell over in peoples yards. After about a week we were transfered to Amory, MS to help out with the EF5 tornado that fatally shocked the town of Smithville, MS literally destroying every building in its path on main street. Here is a video of what that street looked like as we passed by...
It was pretty shocking to see this for the first time in person and not just in the news. As a team here for our last project in AmeriCorps we gave everything we had these past few weeks trying to help out every way we knew how. We spent 10-12 hour days 6-7 days a week while working with various disaster relief organizations including FEMA, MEMA (Mississippi Emergency Management Agency), Red Cross, Catholic Charities, and numerous local volunteers who wanted to help our their community.
The community of Amory had some amazing people involved in it, especially in the church we stayed at (St Helen's Catholic Church). Not only were we housed and lived in their parish, however they would cook us some good ol' southern cooking for dinner on a nightly basis which was just what we needed after coming home from a long day of work. There is no other way I would have rather spent the end of my AmeriCorps program than helping out these generous people whom we grew to know and love in such a short period of time.
After spending 2 weeks in Amory, River Composite headed back to campus for graduation where we graduated a few days ago on May 26th. It was a very rewarding experience and I still can't believe that it's all said and done... The graduation would not have been as memorable without the generosity of Ms. Gable and Ms. Bourgeois, thank you both so much for everything I truly hope we will cross paths in the not so distant future.
Thank you to my family who has supported me throughout the entire year, literally could not have done this without you guys, I love you all so much. And a special thanks to Phoenix of New Orleans (Pnola.org) for everything they have done not just for New Orleans but for AmeriCorps as a whole. I've worked with a lot of non-profits throughout the year and PNOLA went above and beyond to stick out as a top non-profit in my mind.
