AmeriCorps Pledge

On November 15, 2010 twenty-three California Safe Corps (CSC) members took the AmeriCorps pledge.

I will get things done for America to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier. I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond. I am an AmeriCorps member . . .
and I will get things done.

CaliforniaVolunteers AmeriCorps Conference

Brian McConnell and Erica Helson attended the 2010 California AmeriCorps Conference on December 6-9th in Sacramento. Brian and Erica participated in workshops that offered new strategies for communicating program impacts and new approaches to AmeriCorps member development. Brian and Erica also served as panelist for the Disability Inclusion Panel session. While in Sacramento Brian and Erica also found time to talk to the big man about the program (see photo). Other highlighted sessions from the conference included:

Disaster Divas
Brenda Emrick, Preparedness for All
The Disaster Divas training session is designed to provide participants with current disaster preparedness information, best practices for sharing preparedness messages, and resources for their personal and professional use.

Inclusion Project Panel
AmeriCorps Program Directors, Nadith Schuster, Disability Partner Organization, and Karen Leventhal, Tarjan Center
Hear from six panelists, AmeriCorps program managers and members, who have successfully included people with disabilities, as members, volunteers and community capacity builders. Learn creative strategies that allow everyone to participate in your program. Oftentimes programs think about disability inclusion too narrowly, and then it feels daunting. In reality, there are plenty of ways to include new populations in your program.

Implementing Performance Measurement: Data Collection and Data Analysis
Francis Yuen, Project STAR
In the context of the 5 step performance measurement implementation process, this training will focus in the data collection and data analysis steps, essential for strong reporting and program improvement. Participants will have an opportunity to review key considerations and strategies in collecting and analyzing data and will practice the steps involved in analyzing data.

Ways to Tell Your Story
Bernadette Dawson, CaliforniaVolunteers
Join a field discussion on making reporting both informative and useful. The discussion will include successes and challenges of conveying impacts, sharing ways reports have been useful, identifying common reporting issues, and suggestions on how CV can provide useful feedback on impact.

San Diego CSC Members are “Getting Things Done”

CSC Members Dora Arnold and Mariana Vasconcelos recently completed training in November. Since finishing training they have “got things done” by becoming active members of their chapters Disaster Action Team (DAT) and by giving Community Disaster Education presentations in English and Spanish.

As DAT members Dora and Mariana responded to an apartment fire on their own. Dora and Mariana served the residence of the apartment by making sure they had a place to stay, clothing to wear and food to eat.

Training New Volunteers in Inyo and Mono Counties

While many know that the Greater Los Angeles chapter is the second largest Red Cross chapter in the country, few know that the chapter also covers Inyo and Mono Counties, including the cities of Bishop and Mammoth Lakes. Safe Corps member Jennifer Lazo travelled to both counties for four days to provide trainings to local volunteers and attend county emergency planning meetings. Fourteen new volunteers were trained to open and run shelters in Mammoth Lakes, and five volunteers in Bishop were taught the introductory disaster course, Disaster Services: An Overview. All volunteers were enthusiastic about continuing to learn from the Red Cross, and hope to work on updating shelter and vendor agreements in the area. Along with Agreements Specialist Alex Rose, Jennifer also attended the Unified Command meetings of both Inyo and Mono counties, where she got to meet emergency officials from around the state and learn about the winter storm plans in place for the area. Pictured is the class of new shelter workers in Mammoth Lakes in front of the (donated) Red Cross hummer.

2010-11 Californa Safe Corp Program starts November 8, 2010

The 2010-11 California Safe Corps (CSC) program year starts Monday November 8. The 2010-11 CSC team is comprised of 20 new members, 3 returning members from the 2009-10 CSC program year, and 1 returning member from the 2008-2009 program year. These 24 members will serve at 7 Red Cross Chapter throughout the state of California

These 24 members have committed themselves to a very challenging and intense full-time AmeriCorps program for the next 10.5 months. Starting November 8, 2010 these 24 CSC members will engage in an intense 3 week long training where they will be empowered to serve their chapters’ local community and the state of California.

American Red Cross of Humboldt County
Martins, Wayne
Anderson, Philip

American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles
Cruz, Hildemar
Matz, Felicia
Kim, Kimberly
Allen, Charles
Vidaurrazaga, John
Brudzynski, Rebecca
Gamboa, Angelica

American Red Cross of Orange County
Murphy, Grady
Phan, Monique
Feliciano, Shelby

American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial County
Arnold, Dora
Vasconcelos, Mariana

American Red Cross of San Gabriel Pomona Valley
Lazo, Jennifer
Youngquist, Lindsay
Montgomery, Catherine

American Red Cross of Santa Monica
Kim, Jun
Quintana, Jonathan
Adams, Elizabeth

American Red Cross of Silicon Valley
Ali, Amel
Kresha, Autumn
Garcia, Crisanta
Snyder, Sarah

OC Incident 29: From Novice CDO's Perspective

After a quiet holiday break, the first disaster call of 2010 came in at 8:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. I am one of the chapter‘s AmeriCorps members and was on my first rotation as the acting chapter duty officer (CDO).
Over a static-choked connection, I scribbled out the details from Louisville onto an empty shelf in Wal-Mart‘s home wares aisle.

As the call center relayed particulars, a picture of crowds in pajamas and buildings ablaze began to emerge on the paper a description of an apartment fire, possible involving eight to ten units, with unknown family sizes.

An omen of the confusion to follow; Louisville gave the contact number for the incident as multiple police officers and departments. The openendedness of the details left room for speculation that things were changing faster than the flow of information could accommodate.

Remembering the words of advice from the professionals on staff at the chapter, I tried to remain calm and patient as I left the checkout line to my girlfriend and headed to the car where my re-source handbook and blank notepad were waiting.

Before I could locate a field supervisor, there were five different reports from the scene. With each call – from the on-scene police officers, to the fire battalion chief, to the three separate calls from the after-hours center – the situation seemed to grow by leaps and bounds. Within 25 minutes the incident rose from eight apartments to 20 – wait, no! 40; yes, 47 apartments, with unknown occupancy numbers or family sizes.

As a master‘s student and a high-seas sailor, I am no stranger to the need to remain calm in rapidly deteriorating and uncertain circumstances, yet I couldn‘t help but ponder how I had once again managed to put myself into such a predicament.

With no way home but into the distant unknown, I began recalling the words of advice and gems of information that I‘d been trying to collect over the past five months.

Now the moment was upon me, and the advice that had been echoed by Michael and Ray and Bill and Stanley over the past few weeks quickly sank in; ―Remember; everyone wants to be called. That‘s why they‘re on the list. So it was with resolve and focus that I began the process of locating a response team and equipping them with the information to help those in need.

The position of ―Field Supervisor was accepted by Austin Miller, a seasoned Red Cross volunteer, who would serve as the eyes and ears at the scene for the remainder of the event.

Photographer for photo Daniel Cima/American Red Cross

SM CSC Members Delivers Kits to MOW Clients

Angela McAtee a CSC members at the Santa Monica Chapter worked with Meals on Wheels West (MOW) in Santa Monica to provide disaster supplies kits along with a disaster preparedness presentation to over 250 home bound MOW clients (people that are home bound due to age or a disability). SM AmeriCorps members also gave disaster preparedness presentations to MOW volunteers; the volunteers took this information and used it to make the MOW clients' homes more prepared for a disaster.