Posts Tagged ‘Nashville Tennessee’

Don’t Think You Are Done Volunteering Just Yet: Nashville Flood 2010

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

by Jamie S. Dent, AmeriCorps Program Manager at Volunteer Tennessee

On the morning of Sunday, August 8, 2010, I arrived in North Nashville to spend a few hours helping a resident still struggling to recover from the May 2010 floods.

This volunteer opportunity still had four open spots after I had signed up and I was a bit surprised that others hadn’t jumped on the opportunity to help people that were directly affected by the flooding.

At the project start time, it was already 85 degrees and the sun was reigning high in the sky.

I met the wonderful project leader, Ashley there promptly at 9 AM.

We surveyed the property and identified that the resident’s backyard contained a multitude of items that had been removed from the home sometime after the waters ravaged the property.

We quietly began to work together to move the items from the exposed ranch to the curb at street level. Shelves of books, end tables, couches, pictures, appliances and keepsakes were all piled up.

The water did not discriminate.  It simply took out everything it touched.

Because of the extreme heat, we took several long breaks in the shade.

Moving heavy flood soaked items in the humid morning sun was sure taxing on our bodies.

We had that feeling in our stomach that churns when you are pushing through a hot  and humid day.

Ashley was wonderful and brought plenty of water and snacks.

The resident was home and continuously expressed her sincere appreciation for the help.

We just said “no problem” and smiled as best we could in the heat, while she watched many keepsakes get hauled away.

After just under two hours of constant labor and a few needed breaks, we were able to move everything out of the resident’s back yard.

The resident had called 211 to ask for help. Then, Volunteer Tennessee, who managed the coordination of requests from homeowners and those seeking assistance, sent the volunteer need to HandsOn Nashville.

HandsOn Nashville provided project leadership and volunteers.

Without the collaboration of these agencies, many would be without access to those who want to help.

Some tend to think that because the Nashville flooding happened 90 days ago that the needs have all been met.

That thinking couldn’t be farther from reality.

I hope this article inspires the selfless part of you to consider taking a few hours out of your week or month to sign up for a volunteer opportunity.

You don’t have to put on gloves and a mask and haul out items that were affected by the flood; there are hundreds of opportunities to serve others at HandsOn Nashville’s Project Calendar.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Get HandsOn, Mobilize, Service, Stories from the Road, Volunteer Reflection, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Restoration

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

by Sheila Weinberger Cope, Social Media Volunteer, Hands On Nashville

For me, what is most memorable about the May 1st flood in Nashville is the text message I received from HandsOn Nashville on the night of May 2nd.

The message let me know that HandsOn Nashville was officially in emergency management mode. We all needed to act and act fast.

When that message arrived, I was on a gurney in an emergency room with what turned out to be one nasty case of pneumonia.

My situation didn’t matter.  I tweeted and I posted about the disaster right then and there all the while with nurses doing their thing to ensure that I could breathe again.

With those tweets and posts, I put out the call for volunteers, tried to soothe frayed nerves and give hope to those who had none.

Even as sick as I was, my adrenalin kicked in and I became determined to do any and everything I could to help the city and organization that I love absolutely.

Before volunteering to do social media work for Hands On Nashville, I was, in a way, lost.

Early in my career, I was a publicist, a journalist and a photographer in New York City.

I went on to practice law and led intellectual property litigation if Silicon Valley.

Most recently, I opened and ran a yarn store that was, incidentally, very successful.

I sold the yarn store in the summer 2007

It was right after selling the shop that when my life changed completely.

In January of 2008, I was diagnosed with MS.

In response to the news, I floundered, grieved and struggled with what having MS would do to the rest of my life.

Always having been an active, go-getting, afraid of nothing, overachiever, I suddenly felt like MS took all of that away from me.

Last winter, when I saw that Hands On Nashville was looking for a social networker, I jumped at the chance.

Here was something I could do from home (my feet are totally numb so I’m not allowed to drive anymore) and something I hoped would finally give my life a purpose again.

I responded to HON’s search for (and I am quoting!) “a social networking guru” willing to devote four hours a week to posting and tweeting on their behalf.

After I signed up, I went home and then worried whether I could really do it and do it well.

Trust me when I say that in my wildest dreams, I could never have conceived of what this “little” project would become.

If I had, it probably would have scared me to death and sent me running to bury my head in the sand. But luckily, managing Hands On Nashville’s social media efforts has turned out to be my favorite volunteer project that I have ever participated in.

(And being over 40, that’s really saying something!)

I. LOVE. WHAT. I. DO.

I love it because I get to work so closely with nine of my heroes.

Those nine heroes are the people that run Hands On Nashville.

Of those nine, only four are actually full time employees.

It boggles my mind and leaves me awestruck at the end of every day.

If anyone is worthy of being a hero, it’s those nine good people.

Another reason I love what I do is because from where I sit, I get to see the big picture and the small ones too.

Whatever cynicism I had on May 1st, when the Nashville flooding started, is all gone now.

Watching, reading and hearing so many stories from so many amazing, kind, generous, unselfish, enthusiastic and devoted people has been an incredible experience.

The wonderful people of Nashville give me overwhelming hope.

They restore my faith in humanity.

They make me more proud than ever to be Nashville born and bred.

I am truly blessed beyond measure.

No words could sufficiently express my gratitude to Hands On Nashville, to volunteers from everywhere and to the 25,255 online fans and followers.

My focus now is to keep the disaster response momentum going even though life seems to be getting back to normal and enthusiasm understandably starts to wane.

It’s a challenge but I think I’m going the right direction.

I believe I‘ve landed where I was meant to be, doing what I was meant to do.

This project has restored me.

I’m finally ready to go back to living my life without letting my MS limit me.

My friends keep telling me how wonderful it is to have “me” back.

Sheila Weinberger Cope will be recognized at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service as today’s Daily Point of Light Award winner. Neil Bush, Chairman of the Points of Light Institute Board of Directors will present her award at a HandsOn Network Affiliate luncheon.  Her award will be accepted on her behalf by Brian Williams, Executive Director of Hands On Nashville.

In the 58 days since the disaster, Hands On Nashville has recruited 16,422 volunteers to serve in 925 project sites and contributed 67,857 volunteer hours to flood relief and recovery efforts.  Their extraordinary social media campaign, led by Sheila, has helped galvanize 25,000 plus on-line fans.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Inspire, Service, Stories from the Road, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Reflection, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

A Note of Thanks

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

from Hands On Nashville’s Executive Director, Brian N. Williams

The devastation is overwhelming. The need is overwhelming. The outpouring of volunteers has been equally overwhelming.

The Flood of 2010 and its images of buildings floating down interstates, children being rescued by boats, and the elderly being carried by strangers to safety will stick with us for a lifetime. What will also stay with us is the spirit of volunteerism that has taken over a city taken over by water.

We have images of Middle Tennesseans helping their neighbors haul personal belongings to curbside trash heaps, and cleaning up, piece by piece, as we move toward the next step of recovery – rebuilding and restoring.

On May 2, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean announced that those wanting to help with flood relief efforts in Middle Tennessee should go through Hands On Nashville (HON).  The community responded to Mayor Deal’s call to action. Between May 2 and May 21, over 14,000 people in our community have donated over 60,000 hours to flood recovery at nearly 800 sites through Hands On Nashville alone.  Keep in mind these numbers do not include the hundreds of volunteer referrals made each day by Hands On Nashville staff. Nor does it represent the countless hours put in by volunteers through other organizations or grassroots efforts started by community members.

Again, the volunteer effort is overwhelming. And it needs to be.

To the nearly 16,000 people who have registered in the Hands On Nashville database, thank you. To those who have found an opportunity and have helped this great city of ours, ‘thank you’ does not adequately do justice to the gratitude owed you.  To those of you still wanting to help, there are many opportunities as we move into the rebuilding process.   We must continue to help our neighbors – whether they are down the street, across town, or in another town.

Nashville, continue to “Be the Change. Volunteer.”

~ Brian N. Williams
Executive Director
Hands On Nashville

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Environment, Impact, Inspire, Mobilize, News & Links, Service, Stories from the Road, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Management, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 7 Comments »

An Open Love Letter to Hands On Nashville

Friday, May 14th, 2010

All of us at HandsOn Network stand  in awe of the citizens of Nashville, their spirit of community, the incredible leadership demonstrated by Hands On Nashville and the example they set for us all.

Photo by Nathan Johnson, Hands On Nashville Volunteer

Seemingly forgotten or somehow overlooked by the mainstream media, Nashville residents pulled together because service and volunteerism is at the very heart of the city’s soul.

As soon as the flood hit, Hands On Nashville sprung to action.

Between May 2, 2010 and yesterday, Hands On Nashville organized 11,862 Nashville volunteers to respond to those in need of flood relief.

Already, Hands On Nashville volunteers have contributed  50,210 volunteer hours at 612 Nashville locations.

That has all happened in the last eleven days.

Eleven. Days.

According to Independent Sector research, the time these volunteers have contributed has an associated economic value of $1,046,879.

Hands On Nashville is coordinating 49 flood relief projects today, right now.

Won’t you join us in giving them a virtual standing ovation?

Photo by Nathan Johnson, Hands On Nashville Volunteer

This is an open love letter, a nation-wide letter of thanks and praise for Hands On Nashville.

We want to share this post with the tireless staff and the thousands of Nashville volunteers as a sign of deep respect and admiration.

Please help us celebrate the way they’ve made such a significant difference in Nashville by leaving your thanks and praise as a comment at the end of this post.

Since Hands On Nashville was founded in 1991, their volunteers have worked year-round, 365 days a year, to make Nashville a better place.

Please visit www.hon.org for more information about Hands On Nashville, to sign up for volunteer opportunities and e-mail updates, to see a list of flood volunteer needs, or to donate to HON to support flood-related volunteerism.

“Like” Hands On Nashville on .  Follow them on . Follow the flood relief conversation on Twitter by searching #WeAreNashville; #NashvilleFlood; and #NashvilleFloods

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Get HandsOn, Impact, Inspire, Mobilize, News & Links, Service, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 40 Comments »

Nashville

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

In response to the recent flood in Nashville, Tennessee, Patten Fuqua of Section 303 wrote a powerful post that must be shared. It is cross posted here with the author’s permission. You can see the original article here.

If you live outside of Nashville, you may not be aware, but our city was hit by a 500-year flood over the last few days. The national news coverage gave us 15 minutes, but went back to focusing on a failed car bomb and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While both are clearly important stories, was that any reason to ignore our story? It may not be as terror-sexy as a failed car bomb or as eco-sexy as an oil spill, but that’s no reason to be ignored.

The Cumberland River crested at its highest level in over 80 years. Nashville had its highest rainfall totals since records began. People drowned. Billions of dollars in damage occurred. It is the single largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War. And yet…no one knows about it.

Does it really matter? Eventually, it will…as I mentioned, there are billions of dollars in damage. It seems bizarre that no one seems to be aware that we just experienced what is quite possibly the costliest non-hurricane disaster in American history. The funds to rebuild will have to come from somewhere, which is why people need to know. It’s hard to believe that we will receive much relief if there isn’t a perception that we need it.

But let’s look at the other side of the coin for a moment. A large part of the reason that we are being ignored is because of who we are. Think about that for just a second. Did you hear about looting? Did you hear about crime sprees? No…you didn’t. You heard about people pulling their neighbors off of rooftops. You saw a group of people trying to move two horses to higher ground. No…we didn’t loot. Our biggest warning was, “Don’t play in the floodwater.” When you think about it…that speaks a lot for our city. A large portion of why we were being ignored was that we weren’t doing anything to draw attention to ourselves. We were handling it on our own.

Some will be quick to find fault in the way rescue operations were handled, but the fact of the matter is that the catastrophe could not have been prevented and it is simply ignorant beyond all reason to suggest otherwise. It is a flood. It was caused by rain. You can try to find a face to stick this tragedy to, but you’ll be wrong.

Parts of Nashville that could never even conceivably be underwater were underwater. Some of them still are. Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel are, for all intents and purposes, destroyed. People died sitting in standstill traffic on the Interstate. We saw boats going down West End. And, of course, we all saw the surreal image of the portable building from Lighthouse Christian floating into traffic and being destroyed when cars were knocked into it. I’m still having trouble comprehending all of it.

And yet…life will go on. We’ll go back to work, to school, to our lives…and we’ll carry on. In a little over a month, I’ll be on this website talking about the draft. In October, we’ll be discussing the new Predators’ season with nary a thought of these past few days. But in a way, they changed everyone in this town. We now know that that it can happen to us…but also know that we can handle it.

Because we are Nashville.

To offer volunteer support to Nashville, visit HandsOn Nashville, follow them on twitter and .

Photo: Boston Globe

Tags: , Cumberland River, , , , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Get HandsOn, News & Links, Service, Stories from the Road | 3 Comments »