July 21, 2008, northwest Cedar Rapids.
It was the first day of mucking for about two dozen new AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members in Cedar Rapids, plus a few more VISTAs who have a little more time on the job. Trained in the morning by members of American Baptist Men Disaster Relief, the crews got to work on three houses in northwest Cedar Rapids soon after lunch.
One crew ripped off a back porch, tore out carpet then mucked out a basement. In that crew: Ryan Neff, 19, of New Jersey; Elie Lowenfeld, 21, of New York City; Cassandra Smith, 22, of Washington State; Tye Schulke, 22, of Minnesota; Christina Roth, 19, of Cedar Rapids; and Jasmin Bongiorno, 21, of Illinois.
Tye just graduated from Vassar College in New York, with a film degree. He’s very interested in learning how nonprofits work in conjunction with the government, he said.
Another recent college grad, Jasmin just earned a degree from University of Illinois at Springfield. “It was kind of inspiring to hear about people coming here. I wanted to be one of those people,” she said.
When they completed their work, the crew joined another a few blocks away.
At that site, another crew as already hard at work: Natalie Masci, 18, of Bedford, New Hampshire; Jay Warren, 21, of Des Moines; Evan Spells, 19, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; Shannon Conrad; John Schneider, 22, of Cedar Rapids; Joe Lasko, 20, of Lakeville, Minn.; and Ryan O’Donnell, 25, of Pittsburgh.
Natalie got dirtier than she expected, but she doesn’t mind. “I’m taking a year off before I go to college. I thought I would be a god addition to the Iowa flood recovery team: I’m hardworking and I don’t mind getting dirty,” Natalie said. She hopes this AmeriCorps VISTA experience leads to more placements with the organization.
Working in the basement of a moldy, muddy home made Evan sweat – a lot. He wasn’t prepared for the homes to be in such bad shape.
“I didn’t expect the smells through the masks,” Evan said, referring to the respirator he wore. “So far I’m loving it. This is a great group of people.” Evan learned some basic rules about mucking, including the four categories of debris: hazardous, wood, metal and appliances.
Ryan O’Donnell learned another important rule: “Take a long shower when you’re done.” He said basements are disgusting.
Other VISTAs agree.
“I was slippin’ and slidin’ in the basement in two inches of sludge,” said Christina.
About three blocks away a third group of muckers lounged on the lawn, taking a quick break from the heat: Diego Sepulveda, 26, of Lawrenceville, Ill.; Kaleigh Hire, 20, of Ohio; Joseph Bonfoey, 28, of Wisconson; Jenna Trachta, 19, of Cedar Rapids; Rob Hubbard of California; and Curtis DeVetter, 22, of La Crescent, Minn.
They are joined by Lloyd Bradsher of Texas, who signed on to volunteer with American Baptist Men. “This is my first day with the Baptist Men. I volunteered to do a week with them,” Lloyd said. Stacy Edwards wears the type of knee-high rubber boots that have become the style for the flood recovery fashionistas. She lives in Iowa City, but decided to volunteer instead in her hometown of Cedar Rapids. “I wasn’t really enjoying my job and wanted something else to do,” Edwards said. She was driving through downtown Cedar Rapids when she decided to become an AmeriCorps VISTA.
American Baptist Men supervise and train
Royce Jones, a retired minister from Des Moines, and member of American Baptist Men, supervised the three VISTA crews at the start of his third week of flood recovery in Cedar Rapids.
“I’ve been around for 10 years doing this, so I’m not surprised (by the damage),” Royce said. “This is the 10th flood I’ve done in Iowa and Minnesota.”
He has also cleaned apartments a block from World Trade Center for nine weeks after 9/11 and spent six weeks cleaning up after Katrina.
