The Teens Behind The Scenes: - Americorps Work to Restore The Community
The Teens Behind The Scenes:
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After Hurricane Helene, Toombs County and surrounding areas were left with mass destruction; yet, months after the storm, the County is continuing to return to normalcy thanks to the help of several organizations, such as Americorps, who sent a team of 8 teenagers ready to serve the community.
Americorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) Volunteer Desmond Loo shared his experience with the program. “Americorps is a U.S. Government program. We essentially take kids from around the country and send them around the country. This is a year long service thing. So, I started in July, we trained all together as a team – all 8 of us – in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Then, we’ve been sent all over the country,” he explained.
The National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), or Ameri-Corps NCCC, is a program founded in 1993 that engages young adults, aged 18 to 26, in teambased, residential community service projects across the nation. Each year, approximately 2,200 individuals representing all colors, creeds, states, and economic statuses serve in one of four regions covering all 50 states and 5 additional territories.
In order to serve, all NCCC members must be citizens or lawful, permanent residents of the United States age 18 – 26. In order to graduate from the program, all members must complete 1,700 hours of community service over a ten-month period. NCCC members may choose to resign from the program at any time. While serving, members receive room and board, uniforms, limited health benefits, and a modest, taxable stipend for other living expenses. Members are required to refrain from using federally illegal drugs, such as marijuana, and are subject to random drug tests.
Those who successfully complete the program are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which can be used to pay tuition costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. The award amount is considered taxable income and is equal to the maximum value of the Pell Grant ($7,395 as of Fiscal Year 2023). Individuals can only receive Education Awards for two terms of AmeriCorps service.
Loo said that his team has traveled throughout the Southeastern U.S. to help however possible in places such as a food bank in Birmingham, Alabama, the University of Alabama museums, Habitat for Humanity in Florida, and now, with Hurricane Helene relief in Toombs County.
“I like it because you are able to go out to the community and kind of see what’s there and do all sorts of different things,” he added.
Loo shared that during local hurricane cleanup efforts, Americorps volunteers had worked to organize efforts towards needed areas. He said that the group had a hotline that many citizens called with needs, which they directed to be filled; the group also managed the spreadsheet of individuals who applied for help through the Toombs Strong website.
“We did a lot of grunt work – calling these people and asking if they still needed help. We would send people out to take pictures of the property to see how much work could be done,” he continued. “Team Rubicon came in 3 weeks after us and had more people and tools, so they did a lot of the hands-on work, but we made sure they had a list and knew where to go.”
In addition to working on Hurricane Helene relief efforts, the team also completed several community service projects within the County, as they volunteered at the Lyons Animal Shelter, Vidalia Recreation Department, and Salvation Army.
“We have a main project that we work on, but we are also required to do side community service projects wherever we go. It can be done as a group or independently – for example, when I went home to New York for Christmas, I worked at food pantries and cleaned up parks,” Loo remarked.
When asked how he felt about the opportunity to serve, Loo emphasized, “It has been everything that I wanted it to be. It was sort of this whimsical young man kind of thing – you know, like backpacking around Europe – but instead, I’m out here touring the country. I spent my whole life in New York, and now, I’m out here. I never imagined myself out here but that’s why I joined; I’m in a new community every few months. I’m there, getting to know them, and getting to help them out. It’s great seeing how everyone is living.”
The team is currently preparing to leave Toombs County to move on to their next area, which they said has not yet been disclosed. The team will complete their year of service in May, after which, many members will move on to college.
