Current mood:

thankful

Give 'em shelter...
After having become a "Certified Citizen Volunteer" for the city after Katrina, I figured I should help out with the Ike shelters even though I'd just gotten back from an overseas work trip. So on Saturday I went through the Red Cross volunteer signup. I got a 6pm-6am shift at the Canyon Vista shelter that night. [Hi honey, I'm home -- see you tomorrow!]

With so much happening, of course things weren't running as smoothly as possible. The constructive criticism I'll give back to the Red Cross is:
- Please coordinate better with the city (or to the City of Austin: please coordinate better with the Red Cross). All of the signup and the criminal background checks I'd done for the city had to be re-done with the Red Cross's systems.
- Please give more information to the folks signing up. The handouts were good, except you took one back from us as part of the signup process. The web site listed shorter shifts, but when we got through the training and started signing up for shifts you were asking for 12 hours straight.
- Please re-think the whole "won't accept donations at the shelter" thing. I can understand not coming within a mile of cash and check donations. But what's up with asking shelters to turn away blankets, pillows, etc.? I'd rather have more people on busses than bedding. And it's not easy for folks dropped off at a shelter away from public transportation to fend for themselves. I can understand wanting to encourage self-sufficiency. But if it means that an 80-year old woman is sleeping in a chair since she doesn't have bedding, something's not quite right.
- Please re-think the whole "code of conduct". First of all, I never had to sign one of the sheets in the packet. Secondly, what was listed in the slides was much better than the written material. The focus should be on helping the evacuees. The printout form only covered Red Cross covering it's ass.
- When asking for volunteers, please ask up-front for bi-lingual volunteers and those that can cover weekday shifts.
- Please review the contract with the folks doing your criminal background checks. The only woman I saw that read all of the fine print left because of it.

On the good side, things were much better run than during Katrina. I missed the initial chaos at my shelter as people were admitted and things settled down. By the time Saturday night came around things were running smoothly. The bedding issues had been addressed thanks to the neighborhood's charity. The evacuees had (mostly) figured out how to get around the area (at least those with cars). The kids had things to play with, so folks crashed quickly after lights out. The shelters were not jam packed -- only a few chose to sleep out in their cars instead of inside. The police officers were friendly and helpful. The pets were on-site. The school's maintenance staff and food staff stepped up to keep the place clean and to serve food and water. The principal was on-site the whole time (crashed out on a cot overnight). Evacuees were helping each other run errands and were helping us with translations, announcements, etc.

I'm sorry that folks had to evacuate. The ones at Canyon Vista came from some of the worst-hit areas: Bay City and Beaumont. But I'm glad that Austin has the heart to step when needed.

I'm glad I got a chance to meet some of the evacuees. I'm glad I had a chance to talk with APD and Austin Energy employees as we stayed awake through the night. And I'm glad to have met the shift supervisor. While I probably disagree with her politics, it's good to be reminded that neither political party has a lock on smart, down-to-earth people.