AmeriCorps Cohort Supports Disaster Recovery

Guest blog written by AmeriCorps member Fran Zyla.

This March, Twin Cities Habitat’s AmeriCorps cohort traveled to Asheville, NC, for their spring service trip. Every year, a new cohort travels to a location of their choosing for a week of team building and volunteering. This year’s cohort expressed a strong, unanimous desire to visit Asheville, NC. When trip-planning began in November of last year, still-fresh damage to the area from Hurricane Helene inspired the group to choose this location to participate in ongoing disaster recovery.

Several months later, there was still plenty of work for this year’s AmeriCorps. Most of their time was spent volunteering for Asheville’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate. This affiliate has a specific disaster recovery program, along with a home-repair program that was established prior to Hurricane Helene. The work of these projects was a welcome change of pace from the new build sites these members usually work on, allowing them to learn new skills.

In addition, the cohort spent one day volunteering with Riverlink, a local non-profit focused on restoring parks and water-shed areas. The day was filled with weeding and picking up litter in a park along the French Broad, one of the main sources of flooding from Helene. Western North Carolina is further into spring than Minnesota, and the group enjoyed spending time in the sunshine out in nature.

AmeriCorps members cleaned up Karen Cragolin Park in Asheville, NC.

The group was certainly charmed by their visit. While working on Asheville Habitat’s home repair projects, the team had the opportunity to meet homeowners from the area and learn about the local culture. For many, this was their first time visiting the Appalachian region. Many shared the sentiment that this cultural exchange, and the chance to be welcomed into these homes, was a far greater gift than the work they were doing in return. When asked if he would return to Asheville, AmeriCorps member Brad Slaker says, “I would definitely. I can see me and my wife coming back even just for a vacation.”

Aside from meaningful volunteering, another focus of this trip is to provide dedicated time for the cohort to form lasting connections with one another. While accompanied by their program manager Lauren Budge and staff member Theo Childs, it is the AmeriCorps members’ responsibility as a group to plan and make meals and structure their free time. They used some of this time to further explore the local culture and landscape by hiking around the nearby Smoky Mountains, visiting art galleries, and listening to local bluegrass bands.

Trips like this are one of the benefits of Twin Cities Habitat’s AmeriCorps program. This unique opportunity lets members travel, learn new skills, and form friendships with other AmeriCorps members. When returning home, many members shared hugs and long goodbyes. AmeriCorps member Sydney Peterson remarked, “I’ve grown in love and respect for each one of you guys.”