Long-term effort in Gowanda taking shape
By TIM LATSHAW, OBSERVER Assistant News Editor
September 20, 2009
GOWANDA – In the wake of the August floods, a plethora of volunteers and organizations converged within the area to help in whatever ways they could. Now, as these organizations pull out, it is left to local efforts to continue organizing a long-term plan.
There may be more than enough volunteer manpower coming to perform significant work in a disaster-stricken, area, but identifying that work and getting the right people and equipment there is not a spontaneous feat. BonaResponds, a volunteer group based in St. Bonaventure University, was one of the first to reach Gowanda following the floods and saw the potential for a devoted organizational entity. They contacted one of the larger organizations after which they had modeled their own efforts: Hands On Disaster Response (HODR) out of Massachusetts.
“Initial reports pointed toward about 400 homes being affected and that got my attention because that’s kind of our threshold for going in and physically assessing,” said Bill Driscoll, Jr., operations director for HODR. “So I arrived in Gowanda that following Tuesday and met up with … Bona Responds and we toured the area, talked to residents and local officials about what had happened and the efforts that were under way.”
Initially, Driscoll said, the consensus from people he spoke with was that things should quickly return to normal. The organization waited, remaining in contact with BonaResponds for updates on the situation, and later came in when it started to become evident that recovery would take longer than expected.
“It became pretty clear that there was a need for some help coordinating everyone – all the groups that were active in the non-profit and volunteer world – and just trying to harness all the different efforts that were happening in such a way to be a little more effective and a little more efficient,” Driscoll said.
HODR officially established itself in Gowanda on Aug. 20, setting up the Tri-County Recovery Coordination Center outside the Gowanda Fire Hall. Cattaraugus County appointed the agency to provide coordinative services, which it did by holding organizational meetings with other agencies, representatives, non-profits and volunteer organizations involved; collecting and assessing needs of residents within the disaster area and taking inventory of the resources and equipment available.
“It worked very well,” Driscoll said. “We were able to connect different physical resources and volunteer labor with groups that needed a little extra help and just work through some of the cases that were out there in terms of homeowners that needed assistance.
According to HODR, more than 300 volunteers were coordinated over two weeks, in addition to daily arrivals of Department of Corrections inmates. More than 10,000 hours of service and assistance to more than 60 families was provided.
But it’s not over.
While HODR and other organizations have pulled out of the Gowanda area, needs remain and so do volunteers who are willing to help. This is where a long-term recovery committee, made of local and county-based organizations and officials, is poised to take over leadership of these duties and keep operating in an efficient, all-encompassing manner.
The Gowanda affiliate of Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC), an organization of area churches with a humanitarian mission, found itself spearheading much of the local supply and coordination efforts in the initial aftermath of the floods. The organization is now part of the long-term recovery committee and continues to provide services and items, including meals out of the Gowanda Moose Lodge and a weekly community picnic.
“The inmates are still here working and there are still volunteers in town,” said Fred Johnson, coordinator at Love INC. “During the week we see probably around 40 at each meal and then on the weekend it goes up to usually around 60. But the Friday night is totally different; that’s for the whole village. We’ve been averaging 400-500 people or so on a Friday night.”
Still, as transitions are made, changes must come as well. The Gowanda Moose Lodge banquet hall could no longer be used to store clothing and supplies, causing a move to the former P&L Sports Center at 10 Jamestown St. Additional food is now stored at The Master’s Plan Cafe in Dayton.
Outside help for the long-term recovery committee will also continue to arrive, and in some cases is already here. Within the transition, HODR has left the committee with a database of tasks and needs, amassed and fully documented through the Tri-County Recovery Coordination Center, that also provides a means of tracking volunteers. Love INC is also expecting assistance from outside faith-based groups as the backlog of needs is looked into.
“There are national faith-based organizations that will be sending us some help. … So basically I’m just trying to hold the fort down now,” Johnson said. “They have people that will be coming in. Our plan is to go door-to-door sown through Gowanda to make sure nobody got missed because we know there are some elderly – for health reasons or whatever – they haven’t been in their basements yet, so we want to make sure those people are taken care of. That’s our next process.”
As the shape of the long-term recovery committee finalizes, the roles of its members may change. But many local agencies are determined to do whatever they can to continue helping – even if they never i initially imagined needs on such a large scale.
“For now, Love INC will be a vital role in it, but it’s up to the committee, then, what role we will play in the future; if we’re going to keep continuing what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “This committee is made up of everyone from the community and the county. Our goal, basically, is the transition. If they want us to stay on doing what we’re doing, we’re ready to do that, too.”
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