We are assisting the Jasper County Emergency Management Agency and City of Colfax, Iowa with their flood recovery. We have undertaken a Coordinative Services project in Jasper County by proving support with intake of requests for volunteer assistance from the community, coordination of spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers as well as the facilitation of a system connecting requests to regional and national nonprofits responding in the area.
We have established a local phone number that is being used to funnel interested local volunteers and requests for assistance into one central database, the backbone of our operation.
We are working with groups such as NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) and Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief. All currently have volunteer teams ranging from 6-12 volunteers in Colfax, IA performing cleanup, tear-out and sanitation work on flood damaged homes.
The project will be ongoing for the next several weeks or until the requests and volunteer flow slow down and the operation can be transitioned to a local organization for the long term recovery.
During the spring of 2008 Cedar Rapids, IA experienced unprecedented flooding that affected over 5,000 homes, forever changing the look and feel of the town. In response, HODR setup a 4 month project to help homeowners deal with the immediate aftermath by coordinating volunteers to help clean out homes of destroyed belongings. During our project we also helped homeowners do home rebuild/refurbish work, providing the skilled labor required to hang and finish drywall as well as other skilled tasks.
Fast forward almost two years and HODR returned for a concentrated rebuild effort during the month of April, 2010. Working through local organizations Block by Block and The Community Recovery Center, HODR was able to plug into existing rebuilding efforts, which allowed us to maximize our time on the ground. During the course of our project we saw a lot of familiar faces return to lend their skills to help get families back in their homes.
“Move that Bus…”
Over the course of the 17-day project, we coordinated 39 volunteers who worked 1,209 hours and completed work on 13 homes. The estimated value of the volunteers’ donated labor is $23,321.61. Thanks to the skills of the volunteers, we were able to have a significant impact by engaging in work on a range of projects, from framing up houses to final touches like painting…truly spanning the spectrum of rebuilding activities.
Partners in Rebuild
HODR is extended its impact beyond the work we completed directly on homes by underwriting the costs of materials for work to continue on 12 additional homes. Thanks to grants from the Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation, Aegon Insurance and The Homebuilder’s Association, HODR was been able to fund the material purchases for homes that qualify as having outstanding needs through ‘Block by Block.’ HODR is excited to have been able to help support the work of a great local organization dedicated to preserving and rebuilding neighborhoods affected by the flooding, and to support these additional families in need.
Helping Hands
Of course none of this would’ve been possible without help from our home away from home—The Cedar Hills Community Church and Pat Garwood. This combination of support has been the cornerstone of our operations in Cedar Rapids from the beginning. The church always has their doors open and Pat is always ready to feed our volunteers—we thank you both for your continued support and are lucky to have you as part of the HODR family. I’d also like to thank HODR alumn, Ted Hanno who stepped into a Project Coordinator role—his skill, attitude and general good nature were a tremendous asset to the project.
Looking ahead
HODR’s primary role in disaster response has been to provide interim, spontaneous volunteer coordination, getting volunteers into affected communities to do the work that needs to be done. Our work on this project has opened the door to the possibility of extending HODR’s operational capacity to see communities through the initial response phase and to aid in longer term recovery. While no plans for additional rebuilding projects are in the works at this time, this has proven our ability to be effective in long term recovery.
Making future rebuild projects a reality depends on you—our volunteers. If you have construction experience and are interested in lending your time to become more involved, please email Tom at info@HODR.org so that we can contact you in preparation for potential rebuild projects in the future.
-Jeremey Horan
Project Director
Project Cedar Rapids Rebuild
Hands On Disaster Response
Throughout April 2010, HODR coordinated nearly 40 volunteers helping residents affected by the 2008 floods in Cedar Rapids, IA. This was HODR’s first planned rebuilding project, and we had a productive month back in Iowa working on drywall, framing, and providing families with mini-grants of rebuilding materials.
Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to lend a hand, and to our long-time friend the Cedar Hills Community Church, our home away from home.
Check back here soon for the project Final Report – Coming soon!
Update: Project Cedar Rapids Rebuild came to a close at the end of April. Click here for more info.
During the summer of 2008 HODR set up a project in response to the unprecedented flooding that affected more than 5000 homes in the greater Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. Our work focused on responding to the immediate needs of the community by providing them with teams of volunteers to help clean out flood-affected homes. Throughout the course of the project we coordinated over 2000 volunteers and worked on 400+ homes, benefiting hundreds of families. As the project progressed HODR moved into rebuild activities, helping homeowners navigate the permitting process, installing and finishing drywall, and providing mini-grants to cover shortfalls in rebuilding materials to get families one step closer to returning home.
HODR is happy to be heading back to Cedar Rapids for the month of April, where we will continue our work rebuilding/refurbishing homes affected by the flooding. Even though time has passed, the need in Cedar Rapids is still great as hundreds of families have yet to return to their homes. Working in partnership with the Cedar Rapids Community Recovery Center, Linn Area Long Term Recovery Committee and the Cedar Hills Community Church, HODR plans on renewing that “one step closer” spirit from 2008 and working on several homes in the community on their road to recovery.
Project Cedar Rapids – Rebuild is HODR’s first-ever “planned” response, as opposed to an immediate disaster response project. In addition to partnerships with local organizations, we are very grateful to have the support of the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, AEGON Insurance and the Cedar Rapids Home Builders Association, who are providing funding for the materials and project.
This project is different from traditional HODR responses, in that the work requires familiarity with and ideally prior experience in home construction. Projects will likely include carpentry, framing, drywall installation and finishing.
We are seeking skilled volunteers to help us with theses tasks, so if you’re interested please be in touch. We also have limited space for unskilled volunteers, so if you’re interested in volunteering and do not have that experience we would also like to hear from you. Please email Tom at info@HODR.org to get more information on the project.
We look forward to being back in Cedar Rapids in April and hope to see you there!
Over the course of 4 months volunteers at Project Cedar Rapids (PCR) brought strong doses of hope, energy and progress everyday to the communities of Palo and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. More than 2000 volunteers worked with HODR and directly assisted 460 households affected by the historic flooding.
400 city blocks in Cedar Rapids underwater, 415 of 423 homes in City of Palo affected Click here to view an Associated Press report from June 14, 2008 that contains aerial footage of Cedar Rapids underwater and describes the magnitude of the disaster. A HODR assessment team arrived days later to begin evaluating the damage and needs.
When the assessment team arrived the flooding had subsided and left the affected areas devastated. During our assessment the needs were obvious and we immediately decided to begin working in the city of Palo, focusing on helping to coordinate mucking and gutting crews to clean out affected homes and businesses. Water damaged building materials such as wood, insulation and drywall all need to be removed after a flood. Volunteers with energy and a desire to help came to lend a hand, offering help to residents for many of whom removing furniture, ruined belongings and the interior construction of their home was just too overwhelming.
PCR coordinated the most volunteers of any HODR project to date, coordinating 2,185 total volunteers. On any given day we had between 30 and 115 volunteers working with us either gutting homes or helping put them back together. Most volunteers spent their time helping gut and muck homes. By projects end we cleaned-out a total of 403 homes. As the area progressed dedicated long-term volunteers transitioned into the rebuild phase and led teams of both skilled and unskilled volunteers that helped get families back into homes.
PCR by the Numbers:
40,000 volunteer hours
460 Households served
$800,000 in donated labor
The following video is ten-minute mini-documentary about Project Cedar Rapids and what the power of volunteers can accomplish.
A Project of Firsts
The hard work of our enthusiastic volunteers and staff brought about several milestones and partnerships that we hope we can build upon in the future…
PCR was HODR’s first almost entirely “self-sustained” project, both in the number of local volunteers (more than 1000) and PCR-targeted donations, which allowed us to pull only a limited amount of funding from HODR’s general operating fund.
In addition to a significant donation from the Haber Family, HODR’s first grant and corporate funding from the Aegon Transamerica Foundation, United Way of East Central Iowa, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, and Rockwell Collins, allowed us to expand beyond our normal reach by developing a mini-grant program. PCR’s mini-grants provided qualified flood-affected residents in need of financial support $500 – $5,000 to purchase appliances and/or building materials to repair their home. This funding coupled with a donation of tools and supplies from local Rotary Clubs allowed HODR to enter the post-disaster “Rebuild Phase” for the first time.
In addition to financial support more than 400 Aegon employees also gave their time volunteering at PCR.
Daniel Green a teenage volunteer that stepped up to lead teams with volunteers 3 times his age was featured as The Person of the Week on ABC World News Tonight marking the first time HODR received major network coverage. Click here to watch the story.
Over the course of the project we had the pleasure of hosting and working alongside three AmeriCorps teams. A team from the Minnesota Conservation Corps and two AmeriCorps NCCC teams became the first AmeriCorps teams to officially join HODR on a project. They must have had a great time because after the teams headed home or off to other assignments many of the individual members came back to PCR during their time off.
The city of Palo gave us their Above and Beyond Award that read:
“For demonstrating leadership in helping the community and the city of Palo in a time of need….thank you for all of the hard-work dedication, and time you have given to our community…Your efforts and expertise have been greatly appreciated”
Many, many thanks
A BIG THANK YOU to all of the volunteers and donors who made this project possible and ultimately such a success. Together we touched nearly 500 households in need and continued the HODR tradition of an effective volunteer model aiding recovery and rebuilding after a natural disaster. I had the privilege of working with a phenomenal group of volunteers. The PCR team of long-term volunteers had the chaotic and daunting task of teaching and leading between 30 and 100 first time volunteers each day. PCR was a success because of the focus and patience of the long-term volunteers who spent weeks and months working in Iowa.
We initially operated out of space provided by the generous Ralston Construction Company in Palo. As we finished the bulk of the work in Palo and shifted our focus to Cedar Rapids we moved to The Cedar Hills Community Church (CHCC). The CHCC welcomed HODR to its community and served as our base of operations where we housed, fed, and coordinated volunteers who came to help from 37 states and 4 countries. Thanks to a flexible CHCC staff, the donation of an office trailer by the Coonrod family, and some temporary bunk beds and showers built by HODR volunteer Bill Sr., the PCR operations center comfortably hosted 501 volunteers during the project.
Pat Garwood, a CHCC member, headed up a team of church and community members that fed us every night of the week. No easy task, Pat and dozens of locals always made sure that we had enough delicious fuel in our stomachs to get right back at it the next morning.
John Burianek, a life long resident of Cedar Rapids and US Postal Service retiree turned HODR volunteer became our local guide and knowledge base. John’s daily presence in the office helped HODR coordinate dozens of spontaneous and long-term volunteers each day. His knowledge of the area both geographically and historically gave HODR an edge and helped us accomplish things at the blistering pace we always strive for.
Thank you to Molly Rossiter and The Cedar Rapids Gazette who covered PCR in several articles that helped spread the word about our efforts and gave the greater community a glimpse into HODR. Special thanks to HODR volunteer Kevin Allocca for his help producing the PCR mini-documentary.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of PCR and gave their time, money and hearts to make a difference in the recovery of the Cedar Rapids area.
Bill Driscoll Jr.
US Operations Director
Hands On Disaster Response
90 days in Cedar Rapids…and oh, what a ride it’s been
300th Home
The focus for the majority of Project Cedar Rapids has been cleaning out flood-affected homes. Through our dedicated efforts we reached and passed a milestone—we cleaned/gutted out our 300th home! As the project evolves we will continue mucking and gutting and work towards our membership in the 400 club. (more…)
Our Hurricane Ike assessment team evaluated damage and response levels in the coastal communities of both Texas and Louisiana. We assessed the needs that are present now and those that may arise in the coming weeks. In order to obtain the most accurate information possible, we met with numerous area emergency officials, church pastors, mayors, community members and representatives from other responding relief organizations. (more…)
Daniel Greene, Project Cedar Rapids volunteer, was featured as ‘Person of the Week’ on ABC’s World News for his work with HODR.
“Daniel Greene, a 16-year-old from Atlanta, wanted to work outdoors for the summer. He thought about construction work, but wound up doing de-construction work instead…’You can’t come to a place like this and leave,’ Greene said. ‘You want to stay out here as long as you can to give as much help as possible.’”
Click here for the full article and video segment that was broadcast nationally Friday, August 1, 2008.
During the summer of 2008 HODR set up a project in response to the unprecedented flooding that affected more than 5000 homes in the greater Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. Our work focused on responding to the immediate needs of the community by providing them with teams of volunteers to help clean out flood-affected homes. Throughout the course of the project we coordinated over 2000 volunteers and worked on 400+ homes, benefiting hundreds of families. As the project progressed HODR moved into rebuild activities, helping homeowners navigate the permitting process, installing and finishing drywall, and providing mini-grants to cover shortfalls in rebuilding materials to get families one step closer to returning home.
Project Cedar Rapids – Rebuild is HODR’s first-ever “planned” response, as opposed to an immediate disaster response project. In addition to partnerships with local organizations, we are very grateful to have the support of the 
