The Many Faces Of FEMA Grows To Include The Peace Corps
Release Date: October 17, 2005
Release Number: 1603-087
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- For the first time in their 44-year history, the Peace Corps is joining a disaster relief effort domestically. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is announcing that the "many faces of FEMA" is continuing to grow to include 60 Crisis Corps volunteers from the Peace Corps.
Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez visited areas of Louisiana devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. "As Americans, we have an obligation to share our resources and assist when help is needed. The Peace Corps Crisis Corps program was founded on the premise of mobilizing when a crisis occurs, and this time the crisis was here at home," said Director Vasquez.
The new volunteers, who represent all walks of life and tenure within the Peace Corps, will be standing in good company as the FEMA efforts in Louisiana consists of workers from several different government, state, local and private agencies. The volunteers will be divided into groups with 10 members each going to Plaquimines and Saint Bernard parishes and 40 people going to Orleans parish.
There are no shortages of tasks for the Crisis Corps teams. They will be working with FEMA's Community Relations teams, in Disaster Recovery Centers , as well as teaming up with the Firefighters Task Force 83. Additionally, the volunteers will offer assistance at churches and American Red Cross distribution centers. FEMA will also deploy Crisis Corps members to aid in the travel trailer housing project. The Peace Corps will keep a liaison on hand to also aid in coordinating disaster relief efforts.
FEMA Community Relations Coordinator Colette Blum-Meister said, "We are excited about the new addition to FEMA's Community Relations team. All of these individuals from different agencies working together are exactly what is needed."
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 01-Nov-2005 09:29:00