FEMA Hires Local Residents To Help Recovery Efforts
Release Date: October 30, 2000
Release Number: HQ-00-CG17
SANTA FE, N.M. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recruited a number of local residents to work for 13 months with the Cerro Grande Fire Claims Office, fulfilling a promise made by FEMA Director James Lee Witt two months ago.
"We have actively recruited local residents during the last month and are pleased that these individuals have chosen to join us in this effort," said David de Courcy, Director of the CGFCO. "We expect their knowledge and familiarity with the Los Alamos community will be of great assistance to us and to all those who are seeking compensation for their losses."
Among those hired to work in the Los Alamos Service Center are the following:
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Deanna DeHaven, a native of Los Alamos. Deanna was born and raised in Los Alamos. But the Cerro Grande Fire is not the first fire to destroy Deanna's home. When she was only three years old, her five-year-old brother started a fire that burned the house to the ground.
Twenty-three years later, fire raged through her Arizona St. neighborhood destroying everything in its path, including Deanna's home. She lost everything.
As a customer service representative in the Los Alamos Canyon School Service Center, Deanna brings her experience with loss to her work.
"I'm at the same emotional level as the people coming in here," she said. "I can understand where survivors are coming from."
Deanna also had praise for her FEMA colleagues in the Service.
"The people we work with are great," she said. "They are very sympathetic and understanding-they shed tears, too."
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Kathy Sheck, a resident of Los Alamos for 21 years. When authorities issued the evacuation order for Kathy Sheck's neighborhood, her husband ran into town to pick up a few things before they departed. When authorities wouldn't let him go back home, Kathy was left alone in the house for two days. Her two sons had already found a safe haven with friends, but Kathy was stuck without a working phone and with no wheels except her husband's old truck.
"When I finally found the truck keys and cranked the old thing up, I took off, " said Kathy. "Before I left, embers were falling on the deck."
When she and her family were allowed to return home, they found their house intact.
"Even though our house was okay, what we found in town was so very sad," Kathy said. "So this job gives me a chance to help.
Kathy is now the receptionist at the Los Alamos Canyon School Service Center, where she greets those coming for help.
"I think the people coming into the center like seeing a local," Kathy added. "I really like the job and enjoy working with everyone here at the Center."
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Linda J.Cox, a resident of Los Alamos. When you walk through the door of the Los Alamos IT Service Center, Linda is the first person you'll meet. She didn't lose her home in the fire, but for a short while she lost her son. And that experience gives her special bond with the fire survivors coming into the Center.
When the fire hit, Linda and her husband, a physicist at the Los Alamos National laboratory, were out of town on business and had left their 16-year old son with friends. As the fire advanced, their son and friends were evacuated, and Linda couldn't locate them.
After struggling to get a flight home, Linda and her husband arrived at the Albuquerque airport to find their son waiting for them.
"That kid was the best thing I'd ever seen," Linda recalls softly. "The fire turned out to be quite a bonding experience for all of us."
The Cox family spent time their evacuation in the Glorietta Baptist Convention Center and returned to find their home intact. But the experience has given Linda a great deal of empathy for those whose homes were destroyed.
"I love this job," Linda said. "It feels good to be here, to be able to help all my friends and neighbors and others who lost so much."
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Antonio Perdomo, of Los Alamos. Antonio moved to Los Alamos from Atlanta, Georgia, after the fire to be near friends and in-laws. An announcement on the FEMA website and some urging from friends led to his new job as a customer service representative with the Los Alamos Canyon School Service Center.
"I think this is a great opportunity to show people how much we care," Antonio says of his new role. "I want them to know how much we are trying to help them get what they need."
This is not Antonio's first time in recovery work. He spent time after Hurricane Andrew handling individual and family grants for Georgians who lost their homes in the storm. While in George he also was coordinator for the state migrant workers component in state emergency management His career has also included work in public awareness and public service, with a recent stint building partnerships for the US Census Bureau.
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Valerie Kooyker, a resident of Santa Fe. Valerie knows what it means to go through a disaster and expects that experience will help her in her role as a customer service representative in the Los Alamos Center. Valerie moved to Santa Fe a year and a half ago after struggling since 1996 to recover from Hurricane Louis and three others. One destroyed all her belongings in her boat and another damaged the vessel that was moored off St. Maarten in the Caribbean.
"I'm thrilled to have this chance to give something back to the community," Kooyker said. "When the fire erupted, I volunteered for the Salvation Army. This new job is a wonderful opportunity to do something for people."
The New Jersey native spent time in New York working for an intercity school. When the school closed, she moved to St. Maarten and was there until Louis swept through and destroyed much of the island.
"I can only imagine what these people went through," Kooyker said. "To be able to do something for people in Los Alamos is absolutely wonderful."
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Bill Lehman, a resident of Santa Fe. A relative newcomer to New Mexico, Lehman is familiar to many as the County spokesperson during and after the fire. That intimate knowledge of the fire and its impact is bound to influence his work as a customer service representative in the Los Alamos Center.
"I feel it is very important to help everyone-to be a part of the community," Lehman said.
He helped with preparations for FEMA Director Witt's visit last August, an opportunity that gave him a unique insight into Witt's vision of how FEMA could help the community.
Lehman came to New Mexico from Idaho where he had worked in the continuing education field. He still works part time here for Santa Fe Community College and is anxious to get involved in what he calls a "special" community.
"I'm looking forward to doing what I can to help," he said. "Los Alamos is still a beautiful place, even with the burned trees. I feel lucky to be here.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 30-Dec-2003 16:47:42