A Letter of Thanks
(The following letter was sent to the White House)
Dear Mr. President:
I am writing to you to thank you for AmeriCorps*NCCC. Thirty years ago, my husband and I settled in a small mountain community in northern New Mexico. Over the years we managed to build our own home—a two-story log house. Most of our neighbors also built their own homes with their own hands, just as the "old timers" in this community had done. We did this while working in low-paying and often minimum-wage jobs. We did this with the energy of our youth. The hand-crafted beauty of our homes reflected the intensity of our labor, idealism, youth, and creativity. Our homes also reflected the history of the area and the people who went before us who "made do" with the little they had financially—but also with the true benefits they had of family and friends, the land, and their community.
On May 5, 1996, a forest fire swept through our community, which was bordered on three sides by national forest. The "Hondo Fire," as it was named, destroyed our home and many of our neighbors' homes, as well as 12 miles of national forest and the landscape of the mountain we called home. Within a few hours, half of our community was gone.
Needless to say, we were devastated to see all that we had built, all that we owned, and the land that we loved, go literally up in smoke. The disaster and its aftermath produced a situation that can only be described as chaotic. Twelve miles of electric power lines were burned, and our community's water supply and headwater springs were devastated by ash and fire debris. Those in our community who had not lost their homes were left without water or power. There were endless meetings, speeches by politicians, and questions by the press, which simply further exhausted those of us already exhausted by trauma and which resulted in little or no real help.
The exception was the twenty or so AmeriCorps young people that arrived and set up camp in our devastated community. While the meetings and political speeches went on, they—these kids—proceeded to do real work, day in and day out, and provided help! They worked on clean-up and spot fire management and helped our community with immediate problems. They were organized, self-sufficient, caring, hard-working, and, in the poetic sense, true angels of mercy!
As long as I live, I will never forget the day they came to the ruin of what was once our home. They did not come with the "wrecking-crew, get-the-job-done" mentality we had seen and had had to deal with. They treated us with sensitivity and respect. They seemed to understand that this "rubble" had once been our home—that we were people in shock. Their compassion towards us, and their "job" at hand, was unsurpassed. They listened to our needs and our fears. They took the time and effort to carefully go through the rubble, salvaging what they could, no matter how small—a simple tea cup, perfect and unscathed, a "talisman" given to me by a friend and neighbor who had also lost her home. When one has lost everything, the smallest things can mean so much. In all that rubble they found bits and pieces of our lives and history that I will always cherish and, in the process, helped us begin to rebuild our lives.
These AmeriCorps youth talked to us, asked us how we had built our homes, what our lives on this mountain had been like. They worked together with us, and with the young people of our community to do the things that were needed most. One young woman went down into our water cistern and sent up buckets of debris, restoring our water system and giving us water to clean up and plant grass seed and tree seedlings.
Bottom line: We needed their youthful hope, energy, and optimism as much as we needed their strong, physical help. As I looked up from down in the rubble and saw these AmeriCorps kids' faces, streaked with black soot (as my own was), I realized that they were all about the same age that my husband and I had been when we first started to build this home so many years ago. They reminded me of a certain "spirit," an engagement with life and others, of all that can be accomplished when we actually do the work (not just talk about it!), when we are willing to use our hands and hearts and minds in creative caring and generosity—together.
AmeriCorps made a difference—a big difference—in our small, devastated community. They brought not only badly needed help, but also compassion and hope. Their youth and energy infused our devastating situation with what was needed most. We will never forget them.
Thank you for having the vision to give young people the opportunity to help further their education while helping others. AmeriCorps*NCCC is a truly wonderful program and I can only hope it will continue and grow.
With sincerest thanks,
Margaret "Peggy" Nes |
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