Iowa Americorps Heads to Louisiana for Hurricane Isaac Recovery
Posted: 10/16/2012

The first of two groups from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Iowa AmeriCorps program headed to Louisiana last Friday to help with the national recovery effort from Hurricane Isaac that soaked the Gulf Coast in August.

Their mission lasts until Nov. 9, with work primarily in the parishes of St. John, Plaquemines and St. Tammany. This will be the first time the Iowa AmeriCorps program has been sent on a national mission assignment.

“We have worked several Iowa disasters, including extensively during the flood of 2011, but this is a first for our program, to be deployed for a national level disaster response,” said Jane Mild, with the DNR’s office of volunteer services.

Mild said four Iowa AmeriCorps members and an administrator drove to Louisiana, and for two weeks they will help with an evaluation of pilot blue roof tarping program and with the volunteer reception centers set up in St. John’s Parish. 

The Iowa contingent will be working with AmeriCorps St. Louis, who has been on location for the past month dealing with various aspect s of the Hurricane Isaac recovery.

A second team of AmeriCorps members will relieve the first group on Oct. 27.

“The Iowa commission has been such an engaged partner in disaster services with the Corporation for Community and National Service for so long, that it seems right that we are finally working to send an Iowa AmeriCorps program under mission assignment,” said Will Chrysanthos, partnerships and field operations officer, disaster services, for CNCS.