Stormy skies await Americorps workers

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A couple of dozen new AmeriCorps volunteers were sworn in at the Texas State Capitol Thursday and they immediately faced a stormy forecast.

The young volunteers, members of what used to be called the Environmental Corps at Austin’s American YouthWorks , receive small stipends and education grants in exchange for their work building, maintaining and repairing state and municipal parks, especially trails used by park visitors.

But as their expertise grew, their range grew with it, starting primarily in Austin, but now reaching the entire state. And because their skill with tools like chainsaws are so valuable, the volunteers were also called on from time to time, to organize relief efforts at natural disasters like the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, the 2011 Bastrop County wildfire and the 2012 Superstorm Sandy in New England.

Now, reflecting their growing range and tying into revived interest in the Great Depression’s Civilian Conservation Corps , the Environmental Corps has a new name: the Texas Conservation Corps or TxCC.

What’s more, a three-year, $300,000 grant from the OneStar Foundation will help move the team into action at disaster sites faster than ever before.

“There's always a flood of volunteers who come in after a disaster,” said American YouthWorks director Parc Smith, “and so our young people have been managing volunteers on volunteer projects, you know, 400 people at a time, doing a trail cleanup, let's say, where they're moving debris, using chainsaws and all kinds of crazy things to have volunteers around. Well, a disaster zone is very similar.

“You need someone to safely manage all of these volunteers who show up, enthusiastic but not using always the best safety standards. But our programs are known for high safety standards and managing other volunteers in those kinds of situations. And so it was a natural fit for us.”

No one knows that better than Brent Leisure, the director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s State Parks Division . He saw AmeriCorps volunteer efforts up close as the workers descended on Bastrop State Park, which was nearly destroyed in the wildfire.

“It would be a burnt landscape,” said Leisure, “terribly eroded, with little hope for recovery and that's the kind of difference that they've made.

“Right now, it's an environment that's constantly changing every day. We see new growth. Those invasive species that move in after a catastrophic event like that, we're able to keep in check and arrest the progress of those things.

“And it's accessible to the public. Texans can come out there and experience what they once had, although different. In years to come, it will be reestablished, thanks to their efforts and so we're very pleased.”

Such gratitude comes often to the volunteers.

“When the individuals (at disaster scenes) come up,” Smith said, “they're just in tears saying, 'You guys have restored my faith in humanity. To see these young people working so hard and giving of themselves to help us out when they know nothing about us, restores my faith in humanity.'

“That's a thing that doesn't turn out to be a number but it sure swells the pride and confidence of the young people who come through out program. And it makes them turn into national leaders.”

And it turns out that Leisure, too, knows such feelings on a personal level.

“I live in the Bastrop community,” he said. “I was affected by the fire like so many other people, and it restores you. When you see this kind of effort and, sacrificially by so many different people that come to the aid of a community, it revives the community.

“It restores; it gives hope to a community and people. That's what this project represents. It represents to me personally and to our agency and to the community of Bastrop. We're very, very thankful.”

As for the volunteers, beyond their stipends and their scholarships, there is another important reward.

“You know, young people don't really have rights-of-passage very often any more,” Smith observed. “Well our young people are getting extreme rights of passage. When you go in and respond to a disaster and you help a community in a significant way and hundreds of people are telling you thank you for the incredible service you did in our community, you walk out of there thinking you can pretty much conquer the world.”

It was against that backdrop that the new volunteers took their oath of office, saying:

“I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.”