Harnessing volunteers following large wildfires is one of the greatest recovery tools a community can give to those impacted by wildfire. During the recovery and rebuilding from the devastating wildfires from 2014 through 2020 in Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Okanogan, and Stevens Counties, the Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group hosted hundreds of volunteers who worked thousands of hours on projects from debris sifting, donations management, fence rebuilding, clean up, replanting, fundraising, demolition, home rebuilds and much more. These volunteers helped lift the hopes of survivors and helped them heal both in a “hands on, boots on the ground” way with the property needs, as well as in an emotional and spiritual way. This translated into millions of dollars worth of recovery cost savings. They were hosted by Volunteer Coordinators (VC), one of which was a Jesuit Corp/AmeriCorp volunteer herself for two years, and later returned, as paid staff for another two years post 2020 wildfires. The VC’s job is to recruit and host the needed volunteers to complete the jobs that have been identified through the disaster case managers and the reconstruction project manager. They must locate local housing, tools, supplies, and materials for incoming volunteers. In addition they do orientations, on-site support, liability forms/paperwork, identify needs, document completed projects, send thank you, and coordinate the program.
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