Leslie Kingsley

The wonderful thing about the AmeriCorps experience is that although we seek to offer relief, help and guidance to those in need, we as members receive these very things in return from our experiences. We grow and develop in ways that, in other environments, would not be possible.  It was my first disaster call and the training I had received was a vague and grayish recollection of classes and books read months before. I arrived at the shelter location, being a bit behind my Disaster Action Team who had already assisted at the site of the condo fire. I arrived with enthusiasm, certain I would save a life or change the world simply with my presence there. Though my optimism was not misplaced, I soon became discouraged with the lack of activity in the shelter; the glorified system I had envisioned being a part of did not surround me. I was assigned to sit at a table and help direct victims to another room. As I sat, I recognized that, although unfamiliar with the process, I knew different things needed to be happening. I rebelliously left my post, and began searching for someone who knew the location of food and water to offer the victims that had already arrived. As we began to actualize this simple objective, I observed a family sitting at a table, silent and reserved, and my first response was to go sit and talk with them (my natural instincts are to listen and talk, and they seem to be my only valuable offering in times such as these). But I realized that what these people needed from me at this instant was not a shoulder for support, they needed me to simply do my job. The organization of a shelter was essential. I knew rooms needed to be found and set up for sleeping, registering, casework, and eating. People had to be designated to work each of these areas and everyone needed to realize their responsibilities, so I began asking around, finding people, asking them to complete a task and continuing on to the next. I soon became somewhat of a go-to person, and as things started to move and victims were taken from room to room, I would see them or pass them in the hall and when my heart reached out to them and I wanted to stop and talk, I just continued to set up the shelter. It was almost an out-of-body experience to deny that impulse of my heart and mind, but as this person, this leader with a somewhat robotic sense of professionalism, I was able to aid those victims in the best way I could. By the end of the evening, the shelter was running and victims were being assisted as best we were able. Although this may have happened without me, I like to think it was the exposure of that facet of myself that contributed greatly to its success. In the days to come, I would continue casework and get to talk with the victims, listening and supporting as best I could, doing what I am best at; however, that night showed me my character is versatile and adaptable, and that surprise was one of the most precious and valuable experiences of my life.