Fulfilling our Duty

Brian Buhman is being honored as a Champion of Change for the leadership he demonstrated in his involvement in response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

I am honored to be a White House Champion of Change.

I've always enjoyed helping others and doing service projects. As a kid I did a lot of projects through the Boy scouts and my church. After 9/11, I chose to help by joining the Marine Corps. I spent 4 years on active duty and completed 2 tours to Iraq. When I got off of active duty, there was always something missing. I was lucky enough to always have a fellow veteran nearby for camaraderie, but even that didn't always fill the void.  When I found out about Team Rubicon in 2011, I knew this was something I would love doing. Responding to high stress situations not knowing where you'll sleep or when you'll eat next while helping people is exciting to me. I signed up online and within a few months was driving 11 hours on a Friday night to tornado ravaged Henryville, IN.  The devastation was intense and hard to believe. You see this kind of stuff in pictures and on TV, but nothing compares to seeing it firsthand.  We were able to help a few homeowners start their recovery process before moving on which made the 22 hour round trip worth it.

After Indiana, I was made a State Coordinator for Pennsylvania. I spent the next 6 months making disaster response connections, trying to build the volunteer base in PA, planning service projects and other events. It was a slow process but we started to get moving by the end of summer 2012.  When Sandy was approaching, I spent hours on pre-storm conference calls with SEPA VOAD (Southeastern Pennsylvania Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) and my regional leadership. We began getting teams on standby throughout FEMA Region III so that we were ready to respond anywhere.  Once Sandy made landfall we realized that New York and New Jersey had been hit the hardest so we sent most of our volunteers there with the Regional and National Leadership.

As the Pennsylvania State Coordinator of Field Operations, I felt it was my duty to stay behind and help the people in my surrounding communities before moving on. Pennsylvania had not been hit nearly as hard but there were hundreds if not thousands of trees down and it can cost a homeowner around $1000 to get one tree removed. Through my partnership with SEPA VOAD and the county OEM's I was able to identify homeowners that needed help. Myself and 3 other Team Rubicon members started chainsaw work while the back end of the storm was still passing through.

We began to realize that many homeowners were not in immediate need of tree removal and that there were still assessments being done, so we chose to hold off our daily response until the weekend. This would give us time to gather a list of homes needing work and get a better assessment of the area. One of the biggest challenges that first day was getting ahold of gear. Team Rubicon Pennsylvania had not responded to a disaster yet, so we did not have a cache of chainsaws readily available.  We can usually stop at a Home Depot on our way to the disaster zone, but when you live in the disaster zone gear is hard to find.  We were able to overcome that by borrowing some gear from friends and family until we could get ahold of what we needed.  A lot of thanks go out to those people that let us borrow their equipment,  The Home Depot Foundation for supplying us with the gear needed to complete our mission and Team Rubicon member Ryan Stehman for being by my side every time we went out and keeping our equipment in good working order.

I spent the next 3 weeks on conference calls, organizing weekend response teams, and doing assessments for Montgomery and Chester County.  Finding people that needed our help was tough at first. Our county connections would give me a list of homes that reported damage and I would call or drive to them and do an assessment to see if we could help.  This seemed to work very well but most of the homes were either already taken care of or awaiting an insurance adjuster.  We then started knocking on doors, explaining who we are, what we do, and asking if we could help.  This seemed to work out pretty well. Our best option came when I got ahold of Danielle Bush at the United Way of Bucks County. She had many homeowners contacting her and she was able to make the connection between us and them.

We continued our work until the lists began to dry up and we couldn't find homeowners looking for help.  I partnered with Julia Menzo from Liberty Lutheran Services, and the rest of the VOAD to plan a clean-up weekend in mid-December. This gave us time to gather work orders and volunteers.  The weekend went well and we were able to complete all eight homes in one day.

Since December, I held one other clean-up weekend in PA and there have been many others held in New York and New Jersey. There are still people in need of help out there and I hope this Champions of Change discussion brings some attention back to the victims of Sandy.  There are many organizations out there still chopping away at lists of work orders and I hope the warm weather can bring out hundreds of volunteers to help get it done.

Brian Buhman is a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq. His desire to continue his service by helping his community and other veterans led him to join Team Rubicon, a disaster response veterans service organization in 2011. Since March 2012, he has been a State Coordinator for Pennsylvania.

Helping Near and Far

Adam Marlatt is being honored as a Champion of Change for the leadership he demonstrated in his involvement in response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

I am so very honored to be awarded the Champion of Change title and hope that this recognition can highlight our response work while further building connections to improve our capability and capacity in future disaster situations.

I founded Global Disaster Immediate Response Team (DIRT) in 2010 after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people, wounding and displacing countless more, and decimating an already fragile infrastructure.  In the days following that disaster, Global DIRT volunteers worked to transport critically injured patients (ambulances were non-existent in the city) while connecting the small clinics and hospitals with the medical supplies and resources they needed most.  It was because of this experience that DIRT began to implement the concept of inserting a small team of highly trained operators from the first responder and prior service military community to volunteer as subject matter experts in large critical incidents around the world. In the past three years, while continuing to support the rebuilding in Haiti, we have responded to flooding in Pakistan, earthquakes in New Zealand, and the tsunami in Japan providing emergency medical support, potable water, and radiation monitoring.

I first came across Hurricane Sandy in Haiti where our team is working with the Haitian Government and Minister of Tourism to build a 911 and ambulance network to improve existing infrastructure and allow for the further expansion of business, tourism, and public safety.  After working non-stop for the first week, the situation in Haiti stabilized and I was able to take part of our team up to NYC where the storm had just impacted.  Our first assessment of the disaster was that there was a critical need for inter-agency coordination with the groups appearing, a reliable form of digital communication, and identifying the needs of individual families while connecting them with the appropriate agency that could respond.  We then brought in team members and associates from partner organizations around the globe to scale up our operation.  This included members of the Volunteer Army Foundation of New Zealand, computer programmers from Boston and Ireland, and more of our team from Haiti.

We first began assisting in the Belle Harbor section of New York, which quickly turned into a hub for private sector donations that were flowing in from the city.  At that location we credentialed volunteers, coordinated food delivery, and distributed hundreds of thousands of items to the Rockaways, NY.  DIRT then began working with various small groups that were being formed to do everything from debris removal to health and wellness checks.  It became clear that the disaster would require countless hours of volunteer manpower and support from the private sector to work with City, State, and Federal government agencies operating in the area.  We also began to see issues emerge from inaccurate or outdated information.  To better inform storm survivors we contacted Toyota and other private sector partners who were able to print tens of thousands of multilingual information packets to distribute at relief shelters.

The biggest challenge residents faced immediately after the storm was communicating with loved ones and agencies that could provide aid.  This was due to the collapse of all traditional utilities in the area (cable Internet, cellphones, land lines, radio, and print news).  From my past experience with the Marines, I knew that we needed a wide area network and several satellite fly-away systems to accomplish getting residents reconnected.  DIRT then contacted GATR, a company that provides inflatable ground antenna solutions for broadband Internet (think a giant beach ball satellite dish) and New Spirit Alliance for funding.  Within 48 hours, we had a working network up to provide Internet access to thousands of residents and shortly after Google came in with chrome books allowing our team to set up free cyber cafe sites across the city to facilitate resident enrollment in FEMA assistance and NYC's Rapid Repairs program.

Through our interaction with Super Storm Sandy survivors we began to see a critical gap where residents were in need, agencies were providing critical services to assist the problem, and the two groups weren't able to find each other.  The NY National Guard was tasked out to NYC's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and was going door to door to check on residents as the temperature began to drop and winter approached.  Realizing the human resources available through the National Guard, our team quickly developed a web based application platform that operated in the cloud to allow soldiers to enter information on resident needs into tablet computers.  Through funding with The Robinhood Foundation we scaled the project up and were able to complete over 140,000 home visits, collecting critical needs data.  This information was then sent in real time from NYC OEM to the NYC City Hall's Center for Innovation through Data Intelligence (CIDI), a health and human services data clearing house for the city, who then sent needs requests to city agencies in real time.  This allowed for residents to be evacuated to temporary housing, provided for food and supply delivery for homebound and disabled residents, and enabled critical utilities to be turned on in resident homes.  We then implemented Immersive Media's Street View technology to further identify damaged areas and map the recovery progress.  These technology innovations allowed for our team to stay connected with residents in need for months after the storm, ensuring that no resident is left behind.

On behalf of Global DIRT, I would like to thank all of the donors, volunteers, and partner city agencies who made our recovery effort efficient and effective.  I hope that this award will further connect us with City, State, and Federal Agencies to improve future domestic disaster response incidents.

Adam Marlatt is a Marine Reserve Infantry Sergeant and the founder of Global Disaster Immediate Response Team (DIRT).

Community Aiding Community

Mike “Loco” Hoffman is being honored as a Champion of Change for the leadership he demonstrated in his involvement in response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.

My name is Mike “Loco” Hoffman and I am proud to have been selected as a Champion of Change recipient, though there are many, many people I have worked with under unbelievable conditions for almost six months now - who are 'champions' too - whether officially selected or not.

I was born in Staten Island, New York and have lived there all my life. Before Hurricane Sandy I was working in landscaping and had a pleasant, no-drama, day to day, kind of life.

After Hurricane Sandy? A whole different story.

I went straight to the badly affected areas right after I quickly checked on my friends and family. It was like a scene out of a movie, something I never thought I'd see as reality, with my own eyes, and right in my hometown. Then I just pitched in. At first helping some people I knew, then I just kept moving, kept helping. Moving debris out of the way and searching homes. Getting people out that were trapped.

The conditions that first week were chaotic, water sat 3-5 ft deep in some areas for days. The smell of sewage, salt and oil permeated everything. No matter where one looked there was nothing familiar left. Homes were utterly destroyed and relocated. Everywhere people were hysterical with emotion, while others were blank and defeated, walking aimlessly about with hopeless stares.

Police and residents had boats that we used to get to those still trapped in water or damaged homes. The electricity was out and cell towers in the area were down. No working heat anywhere close enough to matter. We were literally freezing in the dark, working blind, trying to make due, with no aid or help in the first few days. We had no protective gear or tools, so most of us were in plain clothes and barehanded.

Once people no longer needed rescuing, I began helping to empty homes of people's cherished belongings, now covered in ocean water, fecal matter and oil. Local politicians Senator Lanza and Congressman Grimm were gathering supplies as fast as they could and I would bring those supplies into affected areas and distribute them, before getting back to the physical work again.

Then some of us began forming hubs, so supplies could be easily gathered in one place and the affected could walk to these, on foot, for their basic needs and provisions. By using Social Media I got my name and number out to people, who began to call me for help and later others called to aid in the relief effort.

The first month was an ongoing stream of moving debris, emptying homes of all materials, removing paneling, sheetrock and insulation, ripping out carpet, tiles, linoleum and flooring. What volunteers refer to as gutting and demo work. Feeding people and finding ways to provide warmth and means of electric power. And talking with and comforting, all those who had lost everything.

By the second month, we had some solid grassroots systems in place and with volunteers coming from all over, we made a substantial amount of progress - but it was still only a small chunk off the 1000's affected. There was so much devastation. Plus, we realized many folks did not know where to find help, so we began canvassing areas we were doing work in, reaching out to all those in need of help.

For every month up to January we organized donations, canvassed areas and delivered food and supplies to those who couldn't walk to get them. We brought generators to homes with special needs and large children counts, lent tools and safety gear to other volunteers to work on homes. We got info on and assessed skill levels of volunteers, according to the needs at the time and explained safety and how to correctly do the work needed. Other regular volunteers and myself, acted as team leaders for each group that went out. We also served hot food and gave out supplies at the hubs we started. I moved every 7-10 days from area to area, setting up hubs and leaving them self-sustaining, with trusted volunteers who had stepped up. We set up transportation to get people to places to take hot showers, kept on doing endless gutting, demo, cleaning, dispatching medivacs, so, so very much needed done. Everywhere one looked, there was an endless stream of desperate need.

By the middle of December, we had started doing mold remediation more. Then finally by mid-January, we were slowly starting some rebuilding. During all of this, there was a constant daily struggle to find donations for each phase. Then all too soon, we were struggling to find volunteers also, as after holidays, everything slowed to a crawl, as far as outside support went.

Now at last, six months later, things are beginning to calm down some. A demo pops up here and there, mold remediation is winding down, some who rebuilt too fast are now ripping out again due to mold (as they didn't listen and wanted normal back too soon) so we're helping those people. Some bankrupted themselves paying out of pocket. Others are getting rebuilt now with our help. We have a sort of “meet ‘em halfway” policy where applicable. We provide some material and labor for free and the homeowner buys the remaining materials they have the funds for. We work mostly on Staten Island, but have also aided Rockaways, Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey. We go where we're called.

Despite all the loss, heartbreak, sadness and hard physical work - it will always be the ‘other things’ I remember most, about what has become, such a special part of my life. Seeing my wife and children step up, just as I did and follow in my footsteps. To see the compassion in their eyes with every task they did and every word they spoke to those affected. The love I feel for my family has deepened, from watching in awe, as each of them turned tragedy into hope for those suffering around them.

I will always remember the countless miracles that happened along the way. Like the day before the Nor'easter was gonna hit when I found a woman on Facebook with a special needs son, petrified and wanting to board up her windows. I said I would be there in less than 30 minutes. I only had a hammer with me. I posted what I needed and where and when. I got to her house and less than 30 minutes later, a truck pulled up with lumber and nails, so we could board her home up. Events just like this - happened constantly - with people helping people.

The Thanksgiving when we hosted all kinds of food, regular, vegetarian and gluten-free and hundreds came and it was all like a big family - even though most had never even knew each other’s names before.

Those like the woman named Leslie, who I'd met a week prior, who came back for help and when I remembered her face and name, she just broke down in my arms, cause I remembered her as a person - and not a statistic.

The Christmas when I drove around dressed as Santa, in a decorated truck, with Christmas music blaring from the loudspeakers. All the smiles and tears and people saying they'd given up on Christmas - until I brought them a legitimate Christmas Miracle. A person can NEVER forget something that meaningful. It is and will always be - one of the single best days of our lives - for my family and me.

But the number one thing recovering from Hurricane Sandy has given me - is the memory of all the courageous people I've met. Not just the ones who needed help, but also the amazing people, groups, and organizations I've met and worked with during all this. Because THEY are what has kept me going and are the most prized memories of all!

Some have asked me if I am a different person today, than before Sandy, and has this 'changed' me. Well obviously, I am way more educated on dealing with disaster situations, but changed I am not. I believe people are wired certain ways and will always react when events arise. It's in them - it just takes some longer to realize it. I have always been the type to lend a hand anyway I can and go above my means. This just provided a LOT more opportunities to do so.

This has taught me something else though. To never count yourself out and burden yourself with thoughts that you can't do something. Almost anything is possible - if you apply yourself and keep on striving forward.

Which is why I (as well as some others named above) are going to continue on - even past the recovery from Sandy. To establish a national 'at the ready' grassroots not for profit network known as Yellow Boots - taking everything learned from this - so those suffering in the 'next' disaster - will not have to learn from scratch as we did in Staten Island.

A lot needs to be done before we have an effective disaster response available in the United States and there are some real challenges - like EMP event preparedness (electromagnetic pulse event) - that need to be met. My new 'disaster' family and I - have made it 'our business' to make sure this happens.

Mike “Loco” Hoffman is a lifelong resident of Staten Island and Founder of “Boots On the Ground Staten Island”.