VINTON, Iowa — Marysville native Erin Ayala had never left home or shared a room with others before.
Since Oct. 14 of last year, the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Class of 2008 graduate has been living and working in Iowa and Alabama, and even though she’s shared her room with as many as 10 fellow volunteers at a time, she’s in no mood to complain.
Ayala, who was studying for her associate’s degree in teaching at Everett Community College, signed on for a 10-month stint with the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, starting last fall, after it was recommended to her by a former high school classmate who had taken part in the national service program, which was created to improve the environment, enhance education, increase public safety, address unmet human needs and assist with disaster relief.
Ayala and approximately 150 other NCCC members, aged 18-24 years old, are stationed at its North Central Region campus in Vinton, Iowa, where they received intensive training for four weeks, in hands-on qualifications such as CPR, first aid and mass casualty care, as well as in areas such as teamwork, leadership development and communication. On Nov. 16, the group was divided up into 14 teams, who began their first round of service projects, with some serving as cabin leaders to children in Michigan, while others restored prairie, savannah and woodlands in Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Ayala’s team went to Mobile, Ala., for a month to do residential construction and restoration work, as part of Habitat For Humanity’s program to provide homes to those who had earned “sweat equity” in them. Her work there included removing and replacing decks, patio walls, carpets and flooring, as well as putting up roof trusses and working on house frames.
Ayala is currently midway through her second round project in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she’s aiding a group called “Weed and Seed” in its disaster recovery efforts in the wake of that region’s 2008 flood.
“It happened a year and a half ago, but there are still so many areas there where the houses all have boarded-up windows, because no one lives there now,” Ayala said. “It’s amazing, because it’s not in the news anymore, but it’s still impacting people’s lives.”
Ayala has gone into flood-struck houses, cleaned out the dirt and trash that’s accumulated inside of them, torn them down to their frames and rebuilt them from the frames up.
“The first part’s called ‘mucking,'” Ayala said. “The flood waters cover all the surfaces and scramble all the home’s belongings around, which makes them useless. I’ve torn out carpets and cleared out attics that were filled with junk. I even had to take apart a chimney, brick by brick. From there, when we rebuild the houses, we can install new drywall and paint jobs.”
Aside from a two-week winter break, Ayala has been working eight hours every weekday since Dec. 16 on flood recovery efforts in Cedar Rapids, and in order to meet her minimum of 1,700 hours of service for the 10-month program, she usually devotes her weekends to NCCC volunteer work as well. In exchange for her service, on what will eventually add up to five or six such projects, she’ll receive $5,350 to help pay for college or student loans, but she sees a greater benefit in her participation.
“I’ve definitely experienced some enlightenment,” Ayala said. “I’ve heard stories from people who have lost everything, and they can still smile. I wish everyone could have this experience, because I don’t even know if I can put into words what it’s meant to me. People should look into opportunities to volunteer, whether it’s with AmeriCorps in Iowa or helping out those in Haiti. There’s a lot that’s going on outside of ourselves, and a lot that we can do about it.”
For information about applying for an NCCC or other AmeriCorps program, call 1-800-942-2677 or visit their Web site.
