Local nonprofit human service providers appeared to be taking the impact of Hurricane (aka “Tropical Storm”) Irene in stride. A number of local executive directors reported power outages, some minor flooding and a number of evacuations, many of which were done in advance as precautionary measures. Executives praised their staff as “invisible first responders” and noted that they deal with emergencies such as these more frequently than most people realize.
“I’m relieved to report that all efforts were precautionary, e.g. providing extra meals on Friday instead of Sunday, evacuation of clients, etc., and there was only minor impact on actual programming,” said Rabbi Moshe Wiener, Executive Director at Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island.
“My staff was outstanding in planning and responding to the storm and talking with our families about their preparedness,” said Jerry McCaffery, President and CEO at MercyFirst. “We have several group homes on Long Island in low lying areas that we evacuated in advance and moved all those residents and staff to our Sysosset Campus. We have back-up generators, 24/7 medical care and food service so it is well prepared for emergencies like this. We have lots of clean up to do with some flooding and trees going down and we still have two group homes without power. We expect that power will be restored and everything goes back to normal by the end of our day today.” (McCaffery reported in by fax because his internet went down this morning.)
“Our Mt. Kisco Group Home is without electricity but we moved the young men onto our Campus,” says Claude Meyers, CEO at Abbott House. “Our Gesner IRA has been experiencing on and off power outage but we are on top of it.”
“Actually very little to report,” said Alan Mucatel, Executive Director of Leake and Watts. “Some minor flooding in a few campus and community properties and a tree down on campus. No significant damage or electrical outages. With our school and pre-school programs not yet in session, fewer youth on campus as they are on home visits, and pre-planning for supplies and staffing in residential settings, we are fine. We’ve had far greater challenges during other situations such as the snow storm last winter or the tornado that touched down in the Bronx a year or so ago. Our facilities staff and senior management followed our preparatory plans.”
“Our Staff stepped up as always working straight through multiple shifts, handling power outages, fallen trees, water and leaks, mandatory evacuations, communications with client families,” says Gail Naywith, CEO at SCO Family of Services. “Our Staff are the invisible first responders – on the frontline keeping our clients and consumers safe and well cared for in emergencies like Hurricane Irene and every day.”
“Staff continued to be dedicated and do whatever it took from double and triple shifting to spending hours convincing individuals to relocate out of zone a shelters and apartments,” says Paul Levine, CEO and Executive Vice President at the Jewish Board of Children and Family Services. “Then moving scores of people to safe places staff had arranged. All the clients were either people with long histories of mental illness or families who were victims of domestic violence. Our staff do this whenever it’s needed which is more frequent than anyone else knows.”
How is your agency coping with the effects of the storm? Post your comments below.
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