FEMA Corps Members Begin Work In Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. — Ninety-nine young adults from across the nation start serving Hurricane Isaac survivors in Louisiana today under their first post-graduate assignment with FEMA Corps, a new program aimed at enhancing the nation’s ability to assist disaster survivors while expanding career opportunities for young people.

FEMA Corps is an innovative partnership between two federal agencies that combines the disaster expertise of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the service leadership of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and AmeriCorps.

The FEMA Corps members – ages 18 to 24 – will work alongside FEMA’s existing workforce in Louisiana in assisting citizens and communities impacted by Hurricane Isaac. Their assignments range from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovery centers to sharing disaster response and mitigation information with the public.

“As new members of the whole community emergency management team, the work you do in the weeks to come will make a significant contribution to the recovery efforts of Hurricane Isaac survivors,” Mike Hall, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer, told the FEMA Corps members upon their arrival today at the State/FEMA Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge.  “Thank you for dedicating your skills and energies to the people who are still struggling to recover from the storm.”  

Established as a new unit within the existing AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), FEMA Corps engages young adults to provide ten months of full-time service on disaster response and recovery projects. FEMA Corps members in Louisiana received one month of AmeriCorps NCCC training at the AmeriCorps campus in Vicksburg, Miss., followed by FEMA position-specific training.

After completing 1,700 hours of service, each FEMA Corps member will receive a $5,550 Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to pay for tuition or pay student loans.  Members will gain significant training and experience in disaster services that can serve as a pathway to employment in the emergency management profession.
To learn more about FEMA Corps or to apply (individuals aged 18-24), visit the AmeriCorps website at http://www.americorps.gov or FEMA’s website at www.fema.gov.

For more information on Louisiana disaster recovery, click www.fema.gov/disaster/4080 or www.gohsep.la.gov. You can follow FEMA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FEMA. Also visit our blog at www.fema.gov/blog.