On March 2-3<\/span>, 2020<\/span>, Tennessee was <\/span>battered by a series of<\/span> tornadoes. <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span>, an affiliate social ministry organization of Lutheran Disaster Response<\/span> (LDR)<\/span>, was one of the first <\/span>response <\/span>groups to arrive<\/span> on the scene<\/span> in Cookeville, TN, which was devastated by an<\/span> EF2 tornado.<\/span> Four<\/span> months later,<\/span> the impacted communities are moving into the long<\/span>-term recovery phase and<\/span> Inspiritus<\/span> continues to coordinate on-the-ground <\/span>response <\/span>efforts and <\/span>plans to remain engaged until the community recovers fully. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the days following the tornado<\/span>es, volunteers flooded into Cookeville to lend a hand. <\/span>The<\/span> first weekend brought a total of 3,000 volunteers<\/span> from various organizations, including <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span>, although that number fell during the week, <\/span>which<\/span> is normal for disaster response.<\/span> For the next couple of weeks, the number of volunteers average<\/span>d<\/span> from 50-80 people on weekdays<\/span> and about <\/span>100 per day on the weekends.<\/span> But in the beginning of April, the governor of Tennessee <\/span>issued<\/span> a <\/span>stay-at-home<\/span> mandate<\/span> for the state<\/span> in an attempt to<\/span> minimize<\/span> the spread of<\/span> COVID-19<\/span>, and the number of volunteers <\/span>plummet<\/span>ed<\/span> to the single digits<\/span>.<\/span> With physical dista<\/span>ncing measures in place, <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> had to adapt \u2013 fast.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kevin Burgess, <\/span>Inspiritus\u2019 construction lead in Cookeville, <\/span>worked with the leadership team and volunteer teams to <\/span>quickly develop and a<\/span>dopt strategies to pro<\/span>t<\/span>ect both volunteers and tornado survivors. <\/span>Personal Protec<\/span>tive<\/span> Equipment (<\/span>PPE<\/span>)<\/span> is <\/span>now <\/span>required,<\/span> and volunteers <\/span>do not<\/span> enter the homes of residents<\/span> unless necessary<\/span> for repair work<\/span>, so any socialization with residents occurs outdoors<\/span>. Burgess also <\/span>placed a limit on the number of people allowed in the <\/span>Volunteer Reception Center<\/span> at one time<\/span>.<\/span> H<\/span>owever, these rules don\u2019t change the mission of the disaster response.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecause when you\u2019re going to work with an 80-year-old retiree, you don\u2019t want to risk the chance <\/span>of <\/span>sharing a communicable disease with them<\/span>,\u201d says Burgess.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>I<\/span>t becomes more and more about the people<\/span>.<\/span> T<\/span>hat\u2019s always been one of my high priorities<\/span> \u2013 <\/span>the people come first. Through the pandemic, that was just amplified.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Inspiritus<\/span> limited their work groups to eight volunteers and chose to focus on using heavy machinery to clear debris. This allowed volunteers to isolate themselves from other<\/span>s<\/span> but still do their work efficiently. T<\/span>he use of heavy machinery<\/span> also helped with another strategy \u2013 bringing debris to the streets. <\/span>G<\/span>overnment<\/span> workers<\/span> typically can<\/span>not<\/span> pick up debris from private properties, so the<\/span> contractors hired by the<\/span> T<\/span>ennessee government clear<\/span>ed<\/span> wreckage<\/span> from the tornadoes on public roads.<\/span> Volunteers <\/span>from groups such as <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> play a key role in maximizing taxpayer resources to<\/span> make the tornado response as eff<\/span>icient<\/span> as possible<\/span> by moving otherwise unreachable debris from private property to the public right-of-way<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As work continues in Cookeville,<\/span> and in every community in which LDR affiliates <\/span>work<\/span> with after disasters<\/span>,<\/span> the people are always the focus. <\/span>According to Burgess,<\/span> \u201cThe heart of <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> is not to come and put a band-aid on it, but we want to come and see people restored, back in their homes, and thriving.\u201d<\/span> Currently, <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> is finishing up immediate relief and debris clean-up and looking ahead to long-term recovery in the area.<\/span> With the pandemic still an issue, the recovery phase will also look different from in the past.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Luckily, Burgess has a passionate <\/span>group<\/span> of dedicated volunteers <\/span>and a leadership team <\/span>to get the <\/span>work<\/span> done.<\/span> Many members of the leadership team <\/span>have full-time jobs,<\/span> yet<\/span> they still find ways to<\/span> concentrate<\/span> on tornado <\/span>relief and <\/span>recovery. <\/span>The assistant director of the <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> response team in Cookeville<\/span> is<\/span> Randy<\/span> Adams,<\/span> who is also<\/span> work<\/span>ing<\/span> his<\/span> full-time<\/span> telecommunications job remotely from the disaster <\/span>headquarters. <\/span>His wife<\/span>, <\/span>Debbie<\/span>,<\/span> works<\/span> as a case manager for <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span>.<\/span> The <\/span>volunteer coordinator<\/span>, Johnny Harrison,<\/span> is a local middle school teacher<\/span>; with schools <\/span>switching to remote learning<\/span> in the spring, he <\/span>took the time to give back to his community<\/span>. <\/span>Burgess emphasizes that t<\/span>he volunteers<\/span>, from all groups and faith-based organizations,<\/span> are truly the heart of disaster<\/span> response<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe laborers in the field are <\/span>Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Baptist, Mennonite, Amish<\/span>. We have had all different denominations. This is not an individual denomination, but this has truly been a body of Christ coming together and ministering together and not worried about who gets the credit. And it\u2019s just a beautiful, beautiful way that I believe the Lord can take disaster and crisis and turn it into a means of <\/span>love.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After disasters in the United States and around the world, <\/span>LDR affiliates and ecumenical partners<\/span> such as <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> a<\/span>ccompany communities <\/span>in immediate relief, long-term recovery, and resiliency projects. <\/span>From clearing debris<\/span> and<\/span> rebuilding <\/span>homes to planning for future disaster mitigation, LDR and its affiliates <\/span>take the necessary steps to accompany communities in upheaval through<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>hope, <\/span>healing<\/span>,<\/span> and <\/span>renewal.<\/span> As<\/span> demonstrated<\/span> by the volunteers of <\/span>Inspiritus<\/span> and other affiliat<\/span>es<\/span>, Lutheran Disaster Response<\/span> is prepared to care.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Disaster Strikes On March 2-3, 2020, Tennessee was battered by a series of tornadoes. Inspiritus, an affiliate social ministry organization of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), was one of the first response groups to arrive on the scene in Cookeville, TN, which was devastated by an EF2 tornado. Four months later, the impacted communities are moving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9164,9159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","category-south","category-domestic-regions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Rules, Same Game<\/h4>\n
People Helping People<\/h4>\n
Prepared to Care<\/h4>\n