Many of our AmeriCorps members have made cross-country treks to help with the Hurricane Sandy recovery and cleanup. Now one group from the Washington Conservation Corps has had its transition from working on trail projects to helping at a Brooklyn emergency shelter chronicled in The New York Times.

Visit the Times website and read “Driving Cross-Country to Clean Up Debris, but Adapting to Help Run a Shelter” to get a feel for how some of our AmeriCorps members are adjusting to life in New York City. It's inspiring to see how they bring the same energy typically used for outdoor projects to managing a shelter for people with special needs.

“We're used to planting trees along rivers and streams,” Peter Nevin, a leader of the Washington group, said. “We're doing things on the fly and by the seat of our pants, and we're adapting and solving problems. In the first moments, we're figuring out what you know, what you don't know, and what you need to know.”

The Washington Conservation Corps sent 48 AmeriCorps members and staff to assist with community recovery efforts in New York City resulting from Hurricane Sandy.