Due to evacuations and school closures, many students in the Far Rockaways missed valuable classroom time. We’re recently added five sessions where you can help them make up for lost time. Morning Math at MS 53 Q in the Far Rockaways is a great opportunity to give students the one on one time they desperately need.

April is a big month for students across the city, as important state tests are conducted at the end of the month. On Friday and Tuesday mornings, you can guide students through math problems to get them prepared.

The recovery is more than rebuilding homes and buildings. It’s also supporting social services to make our city stronger than ever. Sign up today to continue rebuilding.

By Susan Torres

You’ve heard about our muck out and mold removal projects. But there are many more projects that are helping in the longterm Sandy recovery. Like our Rockaway Readers Club, which works with students displaced by Sandy to increase their reading comprehension skills. The project meets every Saturday, and the Team Leader, Selma Erey, wrote the following post about the most recent session:

Last Saturday, our Rockaway Readers Club members read about Palm Sunday, Passover, and the Persian New Year, Nowruz, which all take place in late March. New York Cares volunteers Ersi, Tomoyo, Liz, and Stella, worked with students teaching them new words. The group also wrote about and discussed their favorite holidays and how they celebrate them.

Our volunteers got the members so deeply engaged in what they were doing that they did not want to leave at 3:30 p.m.! We promised them we will be doing it again next Saturday.

Most of these kids were greatly affected by Hurricane Sandy. You’re help would really be appreciated. Sign up for a Rockaway Readers Club project today.

By Selma Erey

School can be a second home for many students, so it’s no wonder the more than 800 students from PS 207 Q in Howard Beach were excited to return “home” last week. Hurricane Sandy left it’s impact on the school when water flooded the basement and caused oil tanks to rupture. The K-8 students were relocated to two host schools for more than two months, so when they were finally allowed back at PS 207 Q, we decided to make their return a little fun by hosting a carnival.

Last Friday our staff organized a homecoming festival to welcome the students back and Barclay’s volunteers, a group of AmeriCorps, and a New York Cares volunteer signed up to help make sure the day ran smoothly. Students had a blast enjoying two moon bounces, carnival booth games, an inflatable basketball hoop, skeeball, arts and crafts, face painting, sports, and more. One of our volunteers played DJ to get everyone on the dance floor. And no carnival would be complete without popcorn, cotton candy, and pop rocks.

The day was a great opportunity to give back to students who have been through so much in the past couple of months. A big thank you to everyone who came out to make the day special for everyone at PS 207 Q.

You can continue to help in the recovery by signing up for a Hurricane Sandy relief project today.

By Lea Giddins and Susan Torres

While we’re finishing up mucking out homes in the Rockaways, we’re also beginning to turn our attention to the next phase: mold removal. Our disaster team and Team Leaders have been trained in mold treatment, and have already begun the process. Here are the 5 major steps involved in mold treatment.

1. Scouting the house

The mold treatment offered through New York Cares is free, and residents can request volunteers to remove mold if they can’t afford to pay for the service. Once a resident requests volunteers, our staff goes to check out the site to assess how many volunteers will be needed, how much work needs to be done, and if the house is actually ready for mold removal.

2. Pumping out the air

While mold removal happens, it’s important to set up an air pump to get the mold particles out of the area you’re working in. A huge hepa filter is set up in the room to catch the mold spores.

3. Vacuuming the mold

The first step in treating mold involves vacuuming the affected area. A team of two or three volunteers can tackle vacuuming while other preparations are being made, so a bigger area is ready for the next step.

4. Spraying and scrubbing

After the walls and ceilings are vacuumed, it’s time to spray and scrub. Mold is treated with a nontoxic solution, scrubbed with a brush, and wiped down.

5. Drying period

After the mold is treated, the area treated must dry out.

The entire process can take 4-5 days, and there are a lot of houses that need mold treatment. Sign up today to make sure residents in the Rockaways can continue the rebuilding process.

By Susan Torres

If you’ve been on a disaster recovery project, you’ve met Dakotah West, Seth Shapiro, and Carol Chang. Whether working at the Office of Emergency Management days after the storm hit, organizing buses of volunteers from City Hall, or running our muck out operation from various parking lots in the Rockaways, they’ve been working hard since November. Which is why sometimes they need to take a break and blow off some steam. Last week they had a photoshoot on our new base, recreating famous pictures using our disaster tools. Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments: 

Washington Crossing the Delaware:

American Gothic:

The Birth of Venus

The Moon Landing:

The Creation of Adam:

Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima

Bonus image: Seth and Dakotah in gif form.

Want to help in the recovery? Sign up today, and say hi to Dakotah, Seth, and Carol for us!

By Susan Torres

After Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York, volunteers came from all over the city – and in some cases the country – to help out. Some people had volunteered with us before, and some were brand new. Craig Novoa is a Brooklyn native who has been volunteering with us for years. He knew he had to get to work when he saw his neighborhood in devastation. Read on for a first-hand account of his experience.

As a Sheepshead Bay resident and long standing New York Cares volunteer, I gathered a group of local residents together on December 16th to Gerritsen Beach to help muck out homes of families who were affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The team worked hard mucking-out and clearing debris from storm damaged homes in the area to aid in the recovery and restoration process.

It was very important for me as a Brooklyn native, to inspire others in the area to give back to their community. I couldn’t have been more impressed by the hard work of my fellow volunteers, and all the work we got done. If you haven’t helped on a Sandy recovery project yet, you definitely should.

By Craig Novoa

We all know it’s important to give back, especially around the holidays. One volunteer submitted the following story, highlighting just how important our Sandy relief work is – and the power volunteering and giving back can have on a family.

I peer out the window as we enter a residential neighborhood; we pass house after house with yellow coded inspection signs posted prominently on the doors. We round a corner and pull up in front of a modest brown house. A small man stands outside with broom in hand, sweeping debris into a neat pile; he stops and watches as we park. I notice he looks just slightly older than my parents, his face weathered. A few volunteers have already arrived and move around in the small cluttered front yard filled with supplies, bottled water, and a few plastic chairs. We join the group and are given masks and gloves and are led down a few rotting wooden stairs and into the house. The drywall and insulation have already been removed; dots of mold are visible on some of the walls. All the doors and windows are open for ventilation. Loose nails hang from the wooden paneling amidst bits of insulation. It’s dim inside with just a few light sockets on one cord strung along a side wall providing light. It’s hard to imagine that only weeks ago people lived in this house, this home.

Our project for the day is to finish stripping the floors, remove nails and the remaining loose debris from the walls, and to sweep and vacuum. We set about our assigned tasks and work away the morning. We break for lunch just after noon, and gather out front. The man with the broom, I learn, is the owner of this property. He offers, insists, on providing us with lunch, but everyone politely declines, opting for our bagged lunches. As I’m finishing my sandwich, the man approaches me, and we begin to chat. He tells me he and his wife have lived in this house for several years. He tells me they almost drowned during the storm. Their home is now uninhabitable, he and his wife stay with friends, sleeping on their couch. He pauses then says, “It’s good of people to come help someone like me – to come to do this for someone they don’t know.” Looking at me sheepishly, he admits, “I never really believed people wanted to help other people.” And as he averts his gaze,”…but now, now I start to think differently.”

After a short lunch break, we head back in to the house and resume our duties. Cleaning as much as possible will help the drying out process we’re told. Once the house is dried out and remaining mold destroyed, if inspections are passed, new sheetrock can be brought in to begin restoration. By mid afternoon we’re bringing out the last bags of garbage and collecting equipment to be brought to the next site for tomorrow. As we finish up, someone asks to take some pictures. We gather as a group in front of the house. The man hobbles down the rickety stairs and joins us, front and center, a wide smile spread across his face.

Over 15 years of volunteering, few experiences have been quite as rewarding as this one, for the work is about more than rebuilding a home, it’s also about rebuilding faith. As the holiday season continues, I hope many others will join in the recovery efforts and get to experience what I have – the best gift I will both give and receive this year.

Submitted by a volunteer

Now more than a month after Hurricane Sandy swept through New York City and left its trail of devastation, many neighborhoods have since hummed back into a normal routine. But for the residents in Far Rockaway, Queens, the storm’s aftermath is still a daily reality as folks struggle to rebuild their homes.

With the scars of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina barely healed, no one is better acquainted with long-term disaster recovery – and the importance of good friends, food, and music in the midst of trials – than the residents of New Orleans.

As NOLA city officials witnessed the all-too-familiar scenes of destruction play out on the East Coast, they knew they wanted to help ease the burden of the Hurricane Sandy victims and share the hope of recovery with those who have been most affected by the storm. Through NOLA Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s “New Orleans Pay It Forward” aid program, they reached out to New York Cares to help organize a “Party to Remember” last Saturday at Middle School 53 for hundreds of families and residents in Far Rockaway.

And no one throws a party quite like our friends in The Big Easy. The city of New Orleans brought in some of its finest, award-winning chefs to cook a delicious buffet of Creole and Cajun fare, and the renowned Stooges Brass Band provided live jazz music that sparked nonstop dance parties and at least one conga line. New York Cares recruited volunteers to decorate, serve food, pass out gifts and raffle prizes, and run family-friendly arts and activities. 

Mayor Landrieu himself stopped by to personally meet and chat with the locals and even took a spin on the dance floor (Pictured right). Santa Claus also made an appearance to pass along some holiday cheer.

We’d like to offer our sincere gratitude to Mayor Landrieu and the city of New Orleans, the amazing chefs that donated their time and talents, and all the hardworking volunteers that helped make this special and memorable event a reality. You’ve been an incredible encouragement as we face long road to recovery in Far Rockaway, and you’ve inspired us to continue to “pay it forward” to our neighbors here in New York City and beyond!

By Joshua Winata

For victims of a disaster, restoring normalcy is a key part of the recovery process. You can provide a little normal this season by sponsoring a Christmas tree for a family in the Rockaways affected by Hurricane Sandy. Trees provided by Anne’s Treeland, a local family owned and operated Christmas tree lot in Rego Park, will be brought to a site in the Rockaways where families can pick out a tree, children can decorate ornaments, and all can participate in holiday fun on Saturday, December 15th. You can bring joy to a family in this time of need by sponsoring their tree. Help us make the season brighter!

Timely and accurate information is crucial for residents still reeling after Hurricane Sandy. That’s why LawHelp.org/NY has compiled a new list of resources so New Yorkers can easily find agencies providing legal assistance. The resources are updated daily and provide information on everything from how to replace spoiled food purchased with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), how to access disaster unemployment assistance, report price gouging to the New York State Attorney General, and more. 

This information is provided to the public through a combination of LawHelp/NY blogs in English and Spanish, and from the website’s new Disaster Recovery and Relief topic area. LawHelp/NY also provides LiveHelp, online, real-time chat assistance. LawHelp/NY volunteer navigators are able to provide personalized service and lead visitors directly to the disaster and recovery resources they most need.          

You can find Hurricane Sandy resources here:

• The news and information blog MyNewYorkLegalHelp.com gives current information on disaster benefits, neighborhood assistance, and legal help.
• A calendar of free disaster-related legal clinics throughout NYC and disaster-affected areas can be found at mynewyorklegalhelp.com/nydisasterlegalclinics.
• Visit the new Disaster Recovery and Relief topic on LawHelp.org/NY for a collection of in-depth Know Your Rights informational resources and legal aid organizations providing assistance in your area.

Many legal aid organizations are stepping up to help victims of Hurricane Sandy with a wide range of problems. We hope these resources will help those in affected areas in the recovery efforts.