April 20, 2011
Corridor Recovery Transitions
In 2008, Corridor Recovery was founded by a group of civic leaders during the Flood of 2008 and I was honored to serve as CEO. Corridor Recovery coordinated over 5000 volunteers, with 160,000 hours spent cleaning over 1500 homes, businesses and churches, culminating in the creation of the Linn County Volunteer Center. It co-founded the Linn County Long-Term Recovery Coalition, which helped over 1500 families get back on their feet. It led “Operation Hope” during the darkest days of what was the 4th largest natural disaster in US history, to remind the city that even in the darkest of times, the light of hope remained strong.
We rewrote the playbook in Cedar Rapids. Red Cross recommended we not enter homes…we did anyhow. State government recommended we be careful to not cross “church and state” lines in cleaning up churches…we did anyhow. One big business questioned the appropriateness of its volunteers “mucking out” small businesses that didn’t have proper insurance…we did anyhow. We just did what was right. The community never let us down.
As we approach the three year anniversary of the Flood of 2008, and mark the end of the three years that civic and business leaders asked me to lead it, we begin a transition. The majority of remaining funds have been dispersed to the Hope Community Development Association (Hope CDA) which is continuing rebuilding homes in the flood zone. Though 90% of the homes have been rebuilt, torn down or marked for green zone acquisition by the City of Cedar Rapids, that means there 500 homes left to rebuild. Half of those are outside the but-out zone, and after three years need immediate attention. Hope CDA offers a “hand up” rather than hand outs, and requires that home owners put sweat equity into the home repair, alongside the construction supplies, expertise and volunteer help from Hope CDA.
The Board of Directors of Corridor Recovery has voted to shift day-to-day control to the leadership of Serve the City, Cedar Rapids’ largest volunteer organization. During the flood, first responders took to calling it “Save the City,” as its partnership with police and fire departments during the frantic hours leading to the flood surge resulted in a 100% success rate in saving lives out of the evacuation zone. Just last week, I heard another mention of “Save the City” as it continues to train disaster volunteers, fund leadership training and prepare for the next disaster. (A nuclear energy event? Those big boxes in Palo look an awful lot like Japan’s design. Serve the City will be ready.) Charles Daugherty, Serve the City’s President, will take over day-to-day operations for Corridor Recovery.
I was once asked how we knew what to do, when facing unprecedented destruction. I said, “It’s a “Stand in the Gap” business model. Do what no one else is ready to do, and find who can provide the long-term solution. Then back away and give other people and organizations the credit.”
More simply, when the Corridor Recovery staff would gather for difficult decisions, we had four values by which we made hard decisions: Humility. Unity. Christlikeness. Prayer. Those were the bedrocks of Corridor Recovery. They are the bedrocks of civic servant leadership. And though folks want to know about statistics and measurable results, those values are the ultimate standards by which Corridor Recovery measured itself. Often falling short, of course. But never, in three years, wavering in commitment to helping Linn County and Cedar Rapids recover from its greatest trial.
Please support Hope CDA, Serve the City and Corridor Recovery by donating your time, treasures and talents to making Cedar Rapids a great home town for all generations.
