The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Vinton, Iowa - Maya Garcia, of Waitsburg, is one of 190 Vinton-based young people serving in the nation's second class of FEMA Corps; a new unit of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) solely devoted to emergency management and long-term recovery activities.

During her 10-month term of service, Garcia, 21, is providing important support to disaster survivors and gaining significant training and professional experience in emergency management.

Serving on teams of 10 to 12 people, FEMA Corps members both travel to di- saster-affected communities and support longer-term re- covery operations across the country. Projects range from working directly with disas- ter survivors to administra- tive disaster management tasks to sharing disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public.

"Garcia is part of a historic new chapter in the his- tory of national service that will enhance our nation's disaster capabilities and give thousands of young people the opportunity to serve their country and gain valu- able skills and experience for their future careers," said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "I commend Maya for answering the call to serve and making a difference for people and communities af- fected by disasters."

" FEMA Corps will strengthen the nation's di- saster response by providing a dedicated, trained and reliable workforce to support disaster survivors and im- pacted communities during their greatest time of need," said FEMA Deputy Ad- ministrator Richard Serino. "We have seen first-hand the value they have brought in assisting survivors follow- ing Hurricane Sandy and other disasters."

Garcia arrived at the AmeriCorps NCCC North Central Region campus in Vinton on August 20 and is receiving specialized train- ing in the area of disaster survivor assistance. Garcia is nearing the end of her initial six week training, ending on September 29. Starting on September 30, Garcia will begin serving on her first FEMA Corps project which will run through December 7. Garcia will serve on several FEMA projects before graduating from FEMA Corps on June 3.

FEMA Corps, a new unit within AmeriCorps NCCC that launched in Fall 2012, is an innovative partner- ship between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). People ages 18 to 24 from around the nation provide 10 months of full- time service on emergency management projects. The program will engage 1,600 members annually when fully operational next year.

All 42 FEMA Corps teams that started last fall deployed to New York and New Jersey immediate- ly after Hurricane Sandy and provided vital support to disaster survivors. In their first 10 weeks, FEMA Corps members conducted more than 11,700 case reviews, collected or distrib- uted more than 400,000 gallons of water, distributed more than 14,000 education materials or preparedness kits, answered more than 4,500 FEMA registration or helpline calls, and assisted more than 261,000 disaster survivors.

Prior to joining FEMA Corps, Garcia graduated from Waitsburg High School in June 2010 and attended Western Washing- ton University, where she was working on a degree in Psychology. When asked why she joined, Garcia said, "I chose a year of service at this time in my life because I wanted to take a step back from what I was currently doing. I have just been accepted into the Psychology department at Western Washington University, but I wanted to get more experience outside of the things, places, and people that I am used to." Maya is the daughter of Roger and Maria Garcia.

After completing 1,700 hours of service, FEMA Corps members will receive a $5,550 Segal Ameri- Corps Education Award to pay for tuition or student loans. FEMA Corps oper- ates out of five regional NCCC campuses: Sacramento, Calif .; Denver, Colo .; Vinton, Iowa; Perry Point, Md .; and, Vicksburg, Miss., but deploys teams nationally wherever the disaster-related need is the greatest. For more informa- tion about FEMA Corps or AmeriCorps NCCC, or to apply online, visit www.nationalservice.gov.