| Melissa's Experience: After raising 5 children and managing the logistics of an extremely active household, I became very active in Disaster Relief work. In 2005, I began to lead teams of volunteers to the Gulf Coast to do recovery and repair on homes destroyed by Katrina. As the Director of our Disaster Relief team, we made over 40 trips and managed about 200 volunteers to rebuild homes.This was done until August of 2009.In May of 2010, when the flood hit the Nashville area, I was immediately compelled into action based on previous experience. In the Southeast Nashville area, churches and organizations formed a partnership to do recovery and later decided to do the rebuild as well. I became the Operations Manager for the task of sending 100's of volunteers out into the community for rebuilding. Southeast Nashville Recovery was officially born and eventually, I became the Executive Director. Working closely with support from Hands on Nashville and the Davidson County Long Term Recovery Team, I led the flood recovery in the Southeast Nashville Area. We employed 6 general contractors who managed the work at job sites and we housed teams of volunteer weekly to accomplish this task. We ended our work in August of 2012, after the completion of 312 homes.Some of my skills include non-profit management, volunteer management, and needs based services. I also have experience in dealing with vulnerable and under-served populations. I have served in an ED capacity since its inception. |
