New Yorkers 'pay it forward' after 9/11
Some New Yorkers mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks by
going to a memorial service or observing a moment of silence.
Jeff Parness, left, is a native New Yorker who appreciated the outpouring of support after 9/11.
For the past 10 years, Jeff Parness has been helping others.
Every September, Parness
brings hundreds of volunteers from New York to help another
disaster-stricken community in the United States.
"It was our way of
saying, you know, New Yorkers will never forget what people from around
the country and the world did for us in our time of need after 9/11,"
said Parness, a 2011 CNN Hero. "So that's how the mission started. It was just to pay forward the kindness that we experienced."
Over the past decade, Parness' nonprofit, New York Says Thank You, has assisted victims of wildfires in San Diego, tornadoes in the Midwest and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.
Many of those who receive
help are so inspired that they travel across the country the next year
-- often at their own expense -- to volunteer with Parness' group and
help someone else.
The result is a unique disaster-response organization.
"All of our volunteers
are survivors. They survived, whether it was 9/11 or Katrina or
tornadoes. So they all share that common bond," said Parness, who quit
his job as a venture capitalist to work on his nonprofit full-time.
This year, Parness' mission has come full circle.
Last weekend, more than
300 volunteers -- at least half of whom were from outside the New York
area -- helped rebuild 13 homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy in October.
For Parness, a native New Yorker, the work carried extra significance.
"Being able to travel to
other disaster sites and help people is one thing. When it happens in
your own backyard, you go into shock," he said. "I woke up and realized
this was (like) Hurricane Katrina." He pointed out around 650,000
families in New York and New Jersey had damaged or destroyed homes.
More than 2,000 members
of New York City's police and fire departments were severely impacted by
the storm. And because first responders are a core part of his group's
volunteer base, Parness decided to help them. With the support of
corporations, foundations and private donors, his group is planning to
rebuild 200 homes in all for active-duty first responders in the New
York area.
New York police officer Charlie Sadler and his wife, Gina, lost their home to Sandy. But a new one is on the way.
Police officer Charlie
Sadler and his wife, Gina, had been married for less than three months
when Sandy destroyed their Long Beach home.
"The damage to our home
... sea foam, seaweed, shells and starfish," Charlie Sadler said,
"there's no way to understand the sheer devastation that was in the
house. The mold, the breathing problems ... our home was completely
unlivable."
All of the couple's
wedding gifts were under water as well. Ultimately, the house had to be
razed, and they didn't have the resources to rebuild.
Their challenges
intensified when Gina had a cancer scare in the spring. But on the day
of her exploratory surgery, they got the news that Parness' group would
rebuild their home.
"We couldn't believe
it," Charlie Sadler said. "From sitting in that hospital room and
wondering what was going to happen ... to building a brand new home from
the ground up.
"It's a feeling of elation. It was unbelievable."
More than 100 volunteers
worked on the Sadlers' home last weekend, including Mark Ford, who came
from Slidell, Louisiana, to lend a hand.
Ford, a former police officer, lost his home in Katrina. This is his third volunteer trip with Parness' group.
"(After the storm), I
had a lot of people help me. The Sadlers needed our help, and so here we
are, " Ford said. "Being here gives the Sadlers the confidence to know
that they're not alone in this adventure."
For Parness, bringing people together is the most important part of his work.
"We want to lift up spirits and remember not just the tragedy of (9/11), but also the humanity of 9/12.
"We tell people it's
never about the buildings. It's always about the people. At the end of
the day, it's about giving them hope."
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