Today I was in Reliant Center, working the volunteer registration and check-in areas. Pictures are posted below.

One thing I’ve noticed is that things change every day at Reliant Park. Systems that were in place one day may be completely different the next. A station that was set up on the first floor might be on the third floor tomorrow. It’s definitely confusing, and sometimes frustrating, but I think everything’s become more and more organized.

First of all, some quick background….evacuees sent to the Astrodome area are housed in one of three buildings comprising what is known as Reliant Park: the Astrodome, Reliant Center and Reliant Arena. I think all of the buildings in Reliant Park are being used for the evacuees except for Reliant Stadium. So anyways, when they talk about the evacuees at the Astrodome, they’re referring to any one of those three buildings. Here’s a map of the complex for reference.

This picture was taken at the corner of Kirby and McKnee, the main entrance into the Reliant Park area. I was trying to take a picture of the sign saying “Welcome to Reliant Park,” but caught something else…..the red car in the picture pulled up next to a family standing on the corner and handed them bags full of items from the nearby Fiesta grocery store. Members of the family had looks of happy surprise as a passenger in the car reached out, hugged the mother, and then drove away. It’s those little gestures of kindness that overwhelm me.

This is the entrance into Reliant Park. Guards stop all cars to ask who we’re with, then we’re routed to wherever we need to go…volunteer check-in, medical, etc.

They’ve become more strict with security, and now only emergency and “official” vehicles are allowed next to the Astrodome area. Also, they’re making all volunteers register in one place, which has made things much more organized. I think it’s a good thing that they’ve closed off the rest of Reliant Park to general traffic. Reliant Park has become like a little city, with people and families walking to and from the different buildings. I’m sure it’s safer with less vehicles zipping around.

Of videos:

• My boss (”T”) and I were filmed as part of a FEMA emergency response video which will be aired on DISH Tv in October or November. The purpose of the video was to follow volunteers through the process of registering and then going to help somewhere. So, we had a camera crew following us around for a while. “T” was the “star” of the video and I was her “friend that she runs into who is also volunteering.” They followed us through registration, orientation and then as we organized clothes.

Bras:

• At one point, “T” and I sat down in the volunteer staging area, munching on some donuts. We were sitting in the middle of a huge row of chairs, and the camera crew was standing off to the side about 20 feet away. “T” leans over and whispers, “You know, it’s such a good thing I wore a bra today. I haven’t worn a bra in, like, 10 years, but something told me to wear one today….” All of a sudden, one of the camera guys is waving his arms, pointing at his ears, and cracking up. We had forgotten “T” was wearing a microphone, so the entire camera crew heard her. I was laughed so hard, I almost fell out of the chair.

Personal Shoppers:

• As part of the training video, we were assigned to the distribution center. This is where donated clothes, shoes, toys and books were being sorted and distributed. The room was HUGE, and literally wall-to-wall full of boxes of donated items. It was quite a sight.
• Adjacent to the distribution center was one of the sleeping areas for Reliant Center. This room was probably three times bigger than the distribution center, and filled with green sleeping cots.
• Stationed at the doors separating the distribution center and the sleeping area were volunteers known as “Personal Shoppers.” Families would hand a wish-list of items to a Personal Shopper, who would then run back into the distribution center and fill the order. One such list might read,
  “Girl, age 7. Size 6.
  - 3 tshirts, 4 pants, 1 pajama top
  - 1 coloring book
  - 2 pairs of shoes, size small”
  and so on for each family member. The Personal Shopper would go through the different sections of clothing, putting together a temporary “wardrobe.”
• “T” and I spent some time helping organize the clothes into various sections - Boys 6-10, Girls 4-8, Men’s Small, Women’s Medium, Infants, etc., etc. In each row of clothes were big cardboard boxes labeled “TRASH” for all the nasty-ass clothes that were donated. I’m not talking about ugly clothes - I’m talking about clothes with huge, dark stains on them or torn holes or god-awful smells. It’s great that people want to donate, but why donate what is essentially trash? I wasn’t sure why the coordinators were distributing latex gloves to everyone, but I soon understood why….some of those clothes really, really, really needed to be washed. Only clean clothes were distributed to evacuees.
• It really taught me the importance of WASHING THINGS BEFORE YOU DONATE THEM.

This is a portion of the distribution center. Our job was to organize the clothes into sections according to gender/size. We also used those cardboard boxes to throw away dirty, unusable clothes.

Scary Minnie Mouse:

• At one point, “T” walked up and said “Minnie Mouse is in the ladies room, and she’s looking for balls to give out to kids.” Some woman had flown in from Santa Barbara with a homemade Minnie Mouse costume, hoping to hand out toys to kids. Apparently, she does this back in Cali. Somehow, I got roped into helping her distribute coloring books for a while.
• Now, when picturing the costume, the key word to remember is homemade. Minnie Mouse’s head looked like it was made of paper-mache, and had very bizarre proportions. Big, ghostly eyes, sunken cheeks, stretched smile. In other words, Minnie Mouse was scary. Anyone with a fear of clowns would definitely have nightmares.
• Most of the kids loved Minnie and ran screaming (in joy) into her arms. But, there was one little girl who stood off to the side, staring at Minnie. She looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong with Minnie’s head?” “What do you mean?” I asked. The little girl stared at Minnie again and said, “She doesn’t look right.” Then, she marched up right in front of Minnie and yelled, “Hey Minnie! What’s wrong with your head???”
  For the second time today, I was doubled over laughing.

Volunteer Registration:

• After the Scary Minnie incident, I ended up at the Volunteer Registration desk. Our job was to check for photo IDs, get volunteers to sign in, give out volunteer wristbands, and direct people to orientation.
• A woman from Katy (a suburb outside of Houston) came in with three 17yr olds. The volunteer coordinator told her she wouldn’t be able to volunteer with them because they were under age. Katy Woman threw a fit. “ARE YOU TELLING ME I DROVE ALL THE WAY HERE FROM KATY WITH THREE TEENAGERS, AND WE CAN’T VOLUNTEER??” “Sorry, ma’am,” said the volunteer coordinator. “WELL, THIS IS BULLSH*T! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT. I AM GOING TO TAKE THESE GIRLS AND WE ARE GOING TO VOLUNTEER.” Then, she stomped out, dragging the three embarassed girls behind her. The volunteer coordinator she screamed at just shrugged. “When security sees that none of them have their volunteer wristbands on, they’ll escort them off the property.”
• There were tons and tons of volunteers today. A steady stream. There were even volunteers that had come in after doing a morning shift at George R. Brown Convention Center - on the other side of Downtown.
• People from ALL over the US - and the world - have been flying into Houston to volunteer. A nurse from Albuquerque had flown in that morning. People from Denver and Salt Lake City had driven 17 hours to Houston to help out….each bringing a van full of items to donate. Amazingly, I checked in a woman from my old ‘hood in Brooklyn - CLINTON HILL, yo! She had just flown in the night before….and it turns out she lives LITERALLY RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FROM WHERE I LIVED. I lived on Gates Ave near the Cambridge Street corner…..she lives on Cambridge Street near the Gates Ave corner. As we were talking, this college kid (who had just flown in from Boston) said, “wow, that’s, like, crazy dude.” There were also people from Washington, Florida, Michigan, and two people from Mexico. And just before I left, I checked in three journalists from Japan who had literally just driven in from Houston Intercontinental Airport and were looking to volunteer. It’s amazing, these gestures of support.

This is a picture of the volunteer registration area. I’m sitting at the main registration desk. In the far right corner is the general volunteer orientation session. It lasts about 5-10 minutes, and they give general instructions and rules. Afterwards, volunteers were sent over to the volunteer staging area (to the left, not in the picture) where someone would announce projects over a microphone, and people could volunteer as needed. For example, someone might announce “I need 10 people in food service,” and the first 10 people to volunteer would get the job. The scene over there got pretty competitive at times - but in a goodnatured, friendly way. Everyone wanted a job, and when they’d ask for 10 people, 30 people would run up.

Celebrities:

• At one point, a guy came up to the desk to register. He was sweaty, dirty and wearing sunglasses. “I was told I needed to sign in. I’ve been here since early this morning, but I didn’t sign in at the time.” His voice sounded strangely familiar. I handed him the sign-in sheet, and watched him write his name: Steve Guttenberg . “Hey, I thought that was you,” I said. He smiled, “Yeah.” I asked him what they had him doing, and he said he had been handing out food, wiping down cots, cleaning up sleeping areas, and just sitting and talking with people. “I’m here to see what else they need me to do,” he said. We had a nice exchange, then he literally ran off to get a new volunteer assignment. He seemed like a very cool guy.
• My boss volunteered with Sean Penn on Monday. Like Steve Guttenberg, he was alone and just blended himself into the throngs of volunteers to lend a hand. My boss’s partner lives next door to him in California, so they talked for a while. Apparently, Sean was so pissed about the [lack of] response he was seeing, he rented a private plane to fly into New Orleans (which he did, successfully, despite FEDERAL relief efforts being unable to), joined some volunteers there and started rescuing people. Then, he flew to Houston, bought tons of supplies with him, and signed up to volunteer at the Astrodome.
• I realize that celebrities like Oprah, Dr. Phil and Katie Couric (and their cameras) bring important visibility and awareness to what’s happening…..but I also have respect for celebrities like Sean Penn and Steve Guttenberg that just jump in and help out where they can.
• One of my coworkers met Hilary Clinton on Monday. As she was escorting Hilary and her entourage to the medical clinic, a little old man from New Orleans ran up to Hilary, grabbed her hand, and said, “Thank you, Mrs. Bush, for everything you’ve done for us!!” Very cute According to my coworker, Hilary just smiled and stopped to talk with him for a bit. Yay for Hilary.
• Despite my decision to stop following the media, I caught a little bit of CNN today. Dr. Phil was on. The man annoys me. Even more than Rita Cosby. blech.

And other random thoughts:
Here’s a summary of what they’re telling volunteers during Orientation:

• The people from New Orleans are our GUESTS - not refugees or evacuees. They emphasized this a few times. My boss and I discussed this issue of terminology, and we think it may be due to a backlash (from conservatives) against County Judge Eckels for allowing the evacuees - “or, “guests” - into Houston. The argument is that crime will go up, crowded schools will become more crowded, blah, blah. Personally, I don’t know what the problem with “evacuees” is, since it acknowledges the severity of what’s happened. I suppose they might be trying to instill the famous “Texan Hospitality” into everyone….but I have a feeling there’s something else.
• The only problem with weapons was a volunteer who brought a knife in with him. He refused to give up his knife, and was arrested. They didn’t say this in the orientation session, but I suspect the volunteer brought the knife thinking he might need some self-protection.
• Do not offer your cell phones for use. Previously, random volunteers were taping signs to their backs that said I HAVE A CELL PHONE YOU CAN USE and walking through the evacuee areas. I’ve seen free phone booths and other communication areas set up by companies like Verizon, SW Bell and Yahoo, so maybe they’re trying to route people there. Also, I think they’re trying to get everyone registered into the e-search databases to facilitate people finding each other, so maybe sending people to designated phone areas ensures that everyone is registered.
• If you find a lost child, do not pick her/him up. Find a designated official, and let them know the child is lost. This is for the child’s safety. Oh, I forgot to mention that the nursery I worked next to is for children who are assumed to be orphans.
• Do not volunteer for more than 5 hours at a time. They cautioned against burn-out, and said they’d rather have people come back every day for a few hours, rather than working in long stints.
• You must be at least 18 years old to volunteer. Apparently, it’s a FEMA regulation. Anyone under 18yrs had to be turned away.
• It is safe to volunteer. The guy giving the orientation said several time that he felt safe enough to bring his 14 year old daughter to volunteer. They were doing a good job of dispelling some of the scary rumors going around about how the Astrodome area is dangerous.

This man is going over the basic instructions and rules during volunteer orientation. In a few minutes he’ll hand over the microphone to the fire marshall, who will basically tell us not to throw lit cigarettes into trashcans.