A&R member and union steward Jamie Findley is a Tax Corrections Examiner 2 at the Department of Revenue Services. With 36 years of state service, Jamie’s commitment to public service goes well beyond the realm of DRS. Jamie is in the A&R Spotlight because of his recent 22 day deployment with the American Red Cross to the devastated island of Puerto Rico.
(Jamie second from left)
Jamie began his American Red Cross training after seeing the destruction that occurred from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The volunteers and first responders of that tragedy inspired Jamie to learn how to “prevent and alleviate human suffering”, as is the mission of the American Red Cross. Although Jamie had become certified for disaster response, he had not served on any deployments prior to 2017. After Hurricane Harvey caused massive flooding in Texas, Jamie took the initiative and contacted the CT chapter of the Red Cross and attended a day long training update on September 5th. Initially, Jamie thought he would be deployed to Texas, or possibly Florida, with Hurricane Irma on a projected path to hit Miami. Meanwhile, Jamie had requested and received prior approval from his agency (DRS) to take up to 15 working days paid leave under C.G.S. 5-249.
After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20th, everything changed. Jamie was notified the next day that within 48 hours he was being deployed to Puerto Rico to assist in disaster relief efforts there. After first flying to a staging area in Atlanta, Jamie and other volunteers from Connecticut flew on to San Juan to begin their mission to “prevent and alleviate human suffering”.
The CT “jump team” ended up performing the role of reconnaissance for disaster assessment. After loading vehicles with bottled water, food, and tarps they would travel into the most remote regions of the island to alleviate some of the residents’ immediate needs and determine future needs. To accomplish this they had to negotiate hazardous conditions such as mudslides, washed out roads, and miles of downed power lines. The CT jump team’s assessments of the area were then uploaded into a database which was used by both the Red Cross and FEMA to plan for additional relief deliveries.
As Jamie described it: “While much of the infrastructure and buildings on the island of Puerto Rico were destroyed by the hurricane, the spirit of the people remains strong. All across the island, everyone said that they would rebuild and move forward. I made a promise to some of my new friends to return and see the island the way I remember it when I first saw it 10 years ago, the Island of Enchantment”.
A&R is proud to call Jamie Findley one of our own.
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