Volunteers check on Millville residents during MLK Day

Jan. 22--PANAMA CITY -- More than 100 days after Hurricane Michael, volunteers going door to door in a Millville neighborhood are still taking in the damage.

The volunteers -- who walk in the road when piles of tree limbs and other debris cover the sidewalk -- are looking for information about how bad the damage is, because while the physical signs of the damage are everywhere, officials still are struggling to quantify the impacts it has had on residents.

"Our goal is to talk to as many citizens as possible as we go door to door with questionnaires to gather information about the condition of their dwelling and their access to resources," said AmeriCorps Goodwill GoodWorks! Director Samuel Jackson Jr., who coordinated the event. "Having this information will assist community leaders in building a comprehensive plan that best utilizes all resources."

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a day of service for agencies like AmeriCorps and GoodWorks. In past years, volunteers from these organizations have painted homes in the community and done basic maintenance work, but Hurricane Michael changed the nature of this year's service project. Volunteers split into teams of two people who canvassed sections of the neighborhood.

When volunteers knocked on a door on College Avenue in Panama City, Richard Colon answered the door on behalf of his girlfriend's grandmother. He said they were doing OK.

"They just replaced the roof a week or two ago. There's still places down Tyndall Parkway, closer to (Tyndall Air Force) Base, you can still see it's kind of damaged. I don't know if there's certain sections they can't get to," said Colon. "It seems like they got to some places faster than others. You go to 23rd Street, that got cleaned up pretty quick. Over here, it took a while. We had branches and stuff right across the street until probably a week or so ago."

Volunteers asked if people got FEMA assistance and had insurance, determined how badly damaged homes were and logged other information.

"I think it's really important for us to be not only members of the community but proactively working to make the community a better place for not only our friends, co-workers and families but for those we don't know," said Goodwill Big Bend online course director Joseph D'Aurora, one of the volunteers who talked to residents. "We're lucky to work in a nonprofit who not only does training and job searching, but can help direct you to other resources you might need."

Information collected from residents will be shared with local officials to assist with the recovery. The project is a joint effort between the City of Panama City's Community Development Department, Doorways of Northwest Florida and AmeriCorps Goodwill Goodworks!.

In addition to the canvasing, several other groups held events to honor the civil rights leader. ACURE held its annual MLK Festival at Sharon Sheffield Park in Lynn Haven. FEMA Corps members still in the area volunteered at Heartland Rescue Ranch.

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