Closing the circle with Jumpstart

By Kay Fisk

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When I sit in my office at the new Human Services Campus, I can just barely see the corner of the Ground Transportation Center (GTC) where Neighborhood Transportation Service, Inc. (NTS) was located before the flood of 2008. We provide transportation at night and on weekends after the city transit is not in service.

Although the main office in the GTC was not spacious, it was convenient for our riders, many of whom utilized the city buses. Our drivers' office was located in the nearby parking ramp and our vans and buses were in a lot by the police station. As the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, we were coming off our best year ever, providing 57,149 rides. Life was good!

On June 12, 2008, everything changed. I watched on television as water swirled around the GTC, knowing the computers and other items we had carefully placed on our desks and tables were certainly going to be destroyed. Our vehicles were moved to the far west side of town.

The following Monday, we resumed limited service and were allowed to assess the damage to our properties. We were unprepared for what we found. Everything was destroyed.

Suddenly, FEMA, SBA and other disaster-related acronyms were a part of our vocabulary. There were meetings to attend. Stunned, tired eyes met across tables as we listened to suggestions for recovery.

We received emergency assistance from The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation (GCRCF), the United Way and Rockwell Collins, and moved to a temporary location. Later, we moved to the Harambee House but it was not a central location for our clients. We no longer had a multiline phone system to receive incoming calls. Our drivers were literally working out of their vehicles because they no longer had an office.

And then things began to improve. Through rebuilding grants from the Community Foundation, United Way, Rockwell Collins and Alliant Energy, we were able to install a multiline phone, purchase a mobile office for the drivers and build shelters for the vehicles.

Eventually, we had to have a permanent location, ideally one that would be close to downtown and offer access to the city buses. We were asked if we would be interested in becoming a tenant in the new Human Services Campus. We committed and started planning. Despite the excitement of having our own space, we were concerned about how to acquire furnishings.

The story gets even better. I learned of a program with Jumpstart called the Disaster Recovery Equipment Reimbursement Program. The program allowed us to complete the circle of recovery. My first visit with a case worker outlined what I would need to do to receive the maximum amount of reimbursement for the items lost in the flood. We started in June of 2010.

In the months to come I would visit the Jumpstart office many times. I always felt like I was the only person they were working with - never hurried or impersonal, always met with sympathy and understanding. They displayed the same behavior with others. Was it a lot of paperwork? Of course! But I reasoned that if I was asking for funding, they deserved supporting documentation.

When I hear or read negative comments about Jumpstart, I can only assume that these people did not work with Theresa Bornbach or her caring staff. Without their assistance, we would never have been able to replace the many things destroyed by the flood.

NTS has come full circle in its recovery and our ridership has returned to pre-flood figures. So as I sit looking out at the growing city, I can once again say: life is good!

Kay Fisk is the development director at Neighborhood Transportation Service. For the past 9 years she has been a Loaned Executive for the United Way campaign. She is a retiree of Rockwell Collins with 42 years of service. Comments: k.fisk@nts-cr.org