Ready to Go. No Questions

The One Who has an All Hands and Hearts Gear Section in her closet.

April 12, 2019

Ashley carries a bag of debris out of a home in Mission, TX

In winter of 2016, wildfires ravaged Gatlinburg, Tennessee leaving homes completely obliterated, and reduced to chimney stacks with charred candle sticks of trees in the yards. Ashley took time from her career in IT to volunteer with All Hands and Hearts to respond to these fires, aiding residents in sifting through the remnants of their homes for anything that might not have burned. This disaster shifted her focus to service as she fell in love with the organization and the people that worked for it. Fast forward a year and she’s waiting to board one of the first planes allowed back into the Virgin Islands after the travel ban had been lifted after Hurricanes Irma and Maria did their damage.

After the wildfires in Tennessee came flooding in Van Buren, Missouri and recovery work in Louisiana. She experienced an array of projects with wide scopes and found that her real drive for disasters came from the response immediately after the storm. Her passion thrives off the physical and emotional stress of rapid response, eager to help those experiencing such hardship and trauma. When the Caribbean faced ruin in fall of 2017 Ashley was set to join DART and be some of the first boots on the ground. When traveling into the disaster zone, her dedication is palpable and sense of urgency, contagious.

She knew of the Virgin Islands’ reputation as being paradise-like, but as she flew over the landscape, she only saw hues of brown. The leaves of the trees were gone, along with the roofs of homes. Even planes were overturned on the runway they landed on. This was a disaster zone. They drove, the hills steep and crowded with fallen power lines and first responders still working to clear roadways. She stayed for three months on sabbatical from her career, giving her time to support forgotten islanders with an organization that serves all. Her phone rang one day, a call she’d been expecting. It was her job calling to tell her to come back to work and leave the relief to the other volunteers. Ashley hadn’t spoken it aloud just yet, but when asked to go back she, without hesitation, declined and chose, instead, to quit her career and volunteer full time. In the moment, the words were difficult to say, but the weight off of her shoulders was immediate and there was truly no question about it.

The team arrived at the home with an inch of water still standing. Ashley helps to remove debris and damaged belongings.

Her attitude coming into the following DARTs for Tropical Storm Lane, Hurricane Florence, and Hurricane Michael mirrored her preparedness of St. Thomas. Huge storms were coming and she felt feelings of helplessness and fear for residents who were not used to such extreme weather and its consequences. In Hawaii, the tight-knit communities that comprise island life demonstrated extreme resilience in sight of extreme weather and the added air of aloha gave the entire response a sense of family and confidence. There’s a genuine tone behind all interactions that emanates commitment, trust, and patience and to be invited into that culture and serve that community is a privilege.