Disaster struck 51 students in the middle of the night Oct. 24 when a fire destroyed their rental building in Collegetown, leaving them suddenly homeless and without any of their personal possessions. The next day, the students learned that just about everything they owned was gone: clothes, computers, class notes, family photos, books.
But they did have the help and support of the campus and the community. While the fire was still burning, the Red Cross was on the scene to provide immediate relief in emergency housing and vouchers to buy personal items. Cornell's Environmental Health and Safety unit also was at the fire scene to lend assistance to Ithaca firefighters.
Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire. Ithaca Rentals & Restoration, the management for the building, worked with the Red Cross to help students find housing for the night and then assisted the Cornell campus crisis manager, Tanni Hall, by providing the names of the students involved.
Hall spent the next week working with students and their families to help them put their lives back together. She had plenty of help, especially from the Red Cross, whose workers have remained involved.
"The response from the community, both on and off campus, has just been tremendous," Hall said. "The day after the fire, people from Ithaca were calling me to offer free housing for the students, and other students came forward wanting to know how they could help."
The group Students Helping Students gave vouchers of up to $1,000 to the fire victims. Campus Life offered the students free housing on campus for the rest of the semester and assistance in finding off-campus housing, much of it offered for free.
Counseling and Psychological Services, headed by Philip Meilman, had counselors available immediately. They attended several meetings with the students and were also at the scene of the fire a few days later, when students were allowed back into the building to see what they could salvage.
One of the students' biggest worries -- how the fire would affect their academics -- was also addressed immediately. Associate deans from all the colleges involved, or their representatives, met with the students to tell them that their professors were notified of the disaster and would work with them to help them keep up.
"This was a key point," Hall said. "The thing the students were most worried about was their academics, and you could hear the collective sigh of relief when each of the deans addressed the group."
The Campus Store provided free book loans; "There was applause after this announcement," Hall said. Campus Dining offered free meals. Other units that jumped in to help were the registrar's office, to replace IDs; Campus Police, to help replace licenses; International Students and Scholars, to replace passports; University Health Services, for help with prescriptions; the dean of students office; financial aid office; and others.
The help hasn't stopped coming. Other student groups, as well as faculty and staff, are still planning donations. The Student Assembly's web site is posting updates on relief efforts.
"This is another great example of Cornellians pulling together to help each other," Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, said. "We are also extremely grateful for the assistance of the community, from the Ithaca Fire Department and Police to the Red Cross and many individuals."
Murphy, who chairs this year's campus United Way effort, added a reminder that the Red Cross, which was immediately on the scene helping students, is one of the agencies funded through United Way donations.
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