Living with and adjusting to weather events, sea level fluctuations, and community change has always been a part of southwest Florida coastal and island life. The Calusa were masters of resilience from the perspective of cultural adaptation and response to environmental and social change, including disaster events. One of the things that we know the Calusa and other Indigenous groups in Florida relied on when it came to change was community action to enact responses to events such as hurricanes. This year at the RRC, we have been the recipient of community support and novel collaborations in our ongoing hurricane recovery and our ability to meet our mission as a center. Here we share a few examples of strength and resilience through partnerships at the RRC.
Last fall, through collaboration with the UF Bob Graham Center for Public Service, and with support of several Friends of the RRC and RRC Volunteers, we hosted a group of UF Students affiliated with the UF Gulf Scholars Program and GatorCorps to assist in hurricane Helene and Milton clean-up. The students worked with RRC staff over a long weekend to remove debris from Brown’s Mound and to begin to remove invasive vegetation that rapidly spread following both disaster events. Not only was this collaboration beneficial to the RRC, but it also benefited the students and supported the Gulf Scholars service program. We were excited to read the recent Gulf Scholars story by one of the student participants, where she shares how impactful the experience at the RRC was for her and other students!
This spring, through the Greater Pine Island Alliance, we had the good fortune of working with a cadre of AmeriCorps service members to help rehabilitate the vegetation around Brown’s Mound, Randell Mound, and the trail toward Smith Mound. The service members were supervised by RRC Grounds Keeper Andy Jendrusiak, with guidance from RRC Volunteers. This effort made a tremendous difference in our ability to not only clear out several invasive plant species before the rainy season, but it also allowed us to support the AmeriCorps mission to meld environmental stewardship and disaster response support while helping service members save for college. Who knows, maybe we inspired a future UF Gator and Friend of the RRC!
Finally, during our RRC lecture series at the Calusa Heritage Trail, we collected donations of non-perishable food and cleaning supplies for the Pine Island Food Pantry. As a part of the Pine Island community, the Friends of the RRC lecture attendees donated almost 135 pounds! Based on the success of this effort, we are already brainstorming additional ways the RRC can support local community organizations and resources.
