FEMA expects a steady flow of workers coming to Greensboro for training in the response to Hurricane Helene's devastation in western North Carolina, an agency spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The training is taking place at the former American Hebrew Academy -- a campus once earmarked for housing migrant teens -- on Hobbs Road.
"We anticipate approximately 100 personnel will receive training at the facility each week; however, this number will vary," Public Affairs Specialist Nicole Wilson said in an email to the News & Record.
She said FEMA began using the facility for training and processing in early October and "will continue to use it for this purpose for at least six months," Wilson said.
Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said in a social media post last week that the site will not house the victims of Hurricane Helene.
"Understandably, storm-impacted residents prefer housing closer to home," Vaughan said in the Nextdoor post.
Vaughan also said FEMA would not use the site for housing the FEMA workers who go there for training.
FEMA's involvement at the former American Hebrew Academy is only the latest twist in a series of changes affecting the 100-acre campus. In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the site was ready to house up to 800 minors aged 13 to 17 who were in the U.S. without parents or guardians. No minors were ever brought to the site, however, and in June the center ramped down its operations to simply upkeep.
Meanwhile, neighbors complained they had repeatedly been left out of the loop on the comings and goings at the site.
Vaughan said FEMA is aware of the site's history and plans to hire a public information officer to address specific questions from the media and the public.
When Helene first hit, Wilson said, FEMA directed "... staff to focus on the immediate life-saving and life-sustaining needs of the survivors, ensuring they had access to funds to help purchase essential items such as food, water, and hotel rooms."
However now that the operation is more stable, Wilson said FEMA has shifted focus to "... hiring additional staff - such as the community liaisons who will assist with recovery efforts in communities across the state ..." and has identified the Greensboro Immigration Facility as a place they "... can train new staff and offer professional development for current staff."
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Camdyn Bruce