AmeriCorps volunteers continue to help a year later - KOAM TV 7

Thousands of volunteers poured into Joplin after the tornado.

A year ago, Jeanie and Warner George lost their home in the tornado.  Thanks to the help of AmeriCorps volunteers their home is getting a revamp.

"We had to get everything out of the house and when your husband isn't really stable and can't lift and I've got two bad knees, and you know everyone else is in the same boat, and you couldn't really get help because everyone needed help at the same time," says Jeanie George.

However, that's not the only difficulty the couple has faced together.  Jeanie had breast cancer and Warner suffered from a tumor on his neck, affecting his balance.

"We have already had enough medical adventures, I didn't want to have a building adventure," Jeanie says.

Thanks to AmeriCorps volunteers, the garage and roofing have been replaced and the George's will soon be living peacefully in their home, without having to rebuild it themselves.

"I wouldn't of had the energy to do it at all," says Jeanie.

Putting families back into their homes is what the Corporation of National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer says the program is all about.

"Over the past year we've had over 350 AmeriCorps volunteers who have been working with over 75,000 volunteers who have come from all over the country, from church groups to teen groups, from families to individuals, large and small, and they have been doing all kinds of work, responding to the direct needs here in Joplin," Spencer says.

As for the George's, they say they couldn't be more grateful.

"Thank you," Jeanie George says.  "Thank AmeriCorps Saint Louis, they have been the absolute greatest, every one of the volunteers."

Since last May AmeriCorps volunteers have helped more than 2,200 families with their homes.  They've also helped serve more than 20,000 meals and have spent nearly 80,000 hours volunteering.