WTC volunteer profile

By David Cho

Back one afternoon in early January of this year, Carol Powell was sitting in front of her computer in her office in Cold Spring, N.Y., when she noticed an e-mail arrive.

Powell saw the message was from Rosalie Tanaka, the assistant vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corp.—one of the city agencies heavily involved in the World Trade Center victim relief effort. The message was a forwarded copy of one sent to the New York State Society of CPAs thanking the Society for everything it “has done and continues to do” to help victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A short personal message to Carol in the forwarding portion of the message said, “You inspired this message!”

It has been small moments like these that have helped reinforce in Powell the purpose and value of committing time and energy to helping victims recover from the tragedy. She is one of a group of NYSSCPA volunteer members who, over the past several months, have selflessly provided their financial expertise to help victims of the Sept. 11 disaster rebuild their lives and businesses.
A desire among member CPAs to reach out and assist was the genesis of the volunteer program, which completed its first phase in late January. This phase began days after the attack with an initial request by the Society for members to help WTC-area victims. It grew to include an (800) hotline and a downtown help center at 110 Maiden Lane, where volunteer CPAs sat with victims to advise and help them meet their immediate and future financial needs.

The first phase connected victims with CPAs who answered their financial, tax and loan-filing questions. The second phase, which is now in full swing, allows WTC victims to continue to receive assistance and advice by talking one-on-one with CPAs via telephone.

During the first phase, the Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Powell made the weekly commute down from her home in Cold Spring, which is about 30 miles south of Poughkeepsie, to volunteer for a few hours at the Maiden Lane help center. Now Powell continues to help by returning calls of victims who use the hotline. Sometimes quick answers are all that is needed. But other victims require more extensive assistance, and for those people, Powell schedules a time that is convenient for her and the caller, so she can meet with them at their offices.

Powell, a member of the Society since 1994, says that her time spent helping with the volunteer program has changed her life. “I’m not quite sure of the full impact as of yet,” she said. “But I know that I have a greater appreciation for the smaller things in life—the things we usually take for granted.”

Powell, who has raised two sons in a town where she says neighbors don’t lock their doors, has made new friends in the New York City area, thanks to her time spent volunteering. Aside from the other volunteer CPAs who she closely worked with, Powell says she has made new friends with some of the victims, too.

One of these victims, “Trevor,” has mannerisms that remind Powell of her nephew. While helping Trevor secure an emergency loan to prevent his Canal Street T-shirt shop from closing, Powell introduced the man to her nephew. Since that time, she said, Trevor has become fast friends with her nephew—the two men are now collaborating on an art project.
Powell said she sometimes gets nostalgic for the time she spent at the help center. “I feel like it is the end of a chapter,” she said. “But businesses are moving on, so we have to move on to the next phase too.”

A devoted volunteer, Powell was there to help close down the NYSSCPA help desk. After saying her goodbyes to friends she had made there, she commented on the changes that have taken place downtown since the Sept. 11 tragedy. “You know, when I first came down here to help out, there was dust everywhere in the streets and on the buildings,” Powell said on her way to a subway station near “ground zero,” the site of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. “Now everything is clean. It’s amazing what we can do to get on with our lives.”