Citation

Svendsen ES, Baine G, Northridge ME, Campbell LK, Metcalf SS. Am. J. Public Health 2014; 104(4): 581-583.

Affiliation

Erika S. Svendsen, Gillian Baine and Lindsay K. Campbell are with the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, New York City Urban Field Station, New York, NY. Mary E. Northridge is with the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY. Sara S. Metcalf is with the Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2013.301848

PMID

24524524

Abstract

In 2012, a year after a devastating tornado hit the town of Joplin, Missouri, leaving 161 people dead and leveling Joplin High School and St. John's Hospital, President Obama addressed the graduating seniors: There are a lot of stories here in Joplin of unthinkable courage and resilience… . [People in Joplin] learned that we have the power to grow from these experiences. We can define our lives not by what happens to us, but by how we respond.(1) There are indeed countless stories from Joplin of neighbors helping neighbors, of volunteers arriving by the busloads to lend their hands in rebuilding, and of thousands of trees being planted by community volunteers in an effort to restore and improve the city's tree canopy.(Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 13, 2014: e1-e3. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301848).

Language: en