The state Convention Center Authority has backed the use of the MassMutual Center as a disaster relief shelter for tornado victims.
Reynalis Mathews is seen with her mother, Cynthia Gonzalez, at the MassMutual Center Shelter on June 1.SPRINGFIELD – Make no mistake about it, the MassMutual Center is in the business of delivering hospitality.
Conventions, business breakfasts, concerts, hockey games, it’s all in a day’s – or a night’s – work.
Little did the staff know, though, that they’d be doing it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at least for the foreseeable future.
As one week turned into two, and the three-week point arrived, the downtown civic center is continuing to provide a temporary home for area residents displaced – and left with little, or nothing – by the June 1 tornadoes.
“I am so proud of the staff we have,” says Matthew A. Hollander, general manager of the MassMutual Center, as he reflects on how his workplace turned into a safe harbor for those who lost their homes to the tornadoes.
“Our food and beverage folks are working around the clock to support the shelter. I am proud of the caring they have,” he said. “We’re the hospitality business, but this was outside of our wheel house.”
As Hollander recalls it, on that afternoon, staff members at the MassMutual Center were busy making final preparations for the Minnechaug Regional High School prom. Student and school organizers were already in the building, touching up the final details for their big night.
Hollander says he was en route on the MassachusettsTurnpike back to Springfield from a meeting when he got an email alert about the approaching storm.
Then came the call from one of his staff members, Joe Flanagan, to let him know what was unfolding at the MassMutual Center, where there had been minor damage and some unexpected visitors, Hollander recalled.
City police officers had arrived with a group of little children and their caretakers from the Square One daycare center just down Main Street.
“We had space where we could set them up in a private area and keep the children calm,” said Hollander. “Then, with the continuous cycle of weather, public safety officials were directing people to our building for immediate safety. We’re a hospitality venue, so we sprang to action.”
The Minnechaug delegation was intent that the prom would carry on; it did, albeit a little smaller and with a slightly different mood than might have originally been planned.
“Many of the kids were already on their way, and the school officials were already there. The principal wanted to move forward,” Hollander said. “We had to prepare a safe shelter (for the tornado victims), but we also had the added complexity of an event going forward.”
Hollander encountered the tornado’s remnants as he drove along the turnpike; “I never saw the funnel cloud per se, but I was driving through some insane hail and strong winds. I managed to get through that in a couple of minutes,” he said.
Calls from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and from the Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross asked if the civic center could be used as a temporary shelter. The MassMutual Center team went to work, and amidst a major convention that weekend and some graduation ceremonies, it temporarily turned to long-term assistance, Hollander recalled.
“As it turned out, the need far exceeded the capacity at shelters (the Red Cross and other agencies) had set up (in Springfield),” Hollander said.
Hollander came to Western Massachusetts from south Florida, so he’s got more than a passing familiarity with disaster-relief efforts.
“I had the occasion in 2004 to go through some hurricane activity. I’ve seen the outpouring of community support,” he said. What’s impressed him, Hollander said, has been the speed and intensity with which the relief efforts came together after the tornadoes.
“What’s (been) amazing is how quickly it came together; the generosity has been incredible,” said Hollander, who is a member of the board for the Red Cross chapter. “I’ve met amazing people in the shelter, and the resilience of the people going through this is also incredible.”
He cites the example of a man who lost his home in the city’s Sound End, but who, along with his daughter, escaped uninjured.
“I spent some time with him, listening about how he and his daughter rode out storm in their family room, with the roof flying off the building and the winds swirling around him,” Hollander said. “He is just the most thankful person you can imagine. Every day, he’s at the shelter helping, talking with others, being helpful with that process of recovering. He’s very reflective of the quality of people in our community, in the South End.”
Even after the man returned to the site of his home, finding it devastated with no personal items to collect and the remaining structure too questionable to remain standing, “it really didn’t matter to him,” Hollander said. “He was so thankful to be safe.”