By Alana Mauger

Local disaster mental health volunteer Randy Miller recently returned from North Carolina, where she spent 14 days serving communities that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene’s destruction. It was her first national deployment with the American Red Cross.

“I’m expecting the worst and just holding on to what our mission is and our passion for doing this,” she shared during a media interview before boarding a plane to Charlotte on Oct. 1. “I see my role as supporting the emotional needs of not just the people who are in the shelters, but the community as a whole.”

After arriving in Charlotte, Randy was assigned to a small shelter on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some people staying at the shelter were rescued from those mountains in places where roads and bridges were destroyed or washed away. Others lived in a nearby trailer park that one resident described as “being at the bottom of a gigantic bowl.”

Randy says she was encouraged by the “amazing” support being offered to families who couldn’t return to their homes. Several local agencies and non-profits stepped up, proving nurses and EMTs, meals – including an outdoor barbeque, and even a hotel that opened its doors to offer showers.

After spending two days in Boone, Randy was assigned to provide disaster mental health support at three shelters in Avery, Watauga and Ashe counties. She recalls driving through the mountains every day in between locations. She found herself supporting a lot of the disaster workers themselves, many of whom were on their first deployments away from home.

“For me, it’s such a valuable part of the experience – supporting Red Cross volunteers in addition to the clients,” she said.

Her role morphed from support to training on her last deployment stop in Asheville. Here, Randy used her expertise as a board-certified psychiatric nurse and certified grief and loss educator to train disaster workers at a Family Assistance Center slated to open shortly.

Staffed by Red Cross disaster mental health and Integrated Care and Condolence Team (ICCT) workers, these centers are places of refuge and information for families who have lost loved ones. Here, Randy taught fellow volunteers about ICCT procedures as well as how to use the Red Cross recovery tool RC Care.

Randy joined the Red Cross in 2021 soon after she retired from a 41-year nursing career, the majority of which was spent as a nurse manager in hospital psychiatric units. She serves as the region’s disaster mental health lead and is a member of the integrated care and condolence and disaster action teams.

“Being of service is really a privilege. It’s exhilarating and so positive,” she said. “I wish that more people my age would realize that they can contribute.”