By: Sophie Kluthe

In honor of Veterans Day on November 11, the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania is hosting a series of 90-minute virtual Resiliency events catered toward veterans and their family members. From the safety of their own homes, our nation’s heroes and their loved ones can hear from a range of guest speakers and join conversations on their shared experience.  

These sessions will focus on several topics including managing stress and building up emotional grit, teaching easy-to-use skills that aim to build resilience and ease symptoms related to trauma. These events are open to the public. 

“The Red Cross has supported military and veteran communities for nearly 140 years, including supporting World War I soldiers through the 1918 flu pandemic,” said Bill Rodebaugh, U.S. Army veteran and director of the Red Cross’ regional Service to Armed Forces program. “This year is unlike any other in our lifetime. The need is so great.” 

Schedule of events and registration links: 

The Red Cross serves active military, veterans and their families 365 days a year. We help military families communicate with their loved ones and facilitate their return home to deal with emergencies on the home front through our Hero Care Network, which is available online, by phone, through our mobile app or in person, 24 hours a day. From July of 2019 to June of 2020 the Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania facilitated 420 of these emergency communications.  

We also offer free behavioral health services through a variety of workshops to military families, both before and after deployments, and are the largest provider of free, professional volunteer services to our recovering wounded warriors and their families in military treatment facilities and hospitals. 

The Red Cross relies on the generosity of the American people to fulfill our mission. If you want to take a hands-on role, visit redcross.org/volunteer and join our dedicated team by volunteering your time to support our military members and veterans at home and around the world. 

By: Huanjia Zhang  

The first time Janice Thomas went on a national deployment for the American Red Cross, she arrived by a Blackhawk helicopter with the National Guard. The mission was to respond to a storm in North Carolina, where the roads were severely flooded that she could not reach the Red Cross location otherwise. That Blackhawk adventure was the beginning of her relationship with Red Cross. 

Since then Thomas has continued to respond to all types of disasters, from home fires to hurricanes, to help people start the process of rebuilding their lives. Just this past summer, Thomas volunteered for two multi-week virtual assignments assisting in the Red Cross recovery operation following Hurricane Laura. That’s in addition to coordinating Red Cross responses  and supervising shelters after major events in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including the responses to Hurricane Isaias and a large apartment fire in Chester County.   

“I have an app on my phone that if I hear the fire engines in my town, I always go to it to see is it a big fire,” Thomas said. “I always have my bag ready to go.” 

A 13-year volunteer emergency medical technician, Thomas has always been active on the emergency frontline whenever and wherever people need help. That’s why when she saw an ad from the Red Cross recruiting disaster-response workforce four years ago, she did not hesitate to join.  

Thomas is now the regional Mass Care Lead for the Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region. Her responsibilities include coordinating the resources from the regional shelter lead, the regional feeding lead, the regional distribution of emergency supply lead, and the reunification lead. When disasters strike, she coordinates those resources to  maximize support for people impacted.   

Thomas takes her responsibilities at the Red Cross seriously, and knows how much the small details can mean to families forced out of their homes unexpectedly. For example, she makes sure her team includes diapers in their response plans because families might not have time to grab them if they’re evacuating quickly. 

 “It is the little things like that that we’re just trying to improve all the time,” she said.  

Thomas plans to volunteer for the Red Cross for as long as she can. Her next goal is to become a shelter manager, where she aspires to provide comfort to people who are potentially having the worst day of their life. Adding, “It is rewarding to know that you’re helping people when their life might be at its lowest point.” 

By: Sophie Kluthe

Cathy Jensen has been a Red Cross volunteer for about six years, providing care and comfort to people immediately following a disaster in her Disaster Spiritual Care role. That’s why this spring, when the Red Cross formed a Virtual Family Assistance Center to support families struggling with loss and grief due to the Coronavirus pandemic, she knew it was the perfect fit.  

“This program has special meaning to me as someone who has recovered from the COVID-19 virus. I have felt the personal grief this virus can cause. I am truly lucky to be alive, and I want to help alleviate others suffering due to this virus and let them know they are not alone. Along with all American Red Cross workers, I am here to provide comfort and care to those in need,” Jensen said.  

Many families have experienced a disrupted bereavement and grief process due to restrictions related to COVID-19. Jensen, who lives in Philadelphia, is part of the team of specially trained Red Cross mental health, spiritual care and health services volunteers from across the country who are assigned to the Virtual Family Assistance Center. Outside of the Red Cross Jensen is a professional chaplain endorsed by Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where she currently works as a trauma chaplain.

“Disaster Spiritual Care seeks to rebuild spiritual hope and confidence in the lives of those affected by loss and devastation by providing compassionate and attentive listening, a calming presence, and additional resources that foster healing and recovery,” she said.

For months Jensen and the rest of the virtual team have been connecting with families over the phone to offer condolences, support and access to resources that may be available, providing support for virtual memorial services for families, including connecting with local faith-based community partners, hosting online classes to foster resilience and facilitate coping skills. They have also focused on sharing information and referrals to state and local agencies as well as other community organizations including legal resources for estate, custody, immigration or other issues.

“This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone, but especially for those who have lost a loved one due to COVID-19,” said Guy J. Triano, CEO of the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region. “Not only have these families experienced the unexpected passing of a loved one, but they are also facing additional challenges caused by this public health emergency. We want them to know that the Red Cross is here to provide compassion and support as they grieve.” 

People can visit redcross.org/get-help to access a support hub with special virtual programs, information, referrals and services to support families in need. There is even a page within the site specifically dedicated to resources in Pennsylvania: https://www.redcross.org/virtual-family-assistance-center/pa-family-assistance-center.html The hub will also connect people to other community resources and other partners. People without internet access can call 833-492-0094 for help. All Family Assistance Center support will be provided virtually and is completely confidential and free. 

By: Sophie Kluthe

As the leaves began to change and temperatures cooled, the Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania was busy with nearly 20 regional workers assigned to major disasters like Hurricane Laura and the Western Wildfires, while still responding to the nation’s most frequent disaster, home fires. 

Just in the first quarter of the organization’s fiscal year, (July-September) trained Red Cross disaster workers assisted with nearly 300 local disasters, mostly home fires in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. Hurricane Isaias also thrashed the region during this time period, leaving hundreds of people displaced by major flooding in August. In total, disaster workers provided emergency support in the form of temporary lodging and other immediate assistance to almost 1,500 residents impacted by disaster.  

While our dedicated local response teams continued to support our communities here in Southeastern Pennsylvania, many also raised their hand and packed their bags to help in major disasters around the country in what has been a record-setting year so far for Red Cross emergency sheltering.

From July to October 7, when this article was written, local Red Crossers have volunteered about 130 times to support these major responses, either on the ground or virtually, with some people volunteering for multiple operations. That includes the 81 regional workers who supported the major sheltering and recovery efforts in our own backyard after Hurricane Isaias. Other disasters workers from our region have supported include Tropical Storm Hannah in Texas, Hurricane Laura in Texas and Louisiana, and the numerous wildfires that have ravaged parts of California and Oregon, and more. 

Thank you to our incredible team of disaster workers for carrying out the Red Cross mission at home and across the country!  

By: Sophie Kluthe

As I got on my flight to Louisiana on September 10, I knew I was one of thousands of Red Crossers from all over the country with hopes of making a difference on the ground this Hurricane Season. With wildfires raging in the West, and hurricanes and tropical storms still brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, I was heading to part of the country that had just been thrashed by one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. 

Hurricane Laura made landfall on August 27, causing widespread devastation across east Texas and Louisiana. After two weeks in emergency shelters, some evacuees still didn’t have power at their homes, and many still had not been able to find out whether they still had a home to return to at all.  

It is one thing to see heartbreak play out across a screen. It’s another thing to feel it radiating off a person as they relay the terror they felt riding out the storm and emerging with nothing but a few personal effects. The destruction I saw first-hand in Lake Charles was eye opening. In some places, it felt like whole neighborhoods had blue roofs because of the tarps covering up damage on every home. In other places, you might be lucky to find a few scraps of twisted metal on the side of the road, which indicated someone’s home had once stood there.  

Despite these challenges, I also experienced a sense of hope that somehow helped to balance out all the devastation. I spoke with dozens of people who had been displaced, their resiliency and optimism piercing through the cloud of uncertainty that so often hangs around after a disaster rolls through. One couple in particular exemplified this. They had evacuated their home before the hurricane, not willing to risk riding it out because they were expecting their first baby. A very pregnant Katie Gauthreaux and her significant other, Ezekiel Perkins, were staying in one of the shelters the Red Cross was operating at hotels in Baton Rouge. They said the hotel room plus three meals a day was “a blessing.”  

Perkins added, “It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders because I know when he comes, my son will have a safe place to sleep. I don’t have to worry about that.”   

They had decided to start over in Baton Rouge. Perkins was using his days to job hunt and Gauthreaux got set up with a local doctor. Next, they planned to find a new place to live. They had a heathy baby boy in their arms during my second week there.  

Another sense of hopefulness came from meeting all the Red Cross workers, mostly volunteers, who had left home with two bags and a facemask to travel to Louisiana for two or more weeks. I met Nancy Jodoin at the Baton Rouge shelters. She’s a nurse from Massachusetts who took three weeks of her own vacation time to volunteer with the Red Cross. Not only did she tend to medical needs, but I also watched her deliver hope and a caring reassurance to so many people navigating the toughest days of their lives.  

Jodoin, like so many other Red Cross volunteers, went above and beyond to get to know the people she was serving and to form relationships so that she could help them on a deeper level. While she used her nursing skills, another Red Crosser I met was leaning on the skills he’d acquired in his 30-year career with the National Guard. Retiring as a colonel, Ed Bush had just left his old job with hopes of finding a new one that was also rewarding. Two months into his new role on the leadership team of the Louisiana Region of the Red Cross, he was in the thick of the recovery effort, acting as a liaison between the organization and local elected officials. He said he knew he made the right choice for this next phase of his career.  

“You look to your left and to your right and the people you’re surrounded by are people of such character that you’re like, this is what I want to be a part of,” he said.  

While we’ve made a lot of progress in the Hurricane Laura relief effort, there’s still much more work to do. Today, some of those impacted are still in emergency lodgings, more than a month after Laura made landfall. On Thursday night, the Red Cross and our partners provided 11,700 people with safe refuge. Over the past several weeks in response to Hurricane Laura, the Red Cross and our partners have provided 595,800 total overnight stays in emergency lodgings, and 620 Red Crossers are still supporting disaster relief efforts on the ground or virtually.  

And that’s just the one disaster. When you look at the ongoing concurrent disaster response operations for Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Sally, and the Western Wildfires, the numbers are staggering. Over the past several weeks the Red Cross has provided 804,900 total overnight stays in emergency lodgings across multiple states: the most ever. We have served more than 2.1 million meals and snacks and distributed 279,100 relief items with the help of partners.  

I feel honored to have played a small role in it along with so many incredible colleagues and partners that help us deliver our mission. As I write this, more than 20 Red Cross workers form our Southeastern Pennsylvania region are supporting major recovery operations on the ground and virtually, with more people heading out next week. It’s been a challenging season so far, but it brings me comfort to know that the Red Cross is delivering real, tangible help to thousands of people displaced by disasters as well as the intangible aspects of hope and comfort that we bring to these communities, even if it’s from six feet of social distance.  

To learn more about the Red Cross, head to www.redcross.org.