Published October 2004

Red Cross: a resource before, after disaster

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

When a fire strikes, an earthquake hits or a flood threatens, police officers and firefighters can be found on the scene responding to the disaster at hand. So, too, can volunteers of the American Red Cross, an organization that provides relief to the disaster’s victims, people who often have nowhere else to turn.

In Snohomish County, the nonprofit agency’s local chapter has more than 100 active volunteers to drive to the scene to assess the situation and respond accordingly, said Chuck Morrison, executive director of the Snohomish County Chapter.

Photo courtesy of the American Red Cross When disaster strikes, the American Red Cross is on hand to help, providing victims with necessities including food, clothing and shelter, such as this emergency shelter (above) set up following a community emergency situation.

“Victims of disaster may need shelter, food and clothing,” he said. If so, the American Red Cross can provide vouchers for hotel stays, grocery store purchases as well as new clothing.

Then there is peace of mind, an intangible that can’t be gotten with a voucher but can be salvaged with the help of on-staff mental health-care providers as well as a touch of humanity.

During a recent disaster, a house fire in Stanwood, that humanity was displayed at a school bus stop.

“There was a single dad with three kids. The dad and the youngest child were at home when the fire started and consumed it,” Morrison said. “We got them to a motel and made sure the dad was able to meet his (children) at the bus stop to be together as a family before seeing the damage.”

Disaster assistance, though one of the group’s more visible responsibilities, is just part of its mission. The other part, to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies, is fulfilled through the selling of safety kits, participation in safety fairs and instruction in first aid and CPR.

“We’ve (recently) put more emphasis on health and safety classes,” Morrison said, noting that during the past school year, the chapter completed its first-ever effort in presenting first aid, CPR and its “Together We Prepare” program to Marysville Arts and Technical High School.

“It was a remarkably successful rollout,” he said. Not only did “Together We Prepare” — a program that helps families plan for disaster — spark conversation in children’s homes, but the principal plans on bringing the group back.

Also, the chapter, which for years has offered its health and safety courses in Everett, recently started offering those classes in other parts of the county, at the Stillaguamish tribal headquarters in the Smokey Point neighborhood of Arlington and in Mill Creek, Morrison said.

“We’re pleased that communities have been open to us,” he added.

While the chapter has been responding to and helping to prevent disasters locally since the early 1900s, it has been a means of international crisis communication for just as long.

Under a charter granted to the American Red Cross in 1905 by the U.S. Congress, the organization is required to act as a conduit for emergency communication between active-duty U.S. military personnel and their families in an event of a crisis.

For the Red Cross, that means first verifying the crisis to ensure that active-duty personnel aren’t called away by family members under false pretenses, and then getting that information to the right people, such as a soldier’s commanding officer, Morrison said.

“Last year, we had 1,000 different (communication) services provided to 750 active personnel and their families,” he said, noting that with increased privacy laws, the Red Cross is able to verify the status of a hospital patient through the use of a protected password.

“There is a significant amount of privacy issues involved, and the Red Cross takes that seriously,” Morrison said.

The American Red Cross also is responsible for offering international communications to families separated by conflict around the world, he noted.

“We are mandated by Congress to do that as well as the armed forces emergency services,” Morrison said, adding that “none of those mandates comes with funding.”

Instead, funding comes from corporate and foundation grants, the United Way, individual donations and fees for classes taught in the community and the workplace.

“Boeing is our biggest customer,” Morrison said.

Even with community support, times have been rough for the chapter, which has an annual operation budget of $1.2 million.

“It needs to be $1.6 million,” said Morrison, who became executive director in May after serving in an interim capacity since November 2003, three months after an emergency fund drive was kicked off to save the chapter.

That drive raised $200,000 and put the chapter on firmer financial footing, Morrison said, but the staff has been reduced from 22 to nine.

Merger talks are now under way with the Island County and Anacortes/ San Juan County chapters of the American Red Cross to create a structure with one overall executive, with the three local chapters retaining independent boards and local donations, he said.

“At this point, conversations are ongoing. Up-front costs of such a merger are what we have to look at. We do believe there are a lot of strengths in doing that,” Morrison said, adding, “I know it is important to maintain a local presence for Red Cross.”

For more information, contact the American Red Cross Snohomish County Chapter, located at 2530 Lombard Ave., Everett, WA 98201, by calling 425-252-4103 or go online to www.redcrosssnoco.org.

Back to the top/Reaching Out Main Menu