Each year, the American Red Cross responds immediately to more than 67,000 disasters, including house or apartment fires (the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters.

The Good News Is That We Can Help
Although the American Red Cross is not a government agency, its authority to provide disaster relief was formalized when, in 1905, the Red Cross was chartered by Congress to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on measures for preventing the same." The Charter is not only a grant of power, but also an imposition of duties and obligations to the nation, to disaster victims, and to the people who generously support its work with their donations.

The Red Cross also feeds emergency workers, handles inquiries from concerned family members outside the  disaster area, provides blood and blood products to disaster victims, and helps those affected by disaster to access other available resources.

What the Red Cross may be able to provide* to families affected by single or multi-family fires, based on needs:

·         Shelter (either motel/hotel or mass sheltering)

·         Food (either via a debit card or mass feeding)

·         Clothing (via debit card)

·         Prescription replacement

·         Comfort Kits (adult and child)

·         Smoke Soap

·         Mickey Mouse plush toy for young people

·         Compassionate care and a listening ear

·         Rental Assistance

* Note – clients’ needs are assessed on a case-by-case level.  Clients are always encouraged to utilize their personal and family resources – including insurance – prior to utilizing Red Cross services.  One equation that we sometimes use is:  Client Needs – Client Resources = Red Cross.

How the Red Cross provides these Services:

All Red Cross disaster assistance is free.  The St. Joseph County Chapter does its own fundraising through the United Way of St. Joseph County, grant writing, private donations, and events; it also uses its CPR and First Aid class revenue to assist with Chapter expenses.  The St. Joseph County Chapter does not receive funds from the National organization unless a disaster exceeds the capacity of the Chapter (generally considered to be a disaster that exceeds $10,000 or more).

How to reach the Red Cross:

• A Red Cross team leader is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  He/she deploys D.A.T. teams as requested.
• Disaster Action Teams (D.A.T.) are entirely volunteer-comprised teams that go out to single-family and multi-family fires as the Red Cross first on the scene.
• 
  Red Cross can be activated by:
  • Public Sources (i.e. fire/police dispatch, etc.)
  • Clients (requires verification from public source and visual inspection)
  • Others (also requires verification from public source and visual inspection)

A Note about Defining Disasters:

The Red Cross defines disasters in the following way

“A disaster is an impending or occurring event of such destructive magnitude and force as to dislocate people, separate family members, damage or destroy homes and injure or kill people.  A disaster produces a range and level of immediate suffering and basic human needs that cannot be promptly or adequately addressed by the affected people and that prevents them from initiating and proceeding with recovery efforts.  The Red Cross and other emergency agencies categorize disasters by their causative agents, broadly separated into natural and human-caused disasters.  Natural disasters include floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, winter storms, tsunamis, hailstorms, wildfires, windstorms, epidemics and earthquakes.  Human-caused disasters — whether intentional or unintentional — include residential fires, building collapses, transportation accidents, hazardous materials releases, nuclear accidents, explosions and acts of terrorism.  The Red Cross further characterizes each disaster by its scope and the response required.”

While sometimes a household may have mold, electrical problems, flooded basements due to significant rain fall and other problems; these situations due not generally characterize a ‘disaster’ as defined by the Red Cross.  Generally, cases such as these would result in referrals to other agencies.

Your St Joseph County Chapter Red Cross plans, prepares for and responds to disasters of all sizes by...

Providing community disaster education classes
Recruiting and training volunteers for local and national disaster assignment

Developing and testing an annual disaster plan

Meeting the emergency needs of local disaster victims with vouchers for free food, clothing, temporary shelter, and medications.