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Red Cross Brings Compassion to the Doorstep
Story and Photos by Dave Knoer, American Red Cross
Sunday, June 22, 2008 — Rosemeree Johnson escaped the waters that poured into her home with nothing but the wet clothes she was wearing. Four days later, she’s beginning to rebuild her life.
The Roaming Outreach Team, led by Deb Helm, consists of a mental health professional, a nurse from health services, communications specialist, a financial Services associate and client case workers. The team descends upon the community, door to door, to provide assistance to those impacted by the recent Iowa tornados and floods.
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On June 15, torrential rains were already threatening Johnson’s home in Mason City. “My daughter came by to help me with the sump pump in my basement and we saw and heard the water rushing towards us as the levy broke,” Johnson said, her voice cracking at the memory.
“I left with nothing: No purse, no prescriptions, no pictures. Nothing! We had to walk two blocks with water past our knees, just to get to her car.”
Johnson is staying with her daughter, but the experience left her emotional, not knowing where to turn. Her home of 40 years is destroyed.
“Yesterday I was crying over (the loss of a favorite) spatula. It’s amazing what you think of afterwards,” she said. “And then there was a knock at the door. It was the Red Cross. It was wonderful.”
Lynn Carol, a trained disaster mental health counselor and volunteer from the King and Kitsap Counties Chapter of the Red Cross in Washington state, was part of a Roving Outreach Team that visited Johnson. Along with emotional support, the team was able to give Johnson the means to get an emergency refill of her medications, clothing and other essentials.
“It’s a relief for my kids that the Red Cross is here. I have six kids, but they most all live so far away,” Johnson said, relieved that after talking with the Red Cross team members, she had a better idea of how to move forward.
As flood waters have subsided, Roving Outreach Teams have been going door-to-door in the hardest-hit parts of Mason City and more than a dozen other Iowa towns, taking compassion right to the people who need it most. In the first four days, they had served more than 400 individuals and families.
For Mason City residents Evy and Dean Buser, the Red Cross visit was more precious than gold: It meant “somebody cares, somebody cares” Buser said, tears welling in his eyes.
“My neighbor called me and said, ‘Get home!’ By the time I arrived, there was over a foot of water in my garage,” Buser recalled. “My basement was already full and water was already rising up into the house.”
Red Cross volunteers Mickey and Jackie Bailey from North Carolina sat down the Busers after the waters drained away and helped them figure out what they needed immediately and what to do next.
Talking with the flood victims has been a powerful experience for Jackie Bailey, on her first major disaster with the Red Cross.
Six days into the operation, “we helped a single mom of three kids. All their belongings were piled outside and destroyed,” she said. “The mom broke down and said she can finally buy her daughter a bed.” The idea that the child didn’t even have a bed to sleep in made the devastation – and the impact of the Red Cross human touch – vivid for Bailey.
“This is what it’s all about, helping others who need it most.”
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides nearly half of the nation's blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization – not a government agency – and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission. For more information, please visit www.redcross.org or join our blog at www.redcrosschat.org.
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