5 Unique Ways You Might Not Know You Could Volunteer With the American Red Cross

by Amy Yen, Digital Communications Manager, American Red Cross North Texas Region

We <3 our volunteers!

Volunteers are the heart, soul and engine of the American Red Cross. Nationally, they make up more than 90% of our work force; here in North Texas, it’s closer to 95%. But while you might know that Red Cross volunteers help serve meals in shelters, drive blood units to hospitals and teach CPR in the community, you might not realize that there are more than 70 different roles available for volunteers to fill in North Texas alone. 

Some of these are the kind of opportunities you might expect—we need clerical help just like everyone else—but some are unique positions requiring specific backgrounds, interests and training. Because we look for people with specific skill sets for these roles, we’re always in need of people who might be a good fit. Who knows? You may have exactly the experience and interests that we need and not know it!

Here are five unique ways to volunteer with the Red Cross. If any of these sound like something you could do, please visit RedCross.org/DFW today and fill out an application. We need your help!  

1. International Services Caseworker: Got a little detective in you? Being an International Services caseworker might be for you. Caseworkers work on our Restoring Family Links program, which helps reconnect families separated by international armed conflict or disaster. To find someone whose loved one lost contact with them, a caseworker will use every resource available—from property records to Google searches—to help reunite a family. Social work is a common background for caseworkers, but anyone with good organization skills, compassion, tolerance and a love of detective work can succeed at it. Check out this blog post for more details about what it’s like to be an IS caseworker.


2. Disaster Action Team (DAT) Member: While massive disaster relief efforts after tornadoes and hurricanes get a lot more attention, the most common service provided by the Red Cross happens multiple times a day, every day, in every city and town in the nation: the single-family house or apartment fire. Our Disaster Action Teams (DAT) respond to these and other local emergencies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing for the immediate food, shelter and clothing needs of the affected families, as well as first responders on the scene. If you have a passion for helping others and are willing to be on-call a few days a month, being a DAT member is sure to be fulfilling. Here’s a story about one of our Dallas team members.


3. Photographer/Videographer: Photography buff? Video whiz? You can help tell the Red Cross story, so we can show the public, the media and our donors what we’re doing to help. We rely on photographers and videographers with professional-level skills and equipment to capture the moments we want to share, from a group of community supporters putting together care packages for disaster victims to our emergency response vehicles going into debris fields. 


4. Disaster Mental Health Worker: Providing emotional support in the wake of an emergency remains one of the most important services we offer. Our disaster mental health counselors help children and adults cope with the emotional and environmental impact following a disaster by assessing their needs, helping them adjust and assisting in the recovery efforts. This is one of our most difficult volunteer positions to fill because disaster mental health workers must be licensed mental health professionals. If you have an active license in social work, psychiatry, counseling, psychiatric nursing, marriage and family therapy, psychology or other mental health discipline, you can truly make a difference during some of the most traumatic times in someone’s life. Here’s more from one of our counselors about what it’s like to volunteer in this role.


5. Digital Volunteer: Did you know you can volunteer in your pajamas? Our digital volunteers can do just that, working remotely to help tell the Red Cross story online via social media. Digital volunteers help run Red Cross social feeds, including Facebook and Twitter, posting severe weather information, preparedness tips and where people can get and give help. They also help monitor, respond and engage in the social space with people affected by disasters. Have a passion for social media and want to make a difference with your online presence? Being a digital volunteer may be for you.

To learn more about any of these roles or to see other volunteer opportunities with your local American Red Cross chapter, visit RedCross.org. If you have a specific role that you’re interested in, be sure to let us know during your application process.  

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Red Cross Volunteer Richard Wood: A Lifetime of Achievements – One Moment at a Time

by Micaela Rosinski, intern contributor 

Richard Wood pulled a piece of paper from his desk drawer to recall the exact year he began his work with the Red Cross, explaining he does not focus on himself very often. That will momentarily have to change as Wood celebrates his selection as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient at the Dallas Red Cross Annual Awards on Thursday, June 27.

Working in the mental health field for 30 years, Wood found his ideal position as a volunteer for Disaster Mental Health at the Red Cross in 1994. While working with the community mental health department in Dallas at the time, Wood said Gov. Richards declared that MHMRs (Mental Health Mental Retardation workers) would work in disaster services to help the state.

“I took the training and we had a horrible tornado in Lancaster then, and I worked with the MHMRs and responded to the disaster,” Wood said. “I worked alongside the Red Cross members who were there working and said, ‘Oh, they’re doing it so much better than we were trained, so let me jump ship and start working with the Red Cross.’”

Wood said he liked the work the Red Cross was doing and it was much more organized than he was used to, leading him to decide to work with the Red Cross as a volunteer while keeping his job with the county.

Throughout his many years with the Red Cross, Wood said working with people in need of mental health services has been the most rewarding.

“The Red Cross has the program to help folks feel empowered about taking care of themselves and getting back to active participation in their life,” Wood said, “and providing support as needed and making referrals to places that might need to have longer term follow-up.”

He said he previously worked with chronic patients who had long-term, ongoing treatments with very slow recovery processes. Wood said, with the Red Cross, he was excited to do work, see changes and go on to a new task.

“We could see folks move on,” Wood said, “and we could move on ourselves.”

Today, Wood serves in an administrative role in the mental health department, which includes actively responding to disasters. He said he is grateful to the Red Cross for allowing him to continue his work after becoming disabled from a serious brain infection.

“I was actually supposed to not be able to work anymore,” Wood said. “At the Red Cross, I was actually able to continue the work I’m doing and be quite grateful I can continue to do that work on some level.”

After nearly 20 years of service to the Red Cross, being recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award was not an idea that had crossed Wood’s mind. He said he is both overwhelmed and surprised by the honor.

“I’m honored and humbled because I just think I’m kind of doing what I can do, and glad I can continue helping the community and help my team be better prepared to serve,” Wood said with a grin. “I wasn’t really looking for any kind of acknowledgement.”

The Red Cross uses volunteers of all kinds to make the mission of service to other possible. To become a Red Cross volunteer, visit us online at redcross.org.

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The Second Source of Support: Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services

by Lilly Watson, Communications Manager, American Red Cross North Texas Region 

Red Cross Disaster Mental Health worker Anita Laffey
& her husband John, also a Red Cross volunteer

Anita Laffey, a veteran Red Cross Disaster Mental Health (DMH) worker, knows that her job is to be with people after disaster. In Zone 3, the highest impacted area from the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas more than a month ago, she stood in the backyard of a woman’s destroyed home while the owner pointed to each green plant, explaining what type of flower it was. To an untrained eye, talking flowers may have seemed like irrational behavior from someone given two, twelve hour blocks to get everything from their home before demolition. Laffey patiently listened and offered comfort, knowing this was part of this victim’s emotional breakthrough. 

“This woman’s garden was her pride, and she hoped it would be her legacy,” Laffey says, who worked 14 days as the DMH lead in West. “She was realizing that she wouldn’t be here to see them bloom in a few short weeks, and she was saying goodbye to everything in life she expected to have before the sudden explosion.” 

The American Red Cross responds to disasters of all kinds and sizes, working to ensure that victims have the first necessities as they determine what to do next with their lives. Hygiene items, snacks and warm meals and a safe place to stay are often part of a Red Cross response. Another Red Cross service provided is emotional support, whether it is a hug from a Disaster Action Team member at a home fire or a visit with a Disaster Mental Health worker at a large disaster such as the explosion in West or the tornado outbreaks in North Texas and Oklahoma.

Beginning at daybreak the morning after the plant explosion on April 17, Laffey led a team of up to 18 trained and licensed mental health caseworkers to help bring hope and comfort to the people of West. Knowing immediately that this response would be different because of the private nature of the tight knit community, the Red Cross adapted its strategy and found the best way to help people in West was to show them how to help others.

“We had business cards with mental health tips and warning signs on them that we passed out to people in West as we visited with them, and instead of making it sound like we thought they needed help, we asked them if they would keep it handy and use it as a way to check on their neighbors,” Laffey explains. “West is a strong community, and empowering them to help others was often better than making them feel as though they were in need of help themselves.”

While Laffey explains that for the first weeks it was important for victims to stay out of their emotions enough to make the decisions necessary to take steps towards recovery. Now, more than a month after the blast, is when those impacted will likely begin to see the emotional enormity of their loss. 

Like the woman saying goodbye to her garden, Laffey says the emotion comes from suddenly losing things that are the heartbeat of life in a formerly quiet and peaceful town. 

“People are really saying goodbye to a community’s history, from their brave volunteer fire fighters, to their schools and their neighborhood,” Laffey says.

The Red Cross Disaster Mental Health team worked with local church ministers, school counselors and West’s Mental Health Mental Retardation center to make sure they have resources on the emotional after effects of disaster and are getting breaks themselves to cope with the changes going on in their own town. 

Even as new relief efforts in North Texas and Oklahoma spring up, Red Cross caseworkers are continuing to do follow ups on victims in West that might still be in need of help, emotionally or otherwise. 

Laffey sounds determined that her work in West will reach everyone in need there, saying, “We’re going down the list, one by one, to make sure we’ve talked with every single family.”  

This National Mental Health Month, if you are a licensed mental health professional, consider bringing your skills to life in a new way as a Red Cross volunteer. Visit us at redcross.org to learn more.

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"Mommy, I'm Scared." Ways to Comfort Children During Disasters

Written by Amy Yen, volunteer contributor
When her family in Mandeville, Louisiana was being evacuated during Hurricane Isaac, eight-year-old Ashley Taylor did what any responsible girl would do: she left hurricane behavior rules for her stuffed animals. They included instructions on going to the bathroom (“Take a buddy”), having fun (“Have fun!) and general behavior while she was gone (“Stay calm. No parties”).

Stories like this can make you smile at the resilience of children in the face of disasters. Red Cross disaster mental health workers work with families who are evacuated during disasters to ensure that children come out of it with their smiles intact.

Anita Laffey, a retired licensed social worker who has worked as a disaster mental health volunteer with the Red Cross since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, says children are a special focus because they often don’t really understand what’s going on.

“Children, particularly under the age of 10, often can’t express what they’re feeling in words,” Anita explains. “They express themselves in their play. So we try to provide them with crayons and markers and toys, and we try to keep them busy. Most of all, we listen. That’s how we can find out how they’re feeling.”

The Red Cross sends disaster mental health workers to shelters, as well as out into communities to actually seek out families affected by the disaster. For example, Anita deployed with a team including a case worker and a health services worker during the wildfires near Oklahoma City in August. In addition to large scale disasters, disaster mental health volunteers also work year-round with local Disaster Action Teams (DAT), who deploy day or night for disasters or any size, from floods to apartment fires.

“A lot of what we do is work with parents and caregivers, letting them know what to look for, like if the children are eating and sleeping normally, and what they are saying about the disaster. We tell them not to let them watch too much television or news about the disaster. It’s also important to keep the routine as normal as possible,” says Anita.

This often isn’t easy if a family has been evacuated to a shelter, but buses are often made available to take kids to school. Parents are coached to make sure kids do their homework and keep everything as normal as possible. Most importantly, parents are asked to be a good role model to their kids during a disaster.

“Let them know, it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to be angry. We’re going to get through this together, it’s going to be okay,” says Anita. “Possibly the most important thing is just to be present, be available for the child and if you can’t, make sure another adult is, like a grandparent or a neighbor. Establish a sense of safety, because that’s what’s been taken away.

“If the children’s behavior isn’t normalizing after a few weeks, we tell parents to get back in touch with us so we can help or refer them to someone. But most of the time, after the initial shock of being in a disaster, they come out okay. Families are resilient. Children are resilient, especially if parents step up to the plate and show them how to handle a disaster.”

One way you help is to sponsor a Piper the Puppy for $100. This stuffed animal is given to a child during a disaster to comfort them.

“We make sure the child has something in their hand. A Piper the Puppy makes a big difference,” says Anita.

We’re sure Ashley Taylor would be proud.

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Journal to Home: Road to Relief

At the beginning of July, 30 volunteers from the Panhandle to DFW deployed to help reliefs efforts in Montana, Florida and Colorado. Anita Laffey, who spent 16 days in Colorado after wildfires burned across Waldo Canyon, shares a day from her journal about the ups and downs while riding in back of the response truck, meeting and caring for people facing utter devastation. 

Written by Anita Laffey, volunteer contributor

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Anita Laffey, Disaster Mental Health Services volunteer
Photo by Maru Del Real-Gwin, volunteer

It's Sunday. Day of Rest. Not for the Red Cross team though and certainly not for those we are going to meet today either. 

This fire is the most costly in the state's history so far, destroying 346 homes—that's nearly one for every day of the year. Today though, we bring hope and help into that battle zone. Since it's Sunday, we'll begin our route at 12:30 p.m. instead of first thing in the morning, doesn't mean a lighter day, just more people to visit with in fewer hours. I sit in the back of the response truck by the serving window, squished into bucket seats that are nearly engulfed by all the free supplies we'll soon be handing out. 

We don’t care who needs our assistance--local residents whose homes are now cinders;  their guilt-ridden neighbors whose own homes were spared while the homes on either side of them are ruble; firemen; insurance adjusters, and anyone else in the disaster area. Everyone is our customer. Our hottest product in this blistering heat?  Bottles of ice cold water. Two sturdy guys drive our truck today. One, an attorney, and the other, an archeologist and professor. The funny thing is, you'd never know there was a difference between them by the way they're dressed. One vest, our vest, hides all distinction of class, education, occupation and religion.

American Red Cross volunteers
Richard Garcia (left) and Peter Booth
Photo by Anita Laffey 

The driver stops in the middle of the road in the devastation area. His shotgun rider moves orange street cones aside, waves to policemen who smile at our Red Cross truck but yell at gawkers, and motions our driver to enter the “DO NOT ENTER” zone.  We all feel a tinge of pride—our Red Cross logo gains us instant respect and access without questions.  The ERV rolls slowly down abandoned streets. We hear our drivers call out to a man picking up a broken piece of china in what was formerly his kitchen,  “Hey, how about some cold water?  Know anyone who can use some STUFF from the Red Cross?  We got lots of STUFF!” Their lighthearted invitation brings a weary man to our serving window.

Spring up instantly, shove up the window, yank open the cooler, hand out dripping bottles of water as fast as our hands can retrieve them from the ice bins and then grab every piece of equipment or other useful item we can find. Push them out the window quickly to our drivers who are now rapidly handing out clean-up supplies as several groups of people appear. Usually we serve hot meals out of cambros on our trucks, but today is different. We're handing out bulk supplies to help residents clean up the mess left by the wildfire: shovels, rakes, buckets and mops, gloves, masks, sieves to glean for valuables as well as food, water, soap, personal items. We have so much to hand out today. Oh, and toys—big stuffed bears, Mickey Mouse dolls, beanie babies! 

For me, these toys are strategic. Tools of my trade. They open conversations with parents about their how their children are reacting to the loss of their homes in the wildfire. I'm working on the truck like any other crew member, but I'm actually a member of Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services, here to listen to what families are experiencing and to help them cope with the trauma and stress caused by the disaster. 

I won’t do counseling—it’s too soon for that, not appropriate at this time. Instead, I do crisis intervention, remind people of what is normal in an abnormal situation,  offer community resources, and  keep individuals functioning as much as possible so they can take care of their survival needs immediately and prevent further loss.

Photo by Richard Garcia, American Red Cross volunteer

To a nearby father, we say, “How is your little boy doing?   Do you think he would like a Mickey Mouse toy or a beanie baby?  Sure, take whichever one you think he’ll want.  How has he been eating and  sleeping—not sleeping well because he says he’s afraid of the fire breaking out again?  It’s important to give children back a sense of control, power.  You might try asking him what would help him feel safe or asking if he wants to sleep in one of your shirts so he feels closer to you at night.  Here is a small booklet about other ways to help children in times like this.”  The father smiles.  He thanks us and takes the literature we hand to him.  He accepts 4 bottles of water, an ice chest, a shovel and rake, then disappears in the soot and ash. 

We smile and wave at everyone we pass, but sometimes part of me aches.  What can I say to the little girl who won’t talk to anyone now because her dog Brownie died in the fire?  What a terrible, helpless feeling. I wish we could magically bring Brownie back to life, or at least cuddle the silent little girl in a rocking chair and comfort her, sing lullabies to her, and make her pain go away. All I can do is give her a cute pink flamingo Beanie Baby, then quietly talk with her mother.  “My daughter is eating okay, and sleeps pretty well, but she won’t talk since Brownie died,” the mother tells us. We hand her a comfort kit,  talk about how normal it is to behave in weird ways during abnormal times like this, and also encourage her to monitor how her child is doing over the next week or two. If her child isn’t beginning to talk again, the local Red Cross chapter can give her more guidance. For today, perhaps the mother could focus on something positive that her daughter could do. Would the child like to plan a celebration of Brownie’s life and throw a party for him, and invite several of her friends?  What would she like to do to have happy memories of Brownie? The mother is delighted. She laughs and says,  “Oh, my daughter is going to love that idea! She’s my party girl, and I know she’s going to get all her friends to help her make a party for Brownie! Thanks!” 

We remind her to take care of her own needs as well as her family’s, to ask for help from friends and family, to eat and drink water even when she doesn’t feel like it, and to be a role model for her daughter. She nods in agreement. Along with a mop and bucket and cleaning solution, we give her a card with the phone numbers of the local Red Cross chapter and other community resources. 

At our next stop, we ask the slender, athletic-looking young woman if she needs a shovel and rake.  We can barely hear her when she talks. Does she have laryngitis? No, she whispers that she went back into her house too soon after the fire swept through the building, and her lungs are damaged by the smoke. Encouraged her to see her doctor! She’s scheduled to do just that, to see her doctor, this afternoon—we sigh with relief! She takes a large bottle of water, heavy-duty gloves, an ice cooler, and two boxes of clothes washing detergent. “Our clothes are so grungy!” she whispers. “We can’t wash them because we have no electricity and no washing machines.  Do you know of any organizations  that help people clean their clothes?” Oh dear. We hadn’t thought of that. So many things to learn, so many resources to identify!  We’ll check with our drivers and our ERV leaders to find out what is available, then go back to talk with the young woman again. We move on now.

Next stop is waiting. 

The fireman standing by the blackened skeleton of a motorcycle gladly takes a snack bag and a drink from us.  Some of the young people from Samaritan’s Purse who are literally sifting through the ashes of ruble for homeowners to locate what few valuables they can retrieve ask us for wash clothes to wipe sweat off their faces and soft drinks that still fizz.  We pass out bundles of wash clothes, six-packs of soft drinks.  A cluster of people descends on us at the base of the hill, asking for mops and buckets and cases of water.  We give them everything they ask for and more. And more. And more. Until our truck is empty. Totally, completely, shockingly empty.

Our volunteer work day is over. Today we served 200 people, gave out more than 600 bottles of chilled water, scads of ice chests, endless bins of snack bags and comfort kits, tons of shovels and rakes and other items, hundreds of flyers and booklets on ways to help children and adults cope with disasters, and we placed a zillion Mickey Mouses and Beanie Babies for adoption with needy children. I am pooped. The guys in the front cab of the truck have boundless energy, but I'm not accustomed to so much physical labor!

Only have one regret: that we don’t have more “STUFF!  Lots of Red Cross STUFF!” to hand out right here, right now!  Tomorrow morning, though, back to help the guys load up the truck with lots more Red Cross STUFF, move out, and rock and roll in the fire zone again. 

Special note: details important to identification of disaster victims have been altered to protect their privacy.

Anita's story touches the core of what the Red Cross mission strives to do through personal interaction during a disaster. Deployments are made every day across the country. Volunteers receive a call and are often on the road within hours, leaving family and friends for weeks to stand next to a stranger that is hurting. Here is a special thank you to all who deployed recently with the North Texas Region. You make us proud!

Colorado-Waldo Canyon Wildfires: Lavonne Adams, Rey Bailey, Robert Braden, James Brown, Lori Conine, Marguerite Dillion, Mary Farnum, Raenell Gore, Anthony Gojmerac, Dan Halyburton, Sarah Knosp, George Parr, Ken Riel, Jody Sosebee, Christy Stennis-Ball, Cheryl Thomas, Howard Tubre, Charles Wilson. 

Florida-Hurricane Debby: Melanie Collins, Albert Fiorentino, Jackie Fiorentino, Joseph Martin, Joel Moore, Dale Stroope, Mary Stroope, Angie Johnson, Helen Crain, Rita Kretzmeier

Montana-Wildfires: Greg Wood

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Red Cross Service Spotlight: How Mental Health Workers Serve After Disasters

Written by Amy Yen, volunteer contributor

Thank you, Patsy, for your unique and critical service to the Red Cross!

Mental health response is an often overlooked yet vitally important part of the American Red Cross response following a disaster. In honor of National Mental Health Month this May, we talked to Patsy Guest, one of our disaster mental health workers here in the DFW area, about why mental health is such a concern.


Thirteen years ago, Patsy became a mental health volunteer with the Red Cross in Dallas after retiring from the Cedar Hill School District where she served as a counselor. During this time, she’s responded to everything from local apartment fires to large scale national disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Recently, she deployed to Lancaster and Forney after the April tornados destroyed and damaged hundreds of homes.


“I’m there to support the individual survivors of the disasters,” explains Patsy. “I’m there to identify not only the immediate needs these individuals might have, but also any needs they may have long-term.”


As a mental health professional, Patsy has been trained to identify signs of possible post-traumatic stress or other problems people may face. However, disaster mental health workers do not give therapy in the field. Instead, they make sure that someone follows up, making referrals and connecting people who have been in disasters with someone in their area who can help.



“I never leave an individual without knowing that individual is getting help, until I know they’ll be okay.” she says. “I also make sure they’re connected to all the resources they need.” Mental health workers also work closely with case workers to identify immediate needs, like clothing and food, or nurses if there are medical needs.


In addition, mental health workers work with first responders, like fire fighters or EMTs, to make sure they are coping with the stress of their jobs. “I let them know that we’re there,” Patsy says. “That they’re not alone. Just like the survivors, most of the time, they just want someone to listen.”


Patsy’s specialty is with children and she never ceases to be amazed by their resiliency in the face of disaster.


“More than once, I’ll talk to kids after their house has been destroyed and all their things are gone and they’ll say, ‘Our house is broken. But we’re going to fix it.’ Somehow they know, they’re going to be okay,” she says.

She experienced similar unexpected optimism in Lancaster after the recent tornados, finding that most people were able to bounce back quickly and move forward.


“There was this one lady whose house was pretty much destroyed and she said to me, ‘Well. I’m going to get a new kitchen.’ It was just great that she could find hope in the middle of everything,” said Patsy.


Psychological First Aid is a required training course for all mental health volunteers working in the field following disasters and Patsy says the training is incredibly important preparation for what to expect and how to deal with survivors and first responders.


Disaster mental health is a relatively new area for the Red Cross and, while it continues to grow, Patsy says there is definitely a shortage of qualified personnel. Mental health workers must be licensed by the state as licensed professional counselors (LPCs), and they usually work as social workers, counselors or psychologists. When there is a disaster, the Red Cross has a need for volunteers with this specific skill set.


Patsy says it’s worth the time. “When there’s a big disaster, everyone wants to be able to do something. This is your chance. It’s so gratifying to help.”

If you have a background in mental health and would like to help, contact Red Cross DFW for more information.

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World AIDS Day

By Tonya Solis-Mosby, Volunteer Writer, American Red Cross

It crept into our lives in 1981 as a disease mysteriously affecting circles of gay men. In the years that followed, it was discovered that not only were gay men at risk, but everyone; men, women and children. And race or sexual preference didn’t matter at all.

In 1983, the American Red Cross issued the first safety warnings about this hideous disease we now all know as AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

On December 1, 2011, people worldwide will pause to recognize World AIDS Day – a day set aside by the World Health Organization in 1988 as the day to raise awareness and to help stop the spread of AIDS and HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus, an infection that can lead to AIDS.

Between 1981 and 2007, AIDS has killed more than 25 million people. As of 2007, an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide lived with HIV, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Throughout this battle, the American Red Cross and our worldwide partners in health have been there to provide lifesaving education and prevention skills.

Through classes such as “HIV/AIDS Education/Blood Borne Pathogens”, people can become more aware of HIV transmission and prevention and get the real facts about HIV and AIDS.
The Red Cross HIV/AIDS programs provide opportunities to reach youth through videos, brochures, workbooks, comic books and other age-appropriate educational materials to give them the knowledge to spark open discussions about HIV/AIDS prevention with their parents and other adults in their lives.

One Red Cross program, Act SMART, encourages healthy behavior through materials divided in units to cater to different age groups ages 6 to 17; another program is The Party, a video package which provides HIV-prevention educational materials for people ages 13 to 15.

The Red Cross touch on HIV and AIDS doesn’t stop in the United States. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have come together to provide “Living with…” an educational program produced by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and supported by a video that helps people enhance HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
“Living with…” gives viewers a peek into the struggles of living day-to-day with HIV/AIDS. It also demonstrates the need for a supportive and tolerant environment for the people who must endure that struggle.
This program encourages people to:
1) Break the silence
2) Actively encourage voluntary counseling and testing
3) Involve people living with HIV/AIDS in the educational efforts
4) Develop HIV/AIDS friendly human resource policies
5) Include HIV/AIDS in all relevant policies and programs
6) Be an advocate
7) Build partnerships

Click here to watch the “Living with…” video and then share it with others:

As people around the world stop to remember all of those who have died because of this disease, and to recognize the struggles of the millions who live with HIV/AIDS each day, the American Red Cross reminds you that we can all help. Spread the word. Be supportive. Share the facts with others. Together, we can end this disease.

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Red Cross Provides Comfort in Darkest Hours

American Red Cross volunteer Martha Crosby receives a warm hug from Jean Farmer, 85, who survived the devastating tornado that left her home in ruins. Tuscaloosa, AL. (Photo: Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross)



Recent tragic events—such as the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair—remind us how important emotional support is after a disaster. In the days and weeks following a crisis, attention to mental health becomes important for survivors and emergency responders alike.



The American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis sent more than a dozen volunteers and employees to the scene of the collapse in Indianapolis to help support emergency workers searching for missing people. The local Red Cross also kept their chapter office open for friends and family searching for loved ones.



The Red Cross Disaster Mental Health program began in 1992, prompted in part by the crash landing of United Airlines Flight 232 at the Sioux City, Iowa, airport in July 1989. The deadly accident took more than 100 lives, but 184 passengers and crew survived.



After the Sioux City crash, the local Red Cross chapter partnered with Jerry Jacobs and Randy Quevillon, licensed psychologists from the nearby University of South Dakota, to provide mental health support to survivors and disaster responders.



Jane Morgan, then Red Cross lead for Disaster Health Services in the Midwest, took away from that experience the knowledge that the Red Cross Disaster Mental Health program needed to be structured so that all disaster survivors and responders would have access to emotional support.



Today, the Disaster Mental Health cadre stands at approximately 4,000 people, and represents the largest and most highly credentialed disaster mental health response force in the nation. These workers respond during some of the country’s most difficult times, including this spring’s devastating tornadoes and floods.



You can find information on taking care of emotional health after a disaster on Redcross.org. If you’re interested in becoming a disaster volunteer, please contact the American Red Cross-Dallas Area Chapter.

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