Nurturing Connections in Disaster Response
By John Friend
On March 28, while vacationing in Southern California, I received a call from the American Red Cross asking if I was available to respond to the Oso Mud Slide disaster. I had previously spent many hours with Red Cross taking classes and preparing for a call like this. A day later, I was flying to Seattle with Red Cross paying my expenses.
We began each day with a 6:30 a.m. meeting in our hotel cafe, followed by four more meetings during the day. Headquarters was open from 8am to 8pm. I was very pleased to discover that I would be working with Noriko Lao, a United Methodist Disaster Response Team member from Bellingham UMC. She worked in client services, and I worked in Spiritual Care for our normal tour of 14 days. Client services works directly with clients as a case worker getting them connected into the services that Red Cross offers, while Spiritual Care connects Red Cross with the faith community, particularly ministerial associations. Both positions are part of the Integrated Care Team that can provide financial assistance in the case of a disaster related death.
On the first Friday that I was there, the Arlington Ministerial Association held a prayer meeting which Governor Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi attended. Two other dignitaries were the Rev. David Myer, director of President Obama’s Center for Faith Based and Community Initiatives and Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert. During the service, the Incident Commander from Oso told about his response to a “little mudslide over the road.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he related the heroism of his fire fighters and the response from neighboring communities. His comment to me was “Why did I have to cry on national television?”
In a Red Cross shelter in Arlington, I met a man who took a few minutes to drive to the store for food for dinner. While he was gone, the mudslide buried his house and his 47-year-old son, a photographer who sold nature pictures at local fairs. When in the presence of deep grief, it is a privilege to just listen.
It was an honor and privilege to deploy with Red Cross. If your church has not already done so, encourage your administrative council to get your church approved as a Red Cross shelter. Individual volunteers are also welcomed and trained. Red Cross deploys 14 different functions from shelter workers, to mental health workers. Becoming a Red Cross volunteer is an easy way to be ready to assist in a future disaster.
