“I needed help right away and the Red Cross was there.”

By Michelle Shore

In late March 2013, Bronx resident George Ford returned home from a friend’s house and saw his second-story apartment in flames. His first thought was for his two Pomeranian dogs, Krypto and Knight, who were trapped inside. The American Red Cross responder who came to assist understood that for Ford, his dogs came first.

That’s because, for a long time, with no family in his life, the dogs had become like family to Ford, as had his neighbors in the Westchester Village neighborhood in the Bronx where he’d lived since 2009.

“This is the only place I have been able to call home in a while,” he said.

When the 56-year-old ex-Navy reservist was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, he really saw the best side of his local community.

“I knew no one when I moved into this apartment but all my neighbors became my good friends,” Ford explained. During his cancer treatment, “They brought me food, did my laundry and shopped for me,” he said.

In return he helped out his neighbors and watched over the seniors in the building. After two years of extensive treatment and surgery, Ford’s cancer went into remission. Soon after that, he took the advice of his doctor and adopted the two Pomeranians.

“The dogs were a lifesaver for me,” he said.

The day his apartment burned, Ford tried desperately to reach the dogs. Though he made two efforts to climb onto the fire escape and into his apartment, thick smoke and flames pushed him back. Ford suffered minor non-life threatening burns from his rescue attempts.

Within minutes after Ford’s fruitless efforts, firefighters were in the apartment extinguishing the blaze and bringing out the dogs, who were both unconscious.

“Their eyes were shut and they were barely breathing,” Ford said. “I don’t know what I would have done if they had perished in the fire.”

After a half hour of oxygen administered by a firefighter, the dogs awoke. It was a moment of huge relief for Ford, who realized he wouldn’t be able to relocate without his dogs at his side.

“The American Red Cross responder got on the phone and wouldn’t stop calling until he had found a place for me and my dogs to stay,” he recalled.

In addition to providing Ford and his dogs with temporary housing during repairs to the damaged apartment, the Red Cross was also able to provide emergency funds to help with urgent purchases such as food and clothing.

“I needed help right away and the Red Cross was there,” Ford said. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

Chelsea Couple Turns to Red Cross Volunteers After Fire

By Gemma Haywood

Chelsea residents Ana, 27, and Miguel, 36, had been planning a romantic evening at home March 27: sharing a bottle of wine and celebrating their first year as a couple. Instead, they found themselves picking through what remained of their belongings after a fire destroyed their home.

Thankfully for them, the American Red Cross was on scene to help, providing emergency relief that would help them get through this trying time.

“The Red Cross was awesome to us,” recalled Miguel, “all of them!”

The fire happened in the middle of the day, when the couple was at work. It started in the Laundromat on the first floor of their 15th Street building, but spread quickly to their second floor apartment. By the time they were notified, little could be done.

Miguel was the first to arrive and was escorted to the burnt-out apartment by police and firefighters. Ana arrived soon after.

“When we got home all of our stuff was lying in the backyard. Glass was shattered everywhere, water everywhere, all of our clothing, our sofa, TV, computers, everything—a complete loss,” she said.

Standing on the sidewalk with just a few bags of salvaged belongings, Ana and Miguel learned that the Red Cross could provide them with assistance. In fact two Red Cross disaster response teams had arrived on the scene to help not only Ana and Miguel, but all of the building’s residents, who were ordered to vacate the building.

Recalling the efforts of the Red Cross teams, Ana said they did everything very quickly.

“They found somewhere for us to stay for a couple of nights; they gave us emergency funds to get some food; and they asked us to talk to a caseworker so we can find some help to follow up the case.”

Two days later, Ana and Miguel came in to the Red Cross Manhattan offices. Their meeting with a Red Cross caseworker empowered the couple to get the help they needed, including referrals for longer-term housing.

“The caseworker has been giving us good advice on what to do and what not to do. And how to proceed,” explained Miguel. “All the information she has given us has been so helpful.”

Ana and Miguel never thought they might one day need the help of the Red Cross. They were familiar with the humanitarian relief and recovery work of the Red Cross for major disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. Ana was also a regular blood donor for the Red Cross. But neither was aware of the Red Cross disaster response activity in the Greater New York region.

“You don’t think if you have a problem like this in your home, that the Red Cross can help you,” said Ana. “But now we know.”