Making Our Communities Safe - Janet Schoor, Ailid Ramos and Hector Pereira

For the past few days we've featured our dedicated Home Fire Preparedness volunteers going above and beyond to make this community a safer place.

Janet Schoor

Janet first got involved with the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina.

“I thought it was time that I did something,” she recalled.

Since joining the Red Cross, Janet has volunteered with the call center and mass care, running shelters and giving out food. She was deployed twice to flooded areas in Iowa and upstate New York.

“Then when Sandy occurred, I just did whatever was needed,” she said.

These days, Janet volunteers for #GetAlarmedNYC on a daily basis. She talks to residents about the program, and sets their appointments. This is a critical piece of the process, explaining to clients that we’re providing not just alarms but also fire safety instruction and a plan to escape a burning home safely.

“I like doing the phone calls,” she says. “People are enormously grateful that the Red Cross is providing this service. Sometimes people even call me back and say, 'The team was here and they were fabulous.'”

She also is an incredibly reliable, friendly face at the staffing table at installation events.

“I like being in the field. It’s the person to person contact. It’s the gratitude of the people.”

Volunteering every day is quite a commitment, but it’s a no-brainer for Janet.

“There’s so much work that has to get done!” she says. “Everyone at Red Cross is so cooperative and helpful. It’s pleasant work, and as long as I can do a lot of it from home, then that makes it more efficient and better for me.”

Janet encourages anyone who’s interested to volunteer for an event and see what it’s about.

“You’ll feel very fulfilled. You have to be flexible, but the end result is worth it. Everybody knows the Red Cross and you get to be part of that!”

Ailid Ramos

“I had some free time and so I wanted to help,” says Ailid, a volunteer in Information Management for #GetAlarmedNYC. “I read about the program and it was very interesting to me because it is making a difference for New Yorkers. When I was looking for a volunteer opportunity, this was the only one that I found that had a variety: you could volunteer for so many different things. That’s what brought me to Red Cross."

Each #GetAlarmedNYC event requires planning to ensure that installation teams maximize the number of residents they see and alarms they install. Ailid’s role includes scheduling appointments with residents, mapping routes for installation teams and managing program data.

“This is something that I’m passionate about – working with data and reports – so when I heard about the position I fell in love with it,” she says. “I thought that I could have an impact on the organization and the campaign.”

Ailid is looking to gain work experience and to improve the lives of others at the same time.

“This is something that I want to do, in transition from being a stay at home mom to get back into the workforce. It makes me feel good, helping others. It’s like a win-win opportunity. I’m helping them, and also I feel this is good for me to restart and get back into my field.”

She hopes more people will consider volunteering for #GetAlarmedNYC, because it’s an opportunity to meet people, help New Yorkers, and to explore different service areas.

“The Red Cross is very open, and they make you feel like you’re part of the organization. I’ve seen Red Cross as an opportunity for me,” she says. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing.”

Hector Pereira

Hector came to the Red Cross after Superstorm Sandy.

“I wanted to respond immediately and get involved,” he says. “I saw the Emergency Response Vehicle onsite and that kind of inspired me. I thought I could do that.”

Hector later got involved with #GetAlarmedNYC by joining an installation event in the Bronx.

“As the volunteer alerts came out, I just continually signed up,” he says. “I took various classes and training and got more involved.”

Hector now serves as an installer, fire safety educator and driver for installation events; as well as a responder for the Bronx Disaster Action Team (DAT).

Outside of the Red Cross, Hector has been a New York City Auxiliary Police Officer in the Bronx for 35 years.

“I’ve been doing that since I was at John Jay College,” he says.

He’s retiring soon and will dedicate even more of his time to volunteering for the Red Cross.

“The positive thing about #GetAlarmedNYC is that you get immediate involvement in people’s lives. You do make a difference. There is the satisfaction of actually interacting with individuals in their homes. The whole model is that you’re saving a life without realizing it. It’s a great experience for anyone that wants to volunteer.”

Hector is eager for New Yorkers to step up and do more.

“The only way you can make a difference is by getting involved. Once you get involved, you create some amount of change. Also, you are kind of a role model to others. They see the things you’re doing.”

He also wants to inform potential volunteers of the many options available to them.

“With the flexibility of Red Cross, you make up your own hours. There’s no pressure. They want you to do what you can do, when you can do it.”

Making Our Communities Safer - Howard Moi and Hugh Maxwell

This week we will be featuring a few of our dedicated Home Fire Preparedness volunteers going above and beyond to make this community a safer place.

Howard Moi

Since 1993, Howard has volunteered for the Red Cross in public relations, health and safety and disaster services.

“When someone told me about Red Cross, I immediately thought that all they do is teach CPR, First Aid, and lifeguarding,” he said. “I was a little hesitant, but my friend motivated me to join. I started out doing public relations, handing out flyers and pamphlets at health fairs, street fairs. And then from there I became a First Aid/CPR instructor.”

After joining the Red Cross, Howard found reasons to stay, and to further explore his role.

“I liked the camaraderie, the people, the various departments that we could merge into. There are a lot of different roles, and if you find one role that doesn’t quite fit you, there’s always a role that might be a better fit. It’s just like shoes and clothes.”

Howard says the reason he’s so dedicated to #GetAlarmedNYC is simple: “It’s the mission of the program – to keep people safe, and to educate people. Things in the apartment or in the house can be replaced, but if you lose a family member or a pet, having memories isn’t enough,” he adds. “The more lives we can save by educating and preventing, the better off they’ll be and their neighbors will be.”

He encourages everyone to try out volunteering   for the Red Cross.

“If you like to talk, or if you’re a teacher, it will be a perfect fit because it’s a great chance to educate and teach people about the program. And if you’re someone who’s a little shy, and doesn’t like to speak in public, this is your chance to overcome it. It’s not really a classroom setting, or a big auditorium. It’s kind of like going to your friend’s house. And like any type of volunteer work, it’s very rewarding.”


Hugh Maxwell

Hugh came to the Red Cross like many other volunteers: a little unexpectedly. “A friend of mine had started volunteering, and he was not able to fulfill his obligation,” Hugh said. “So I decided to fill in.”

Hugh is an ambassador for #GetAlarmedNYC, giving presentations and cultivating relationships with other organizations. He created a partnership with Meals On Wheels in Staten Island, which serves meals to 1,200 homes every day. Now these visits can double as opportunities for fire safety education and smoke/carbon monoxide detector installation.

“I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said. “I am 100% dedicated to this, and we won’t stop.”

He makes regular presentations to parents at PTA meetings, encouraging them to sign up.

“I also am on the fundraising campaign for Staten Island Mental Health Society, so I’ve been able to contact them to offer installations to the families there.”

Ask Hugh what keeps him motivated, and he jumps in before you’ve finished the question: “It’s the need of the people,” he says. “It’s our obligation as human beings to make sure that these are accessible to everybody. This isn’t for the privileged, this is for everybody.”

Hugh is also recruiting volunteers from his alma mater, Empire State College.

“Your reward is the gratitude. When you’re leaving the house, people bend over backwards thanking you. It so far outweighs the dedication we put into the job. After your first install, you’ll see it automatically and it’ll drive you to come back.”

Making Our Communities Safer - Antwan Peterson and Travis Greaves

This week we will be featuring a few of our dedicated Home Fire Preparedness volunteers going above and beyond to make this community a safer place.

Antwan Peterson 

Between his roles as disaster responder and team lead and #GetAlarmedNYC driver, Antwan volunteers for the Red Cross six days a week. 

“I never wanted to leave the Red Cross, once I got in,” he said. “The family here is very welcoming.”

Antwan’s experience providing assistance after home fires inspired him to get involved with #GetAlarmedNYC. #GetAlarmedNYC is a Red Cross initiative in partnership with the FDNY, the FDNY Foundation, the Mayor's Office and NY City Council which offers free fire safety education and free 10-year smoke and carbon monoxide detector installations. Its mission is to reduce injuries and deaths as a result of home fires. With as little as two minutes to safely escape a burning home, smoke alarms are critical to alerting people to a fire so that they have time to get out. 

“We basically try to keep the fires down,” Antwan says, “and educate families, relatives, and all the people affected by the fire. We try to prevent this from happening to anybody else.” 

One home fire response in particular stands out for Antwan.

“The family was downstairs in the lobby area, the son and the mother, and the hallway was flooded full of water. By the time we got to the residents’ apartment, the whole place was destroyed. They had pets under the rubble that had died. Just seeing the devastation of everything they had lost, and how it affected them…it just made my heart bleed.”

“You know what it’s like to go through all these fires, and every scenario is different…but you know what they’re going through. And it’s very compelling to know that [Red Cross] is here.”

Travis Greaves

As a former marine and student at Metropolitan College of New York’s emergency management program, Travis came to the Red Cross ready to work. 

“I wanted to learn as much as I could learn. I always challenge myself to see how far I could go,” he says. “One of my classmates and I had a long weekend, and wanted to see how many of the [Red Cross online] classes we could do. She did 27 in four days, I did 29. It’s always like a challenge to us.”

Travis currently works as a team lead for #GetAlarmedNYC, and through his university, is on a Brooklyn Disaster Action Team (DAT). 

“I also did the New Years’ Eve celebration,” he added. “It was an experience I’ll never forget. It was fun working with the first responders, making sure they were taken care of. I was the Mass Care Lead for the morning shift, and I stayed on until the ball dropped.”

Travis says, what keeps him coming back is the inspiration the work gives him. 

“With everything that’s going on in the world right now, all you hear about is the negative. You never really hear that much about the positive things that are going on.  When you come and actually experience it, it gives you some glimmer of hope.”

Travis says the hours and the commitment are worth it to him. 

“I brought my kids so they see what I do. It’s a sacrifice now but it pays off later on.”