Volunteering Inspires Some to Become Employees

After Superstorm Sandy, the American Red Cross relied on its dedicated staff members and volunteers to provide aid to those affected by the storm. More than 10,000 volunteers from across the country poured into the Greater New York region to help the thousands of people in need.

For some of those volunteers, assisting with the long-term recovery efforts of the Red Cross became a mission they wanted to commit to full time. Patty Jones, Tymera Jackson and Kevin Rivero are three of those individuals.

Patty Jones has been volunteering with the Red Cross since she was fifteen. She began as a Candy Striper in Methodist Hospital of Brooklyn. Post-Sandy, Jones, who lives in Brooklyn, once again signed on to volunteer for the Red Cross.

In February 2013, she joined the Sandy Long-Term Recovery Document Management department. For the next four months, she volunteered Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., researching internal and external databases to learn about residents who had reached out for assistance. Later, she transferred to the Intake Department to conduct initial interviews of Sandy-affected residents. Eventually, Jones was hired as a Greater New York case manager for the Sandy Long Term Recovery.

Jones, who also regularly volunteers on a Disaster Action Team for the Greater New York Red Cross in New York City, says her experience working with Red Cross staff and volunteers has been nothing short of inspiring.

“I’ve met a lot of wonderful volunteers from different states,” she said. “As a New Yorker, I’ll always be grateful that they left their families behind, in some cases for months, just to help us out.”

Tymera Jackson of Westchester County began volunteering with the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, back in 2005. At the former White Plains office, she started off doing administrative tasks in the Emergency Services department. In addition to her administrative role, Tymera helped screen potential volunteers, and joined a Disaster Action Team that responds to local emergencies, helping those affected. For three years, she gave 30 hours of her time a week as a volunteer at White Plains.

Inspired by the mission of the Red Cross, after Hurricane Sandy hit, Jackson applied to become a Sandy long term recovery case manager in the Greater New York Manhattan office. She was hired in March 2013. In this role, she visits Sandy-affected residents from Connecticut and New York City, assessing damage to their homes and helping them to access resources from Red Cross and/or other agencies.

“People have said things like, ‘You’re an angel, God must have sent you,’ she said. “They just want to know that someone cares and that someone is there to listen to their issues.”

When Superstorm Sandy hit, Kevin Rivero, from Washington, D.C., was fresh out of college. To help pay for his education, he worked for both a restaurant and an event planning company. In January 2013, after learning the Red Cross needed post-Sandy recovery volunteers, Kevin applied, was accepted, and moved to New York City. He volunteered for nearly five months providing assistance for people affected by Sandy. In June 2013, Kevin became a full-time staff member on the Long-Term Recovery team. 

Kevin said his volunteer work prepared him for his current job. Both as a volunteer and in his current job, he helps Sandy-affected residents receive financial or emotional support from Red Cross programs and through partner organizations. Kevin, who works with residents across Long Island, speaks with residents by phone and visits their homes to assess their needs.

“My job is about being a partner to those I help and steer them through the recovery process,” Kevin said. “It’s rewarding to see them making progress.”

Kevin is also in the process of becoming a volunteer disaster responder.  “What the responders do is really cool,” Kevin said. “I would like to be part of that.”

LI’s Sal Montoro Promoted to National Shelter Operations Manager

Sal Montoro, far right, with Long Island colleagues.

Like so many people, Long Island resident Sal Montoro started volunteering with the American Red Cross after 9/11. Montoro was working in downtown Manhattan for LeNoble Lumber Co., where he is now manager of credit and operations. LeNoble had become the supplier for all emergency service people carrying out recovery work, and Montoro was supervising deliveries of lumber being used to shore up building and power lines. 

One day he was driving a forklift and cut his hand open. “I saw a Red Cross station and went over for first aid,” he said. “The people were great, and they explained what they did. I promised myself that in the memory of my friends that I lost, I would do something good. That was almost 13 years ago, and I'm still here.”

Recently, with nearly 13 years of experience under his belt as a Disaster Action Team (DAT) captain, board member, shelter committee chairman, and Sheltering Operations Local Emergency Response (SOLER) team founder (SOLER teams set up and run shelters on Long Island), Montoro was promoted to the position of Red Cross National Shelter Operations Manager. In fact, he’s leading the way as the first National Shelter Operations Manager to come from the Greater New York region. 

“Shelter Operations Manager is a national title which allows me to supervise shelters in a large-scale disaster,” Montoro explained. “I’m proud of my promotion; it’s taken almost 10 years of work to get to this.”

To be approved as a shelter operations manager Montoro underwent a rigorous training process. It included nearly 15 required courses, multiple assignments as shelter manager, and acting Shelter Operations Manager during Irene and Sandy. “I've been working in shelters for more than 10 years,” he said. “Some were small (25 people); and some large (2,223 people).”

According to Liz Barker, Greater New York senior disaster program manager, Montoro has a passion and enthusiasm for this work that is contagious. “He sincerely wants to help people after disasters, is dedicated to the Red Cross mission, and keeps the success of other volunteers as one of his highest priorities,” she said. “I feel so lucky to have Sal on our side.”

What skill does Montoro believe is most important to a shelter manager? He cites the ability to work well with others. “Before one can be a good leader one needs to be a good follower,” he said. “I've learned throughout the years to become a good listener and a good follower.”

As a shelter worker, Montoro has experienced some particularly emotional scenes. One, he said, took place during Hurricane Katrina, in a Mississippi shelter with over 2,300 people.

“One older woman sat at the front door for days saying she was waiting for her son to come,” he said. “We treated her like she was an aunt, and she treated us with love as well. One day a young man asked for this woman. This was her son; it had taken almost two weeks of looking through all the shelters in Louisiana and Mississippi to find his mother. When he finally found her it was one of the most emotional times of my life.”

“The volunteer work I do is fulfilling,” he added. “It grounds me and reminds me every day how lucky I am. The Red Cross is a great organization. If they'll have me, I plan on staying here for life.”

In Case You Missed it – Aug. 25

Red Cross Volunteer unloading supplies for service center in the aftermath of Hamilton Heights fire.

In the last week the Red Cross provided emergency relief in the form of shelter, food, clothing, health services and/or emotional support to 178 New Yorkers impacted by 36 disasters across our region. Here are some highlights.

Last Week in Review

• The Red Cross helped over 100 residents displaced by a tragic 4-alarm fire that tore through an apartment building on West 138th Street in Manhattan last Monday, taking one life. At a relief center set up at nearby P.S. 192 on W. 136th Street, Red Cross teams provided comfort in the form of hot meals, health services, emotional support, and other assistance to those displaced. We also provided emergency housing at local hotels to those that needed it. Get an inside look into the Red Cross Service Center setup to assist the displaced residents of the Hamilton Heights fire and meet some of the workers and volunteers responding to this disaster with the video above.
• Donations to the Red Cross after Sandy are helping fund rebuilding efforts by community-based organizations like Resurrection Brooklyn Relief. This weekend, some great Red Cross volunteers helped Resurrection Brooklyn repair a Sandy-damaged home in Brooklyn.
• One more Red Cross intern has weighed in with his thoughts on serving with the Red Cross. Read what Conrad Cantor has to say about interning with the Sandy Long Term Recovery team.
• Yankee fans stepped up to the plate for the Red Cross last week, purchasing reduced-cost premium tickets to the August 20 Yankees vs. Astros game. Sadly the Yankees lost. Happily, a portion of the proceeds of the reduced-cost tickets will go to support the Red Cross humanitarian mission. Long Island Red Crossers, including CEO John Miller, came out in force to attend the game.
• The Red Cross Middletown Warehouse has been a hive of activity since last Thursday, with a huge cleanup of blankets, bulk items and shelter trailers. Additionally, a total of 530 cots were cleaned, restocked and "palletized" and are now ready for distribution. Way to go, Red Crossers!
• Kudos to Kelly McKinney, our Chief Disaster Officer, for representing Greater NY in the #IceBucketChallenge to #StrikeoutALS after being challenged by the NYC Office of Emergency Management. Watch Kelly get doused for a good cause!

Yankee Fans Step Up to the Plate for the Red Cross

A total of 70 people, including Red Crossers from Greater NY and even out of town, took advantage of the opportunity to purchase reduced-cost premium tickets to the August 20 Yankees vs. Astros game, with a portion of the proceeds going to support the humanitarian mission of the American Red Cross.

Additionally, the first 50 game attendees received a Red Cross t-shirt and all attendees were automatically entered into a raffle to win four complimentary tickets (valued at $1,200) to a Yankees game held before Derek Jeter's retirement. 

“We thank all those who bought tickets supporting the Red Cross mission of helping those in need,” said John Miller, CEO of the Long Island Red Cross, who attended the game. “I’m proud to say that Long Island Red Crossers were well represented at game, wearing their red, white and blue!”

My Internship with the Greater NY Red Cross

By Conrad Cantor

I was looking forward to this internship with the Community Recovery section within the Sandy Long Term Recovery team at the American Red Cross. I already had some experience within the emergency management field at my previous internship in Washington, DC, and wanted to learn more about the recovery aspect of the disaster cycle.

Although my colleagues smothered me with acronyms and strange-sounding terms, I quickly picked up the lingo and understood a basic conversation between my colleagues. I helped publish newsletters on post-Sandy community resources and even got certified in Adult First Aid/CPR/AED. Sitting in on a few meetings with FEMA and volunteer organization officials made me realize how lengthy the recovery process is, especially with a natural disaster such as Hurricane Sandy.

Perhaps my biggest project at the Red Cross was the transition docs, a series of reports on the five boroughs, Long Island, and Metro New York North. For each of these reports, I helped compile Sandy damage metrics, neighborhood demographics, and general background information on Sandy-affected areas. It helped me further understand the toll Sandy took on New Yorkers’ lives.

I am glad that I was exposed to the nonprofit section of emergency management and disaster relief. It was a humbling experience and I received the opportunity to work with some of the most dedicated and mission-oriented people in this field. I will definitely contribute my time and talents to any future volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross. I am proud to carry this experience forward and I look forward to a lifelong career in the emergency management and public health fields.

Conrad is pursuing an MA in public administration at Baruch College's School of Public Affairs. He holds a BA in political science from Pace University.

In Case You Missed it – Aug. 18

Photo: Ronnie Rigos / @rgrigos

In the last week the Red Cross provided emergency relief in the form of shelter, food, clothing, health services and/or emotional support to 128 New Yorkers impacted by 50 disasters across our region. These numbers do not include the hundreds of people helped after last week’s Long Island floods. Here are some highlights from the prior week.

Last Week in Review

 

• Last week, record-setting rainfall inundated communities on Long Island and Red Cross volunteers sprang into action to help hundreds of people affected by the severe flooding. Red Cross teams from across the region—Long Island, New York City, and Metro New York North—distributed flood clean-up supplies, blankets and beverages, conducted damage assessment and worked with families to determine whether further emergency assistance was needed. Read about the response in more detail here.
• August 14 was the anniversary of the Northeast Blackout. Editorial Manager Anita Salzberg commemorated the occasion by asking "Where Were You During the Blackout of 2003?"
• With help from the American Red Cross, volunteers from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief and other organizations are working to rebuild Long Island homes damaged by Superstorm Sandy, and are making their own temporary home on a Long Island college campus as they do the work.
• Wonderful story of how a Yonkers police captain used infant CPR to save the life of a baby and will now attend her wedding 20 years later. CPR can not only save a life, but it can also build life-long relationships. See video report from NBC NY here.
• Several interns finished their summer internships with us and shared what their experience was like here, here and here. Thank you for all your hard work ladies!
• Sadly, last week two prominent celebrities passed away: Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall. Many may not know that Lauren Bacall began her modeling career in 1943 with this iconic Harper's Bazaar cover to ramp up blood donations to support US military hospitals overseas during WWII.

Where Were You During Blackout 2003?

By Agatha Kereere

Anita Salzberg, American Red Cross Greater NY editorial manager, was home with her husband in their Queens, N.Y., apartment on Thursday, August 14, 2003, when a major outage knocked out power to millions in the northeast U.S. and Canada.

"It was late-afternoon and sunny," Salzberg said. "The air conditioner abruptly cut off and our clocks stopped working. This was about two years after 9/11 so my first thought was—'Terrorism?' I got one of our small transistor radios out of a cabinet, and, within a minute, I knew this was 'just' a blackout."

Salzberg proceeded to collect all the batteries and flashlights in the apartment and dumped them onto the couple's dining room table. She said her husband looked at her with a combination of surprise and amusement. "He didn't know we had these supplies or how I'd thought of them," she said. "And I didn't think it was funny."

Though Salzberg and others felt a sense of relief when the source of the blackout was revealed to have no links to terrorism, that didn't make the situation any less serious. According to news reports, roughly 50 million people were affected by the loss of power.

Technology and social media had yet to make the strides of today; there was no Facebook status to assure loved ones of a person's wellbeing or tweets to provide updates on the situation. Many people weren't sure how to respond to the outage, but perhaps some, like Salzberg, were able to rely on past experiences to dictate how to proceed.

"I remembered the blackout back in 1977 and used that to help me in this situation," Salzberg said. "Having the supplies on hand was instinctive; I just knew what we'd need if the power went down."

Blackout 2003 was 11 years ago today. However, more than a decade later, many New Yorkers still aren't prepared for this kind of emergency. Are you?

Learn Red Cross tips for successfully coping with a power outage.