Author: American Red Cross California Gold Country Region

~“We were here before, we were here during and we will be here long after”~
Written by Michele Maki, American Red Cross Volunteer

“This has been my chance to give back, and I’ve never regretted it.” Dennis Lewis, a retired police officer and 5 year veteran of the American Red Cross does not mince his words when asked, “Why, with so many opportunities for the retired these days, why do you volunteer so many hours to the Red Cross? Lewis pauses for a moment, and thoughtfully explains, “Well, you know, when I was a Marine in Vietnam, my mom passed away. The Red Cross convinced my CO that I should attend her funeral. They actually bumped a general off the flight to get me home. I’ve never forgotten that.“

Lewis is the Mass Care Lead for Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Alpine Counties. He leads and responds to disaster calls for the Disaster Action Team too. These calls are frequently home fires. It could be a family that had a fire and has no place to go.

“We provide for their immediate needs. We make sure they have a safe place to sleep, meals, and if all was lost, a change of clothing, and emotional support. Our health services can help the family with any medicines that may have been lost to the fire too.”
Frequently though, Lewis is the only volunteer on the scene. “I could sure use some help!” Lewis said, “I like to train folks to help and I like hands on help.”

This was clearly evident during the tragic fire that ravaged his community. Known at the “Butte Fire”, more than 470 homes were lost. In the early days of the fire, many volunteers remarked how Lewis was the order in the middle of chaos.

“He has a presence, you know,” remarked one volunteer. “When he’s in the room you know it. But he has a way of making each person feel special and no matter what task you are given, you know it’s important to the mission and your own contribution is valued.”

“Some of our local Red Cross Volunteers lost their own homes in this fire. Their loss and the losses of this close community have really touched our hearts in a very personal way. It is OUR loss,” explained Sue Yoder, who flew in from Iowa to help in the relief and recovery effort.

Dennis put it succinctly, “The Red Cross was here before the fire. We were here during the fire. We will be here during and after recovery, which will take years. This is our community, our friends and neighbors, and it’s important that we take an active role in looking after each other.”

Lewis and the Red Cross encourage you to consider taking on that active role by becoming a Red Cross Volunteer. Training is free, and you will be helping your own community prevent and prepare for the unexpected. Visit redcross.org/goldcountry for more information!

Written by Richard Woodruff, American Red Cross

Kathy Catania has been a Red Cross volunteer for 10 years signing on right after Katrina. Her first deployment was to Biloxi Mississippi and it started a path of service that today has brought her to Northern California and the small town of San Andreas the Calaveras county seat near the hardest hit areas of the Butte Fire. That is where the Red Cross Client Assistance Center is and that is where we found her on the phone checking up on one of her clients.

As we quietly sat and talked there were a few people coming and going behind us needing assistance.  They were greeted at the door often with a hug and a bottled water as they made their way into the private cubicles. One-on-one the caseworkers would sit down discuss their situation and provide or direct them with or direct them to what they needed for their unique situation.

For Kathy this particular assignment is a bit of a homecoming because although she currently lives in San Diego, she used to live in nearby Sonora and in fact still owns a home there. The Butte Fire hit her especially hard because she almost lost her own home during a previous wildfire.  The fear and uncertainty of that situation gives her special empathy for the  people of Calaveras county.  After being evacuated (many to Red Cross shelters) most had no idea whether or not their homes had even survived. It took several days for the firefighters to go back up into this the burn areas to begin to document what homes had been destroyed. She knows first hand what that feels like.

Since the client assistance center started operating on September 19th, Red Cross volunteer caseworkers have opened over 375 cases and the work is just getting underway.  The road to recovery is a long one and the Red Cross will be here as long as it takes.

Kathy says even though coming back here has been bittersweet it has also been  a very rewarding experience because says that she has been able to help her former neighbors. She says “These are very close knit communities that band together in times of need and I am glad to be part of that healing process.” For Kathy it is a case of coming home to where a part of her heart will always live.

The world of the Red Cross involves many partnerships. One of those is Lend a Heart-Lend a Hand Animal Assistance who provided therapy dogs to one of the Red Cross shelters in Amador County.  The Jackson Rancheria Hotel Casino had been converted into a Red Cross shelter initially housing hundreds of people who had escaped the flames of the Butte fire.  The canine companions could be seen mingling with shelter residents offering comfort and hope.

One such dog was a poodle named Credo. They say poodles are one of the smartest breeds there are and clearly Credo represented that.  He was extremely smart and one of his tricks was to pretend that he had a cold and was sneezing. He would then grab a tissue from a box.  The novelty alone provided an entertaining diversion from the situation at hand.    Credo has a complete repertoire of tricks including putting laundry in the dryer, picking up items dropped and even retrieving medications. For this assignment he was there to just offer the unconditional love dogs are known for. Other therapy dogs could be seen visiting shelter residents exhibiting the kind of unconditional love dogs are known for.

The Red Cross also has it’s own corps of therapy dogs called the American Red Cross Canine Action Team.

It takes a whole community to make a community whole and these furry friends are part of that community.

It takes the whole community to make a community whole

When a series of devastating wildfires ravaged California, thousands of homes were lost in minutes and many people were suddenly coping with unprecedented challenges. In small towns with a big sense of community, neighbors came together to help one another, mobilizing with great generosity.

Weeks later, many community groups and agencies big and small are still working together on the relief efforts—distributing truckloads of relief supplies, while also providing food, comfort and shelter to those affected by these disasters.

In the initial hours of the California Wildfires, working closely with local emergency management, several community groups and the American Red Cross opened a combined total of 12 shelters across California for those impacted by the many wildfires. Amador and Calaveras Animal Services as well as other animal groups have provided care for the evacuated pets and animals.

The shelters have satisfied the immediate needs to evacuated residents, including a safe place to stay, food (meals, snacks), water, medicines and basic health services, emotional support and other support resources. To date, community groups and Red Cross have supported over 11,000 overnight stays for residents affected by the evacuation orders.

The Southern Baptist Convention, Salvation Army, and Jackson Rancheria were among some of the partners that cooked up delicious meals for families and individuals that were at the shelter and also received a hot meal from one of our emergency response vehicles…. Together we were able to serve more than 85,000 meals and snacks.

The difficult recovery from these wildfires makes this a frustrating and emotionally draining time for everyone involved. Calaveras County and Red Cross Mental Health and Health professionals have provided over 8,500 basic health and mental health connections.

Clean clothes were also scarce in the smoky aftermath of the fires and communities were without access to water or power. As dirty laundry piles grew larger, the Southern Baptist Convention brought in the laundry trailers to provide free laundry services as well as shower trailers.

“When disaster strikes, hundreds of people and businesses step up to the plate to help,” said Gary Strong, American Red Cross Gold Country Region CEO. “We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of these businesses, organizations, and individuals who made significant efforts to help people affected by the Butte and Valley wildfires.”

Several churches and community groups in Amador and Calaveras Counties, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware as well as the Red Cross, have been gathering and handing out cleaning, hygiene and comfort items in hardest-hit neighborhoods devastated by the Butte fire. These items include water, snacks, non-perishable meals, and clean-up items such as gloves, buckets, trash bags, sifters, and dust masks. To date, over 50,000 relief items have been handed out.

Assistance Centers have been opened where residents can access resources available from many organizations, including Children’s Disaster Services, Salvation Army, Team Rubicon, government departments like EDD, Cal OES, DMV, and corporations like PG&E and AT&T.  There, Red Cross case workers are meeting one-on-one with people on matters such as family reunification, funeral assistance, emergency needs and recovery planning.   If the Red Cross is not providing for a specific need, our caseworkers are able to help residents get connected with a partner agency that is meeting that specific need.  Nearly 1,200 cases have opened by Red Cross caseworkers to provide individualized recovery support.

Disasters are often complex, with multifaceted needs – and no single agency can meet every need on its own; it takes collaboration and partnership. The Red Cross is one of many agencies coming together to ensure that basic needs are met, to work on the long-term recovery of entire communities and to help them be prepared for and become more resilient in future wildfires.

There is a self-sufficient resiliency woven into the close knit culture of the people of Calaveras and Amador County. The Butte Wildfire burned hundreds of them out of their homes.

Locals say that they have not seen a fire of this magnitude since 1937. Some of these families have been here for generations and tend to have a deep distrust of government; they prefer to keep to themselves tucked deep into the hills. As a result many are camping on their burned out property accepting help only from trusted friends, family and neighbors.

For the Red Cross this means that we have to seek out these pockets of need to offer whatever assistance we can. We also have to build rapport and trust quickly as many mistakenly associate the Red Cross with government.

Today, one of the many assignments of the integrated care team was to go find a gentleman named Jerry who was camping out where his home used to be. It took about an hour to finally arrive at his camp. Integrated care teams include disaster assessment case workers and health practioners.

When we came upon Jerry, he had heard from neighbors that the Red Cross was out and about trying to help people, so he was upbeat and cheerful as he welcomed us into his camp. He was engaged in spirited conversation with a group of young firefighters who had made it part of their daily routine to check up on him. (There are still many Cal Fire teams roaming the area seeking out lingering hot spots.) A visit with Jerry was always a welcome retreat from the rigors of their job. He came to expect them and always made plenty of extra coffee. He offered us some as well as he redirected his attention to our team.

After some initial hesitation he agreed to let us sit down and inventory his needs. It was quickly determined that Jerry was on several prescription medications.  Our nurse took him aside and began going through his entire shoebox full of medications one at a time and discovered that he needed a couple of refills. He was also running low on hearing aid batteries.

Jerry was a Viet Nam veteran and eligible for assistance with his medications, but camped in remote isolation he had no idea that the VA was set up in nearby San Andreas to take care of cases just like Jerrys. Because he is unwilling to leave his property due to looters, the Red Cross offered to advocate on his behalf and get his medications refilled. After the nurse took his blood pressure he rejoined the young firefighters clearly appreciative of the company.

There are countless stories just like Jerry’s requiring strategic “search and rescue missions” by Red Cross integrated care teams. —for Jerry it was just what the doctor ordered.

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Damage assessment and integrated care teams have been on the ground in both Amador and Calaveras, assessing properties and looking for people who might not have had a chance to visit the Local Assistance Center due to transportation or other issues. Our teams focus on helping people, but we also care for others… like cats!

One of our team members found this kitten who was taken to the appropriate agency and a few days later was on the front cover of a newspaper!

We want to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to Allison Reezak and Mike Jaime for saving this little kitten’s life.