Prevent, Prepare, and Respond

Hello, my name is Khoa Nguyen, and I am a second year AmeriCorps member serving with Together We Prepare – an AmeriCorps program that positions its members with American Red Cross chapters throughout the state of Michigan. Members divide their program time between volunteer services and disaster services. During a normal day, I serve as the Volunteer & Youth Services Coordinator to recruit, orient, and train adult and youth volunteers to serve in different American Red Cross departments such as disaster services, transportation, fund development, and health and safety. In addition to my role in volunteer services, I am responsible for allocating my time to teaching preparedness education classes in the Greater Grand Rapids school system and carrying out disaster relief efforts when needed. The latter experience is one of the most rewarding and meaningful elements of my program.

The disaster response experience embraces traits of humanity and empathy. The most commonly occurring disaster in West Michigan is home fires, especially during the winter months. An anecdote of a recent response occurred during the early morning hours of April 14, 2012, when a fire forced residents from 24 apartment units at Boulder Ridge apartments in Wyoming, Mich., to evacuate from their home. I was one of 22 Red Cross Disaster Action Team members called upon to assist the victims. As part of the response effort, I drove the Emergency Response Vehicle, a moderately sized truck loaded with comfort kits, blankets, snacks, and stuffed animals, to the scene of the fire. Upon arrival, I witnessed damp roofing and charred furniture on the lawn. Groups of families huddled outside the apartment complex waiting for confirmation from the Fire Department to see if it was safe for them to enter their apartments to salvage any valuable possessions. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries, but how would these individuals move on from this disaster? 

The goal of the American Red Cross is to provide the most immediate recovery needs following a disaster. As a result, Disaster Team Members divided into pairs and began interviewing the apartment residents affected by the fire. Critical information obtained during the interview includes identification of family members, statements of how the disaster affected the family, degree of damage from an assessment, and medical information if appropriate. Afterwards, the Red Cross formulates a recovery plan for the families. A recovery plan may consist of providing temporary housing, allotting funds on a credit card for food and clothing, writing referrals to other agencies, or a combination of all three actions. Additionally, the Red Cross provided families with directions to obtaining a fire report, removing the smell of smoke out of their belongings, and contacting their insurance agencies if applicable.

Though this occurrence was one of my own disaster response impact experiences, other AmeriCorps members in the Together We Prepare program have participated in numerous other disaster relief efforts and have many stories of their own impact. Members have confronted other types of disasters such as winter storms, floods, and tornadoes. Although they are Michigan’s AmeriCorps members, many members have been sent throughout the country when a large-scale disaster occurs in another state. As Together We Prepare program members, I have been continually awed by their ambitions and amazed by their accomplishments, knowing that we are in fact making a difference.