March isn’t just about celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Since 1943, under the provision of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the month has also honored the efforts of the American Red Cross, which offers disaster relief assistance to victims across the country and around the world – something New Jerseyans have recently witnessed and received after Superstorm Sandy ravaged their home state.
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| Photo via Kohn2 The American Red Cross transitions from response to recovery 4 months after Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast. |
American Red Cross Month has been celebrated with proclamations at the state level since 2010. Ocean County provided a county declaration last year, along with nine other New Jersey counties.
New Jersey celebrated the proclamation at the statewide county level for the first time this year on Wednesday, March 20. The proclamation was presented at the Ocean County Board of Freeholders meeting, held at the Ocean County Administration Building in Toms River, in the midst of the American Red Cross’ commitment to providing long-term Sandy assistance.
During the response phase of the storm, the ARC mobilized more than 5,300 employees and volunteers and provided more than 28,300 health and mental health contacts to residents in New Jersey. The organization also distributed more than 1.5 million relief items and served more than 4 million meals and snacks.
The ARC has been in the process of transitioning from response to the recovery phase of the storm since early February. According to Laura Steinmetz, community/government relations officer of the ARC South Jersey Region, the organization will be in full recovery mode later this week.
“When we do our response, it’s much more visible because you see the emergency vehicles out in the community; you see them delivering meals. You don’t see us working one-on-one with clients, looking for their unmet needs,” said Steinmetz. “Now we’re addressing the clients who have already received some services from some of the organizations in the community, such as FEMA, and we’re seeing what additional services they need that the Red Cross can now help with.”
The provided assistance is specific to each individual’s unmet needs. Finding longer-term housing, such as in a FEMA trailer, a partially furnished form of temporary manufactured housing, which residents can stay in for up to 18 months, is one of the ways the organization is helping victims move forward. In some cases, moving costs, home appliances and first month’s utilities and/or rent are compensated.
“We’re not throwing money at people. We’re not giving them a card with money on it, so to speak. We’re helping them realize what their unmet needs are and helping them get to that next phase,” said Steinmetz. “We’re sitting down and doing client casework. In some cases, we’re touching base with them every day. We’re visiting, we’re sitting down one-on-one, and asking, ‘What are your unmet needs? What don’t you have? What do you need?’ In some cases, it may be prescription eyeglasses were lost.
“After they’re helped initially, their file is not closed. We keep that file open to see that we make sure that they get into that phase of recovery that they need to be in,” she added.
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| Photo via Philanthropy Members of the American Red Cross have been supporting Sandy's victims from the beginning. |
Community organizations working with the ARC are providing phone lists with the names of people they have assisted. The ARC is also using its client assistance network software program to track the different people who have been helped.
“Part of what we’re trying to do to make best use of the donor dollar is to see that we don’t replicate services, but that we go that one step further. We want to be able to provide for X amount of people, as many people as we possibly can. We’re taking it the next step past FEMA,” said Steinmetz.
Part of the American Red Cross Sandy recovery effort includes supplying grants to a broad coalition of nonprofit organizations to ensure that partner organizations have the ability to undertake specialized recovery activities. All of the grant applications the ARC receives will be considered, Steinmetz stated.
“The Red Cross is committed that money donated for Sandy be used to help people affected by Sandy, and grant funding such as this helps fulfill that commitment. Programs such as these are vital in helping people rebuild their lives,” she said.
Individuals who have not yet received Sandy assistance are encouraged to reach out to the American Red Cross at 848-202-2930 or 848-202-2931.
The "Red, White and Bling -- 30th annual Red Cross Gala" will be held at the Spring Lake Golf Club in Spring Lake Heights from 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, April 6. Cocktails, dinner, an auction and music played by Generation Next will be provided. The event benefits the ARC Jersey Coast Chapter. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.redcross.org/nj/tinton-falls.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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