Red Cross Opens Multiple Shelters for Wildfires

Update: Friday, July 13, 2018 – All Red Cross shelters for the Colorado Fires of 2018 have been closed. The Red Cross will turn its focus to helping people recover from this disaster. With over 200 homes destroyed by wildfires support will be needed for communities and individuals. If you are in need of Red Cross […]

Closing the shelter in the Fort Garland Community Center is a good thing. 

It’s good, because it means every last disaster victim has had their housing needs addressed – Red Cross shelters only close when they are no longer needed. As the shelter winds down, Red Cross workers pack supplies into trucks and make house calls, bringing casework services and checking on people during this transitional period. Other […]

Heading Home can be Dangerous

July 11, 2018 Story by David Owens At a dusty, ash-covered crossroads on the western slope of Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, half an hour’s drive from the nearest paved road, American Red Cross volunteers set up a supply distribution point to aid people as they return to their fire-ravaged homes. Residents only have a few hours […]

Disaster Work Can be Lonely

July 11, 2018 Story by David Owens Often, disaster relief work is hectic and crowded, but sometimes there are long, lonely, dusty periods. Volunteer Steve Harris of the Alamosa Red Cross keeps this supply distribution point open, giving shovels, sifters and other relief supplies to residents as they trickle back into their neighborhoods. As several […]

Helping Adults Cope with Disaster

July 10, 2018 12 PM Article by Beth Bernhardt A disaster of any size will cause unusual stress in people who have been directly or indirectly impacted by it. Each person will react differently, and a range of responses to a disaster are normal and to be expected. Emotional responses to disasters can appear immediately, or sometimes […]

Helping Children Cope with Disaster

July 9, 2018 2 PM: Submitted by Beth Bernhardt Children can feel very frightened during a disaster and afterwards some will show temporary changes in behavior. For most children these changes will be mild, not last long, and diminish with time. Young children may return to bed-wetting, have difficulty sleeping, and not want to be […]

Life Goes on, Even in a Shelter

July 8, 2018 Article submitted by Rick Padden For Red Cross volunteer Rochelle Obechina, disaster relief is far more than providing  a roof, bottled water, cots, blankets, and scrambled eggs. According to her, there are basic human needs, and then there is the need for humanity. “We may be displaced, but community hasn’t gone away,” she said. […]