By Mary Jo Blackwood, American Red Cross of Colorado Public Affairs
When Sean Killoy, the Disaster Program Manager for the American Red Cross of Western Colorado, was deployed to Louisiana to take over management of a shelter, he had no idea how complicated it could become. Throughout 2020, most shelters were non-congregate set-ups with families being housed separately in either hotel rooms or university dormitories. This was his first congregate shelter post-Covid.
Killoy was deployed to the Kings Grant Playground Shelter in Harvey, LA across the river from New Orleans. “The shelter had been set up and opened by Jefferson Parish, a group that continued to feed residents, as the Red Cross took over shelter management. It had been open about two and a half weeks before I got there. We had about 60 people in this one gymnasium, and because the Parish had opened it, they decided to allow dogs, so we had families, seven dogs at one point, and elderly evacuees with mobility issues from a senior living center.”
Before Killoy arrived, they had a volunteer crew, but his staff quickly deteriorated. One scheduled staff person was sent home. Another developed Covid symptoms and could not come into the shelter. So suddenly, during the busy daytime hours, he found himself alone with no volunteers. Or so he thought!
Luckily, there were two volunteers there from National Headquarters (NHQ), but also from Colorado, who had been deployed to test out a new Red Cross shelter client support app for smartphones. Thea Wasche, a mass care volunteer from the Southeastern Colorado Chapter and Kathy Coffey, the regional shelter lead for the Colorado/Wyoming Region had been deployed there by NHQ to help shelter residents try out the app. They both immediately decided to come to Killoy’s rescue. They could staff the shelter and do their app testing at the same time.
With Wasche and Coffey pitching in, Killoy had the help he needed, because there was additional support available from other sources. Jefferson Parish continued to provide the food for shelter residents and daily laundry service. Parks and Recreation also lent a hand. AmeriCorps and TripleC young people helped with food distribution. A local volunteer decided to help out by bringing in a big-screen TV so residents could watch ball games and arranged for a barber and a musical group to entertain them.
Says Wasche, “Once we took over as shelter staff it really enhanced our ability to use the app. We got to know shelter residents and got lots of feedback on what the app should be able to do.” At one point she got more than she’d signed up for. She volunteered to drive to another shelter that was closing to bring back more cots and blankets and almost got swept away by rising waters. Making it back was a huge sigh of relief.
After Wasche returned to Colorado, Kathy Coffey had a few days left on her deployment so she stayed on. It was her first congregate shelter, too. She decided she would do anything she could to make the residents’ stay as easy as possible. “In a congregate shelter, you never know what’s going to happen. It was small enough to form community and many people did bond while they were there. Jefferson Parish was amazing.”
One story she will fondly remember was meeting a man who had lost his home and had gotten FEMA approval for assistance, but in order to get the money to rebuild, he had to have a bank account. He didn’t. He also couldn’t read or write or have email. So she talked to FEMA for him, helped him set up a bank account and gave him all the information so he could get paid.
Working the shelter also gave her an opportunity to get more feedback on the app. “Only a few people signed up for it, but it really helped the sense of community Those who had it loved being privy to things, like FEMA coming to the shelter, when haircuts would be available and other things that they could alert their shelter companions to.
More about the Shelter Client Support App
The app for android or iPhone was developed by the American Red Cross Innovation Team as a potential method for increasing communications with clients in Red Cross shelters. It provides a direct link from the shelter client to be able to communicate with DR staff and keep it confidential. Some of the capabilities and purpose include:
- Enabling two-way communication with clients and shelter management
- Sending messages to clients
- Enabling clients to send and request assistance from disaster spiritual care, health services, feeding or disability integration
- Providing general and disaster/shelter specific information to clients
- Facilitating easy assignment of client help requests to disaster workforce specialties
App users can ask questions and access information on scheduled events and important phone numbers for disaster recovery. They really liked having that access to communications. Those who signed up for it would show it to their friends and share it from their phone. People who had no home to go to, but had jobs, could get notices at work.
Of course, for the app to work, there had to be WiFi at the shelter. Initially, there wasn’t, so their first job was to work with the Parish to get WiFi installed. Then staff and residents could download the app.