By Pat Kondas, American Public Affairs
Jane Iddings came from a family with a tradition of helping. Her mother was a nurse and her father was the director of the United Way in Cheyenne for many years, where one of the United Way projects was the American Red Cross.
After moving to Torrington, Jane read in a newspaper article that the Red Cross needed help. She was already involved in many community activities with her church, with PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) and as an advocate with the family violence and sexual assault program. As if that wasn’t enough, she joined up with the Red Cross. “I like to contribute to the community,” she says.
Jane has been a Red Cross volunteer since 2017 and is now a Disaster Action Team responder and a Caseworker. She works a lot with the local volunteer fire department. She says she loves working with the first responders on scenes. “You look around and everybody here is volunteering to help this family. It’s a little amazing, a little overwhelming to think there are such good people in the world to do this.”
She remembers one particular incident she was called to where the family came home to find their house destroyed. It was raining and the little girl was desperately looking for her dog that had run away into a cornfield. Jane got them some immediate aid and returned home, where she later got a text from the Emergency Manager with a picture of the dog in her car. The people had lost everything, but they had found their dog. Jane was relieved. She said, “I’m an animal lover and that’s the other thing that disturbs me at fires – the loss of pets.”
While Jane finds DAT work rewarding, she says what takes the most time is being one of just a few caseworkers in the state who helps clients with their recovery. When she gets referred to a case – and that case could be anywhere in the state — she calls the family and introduces herself as a caseworker and assures them that the Red Cross is going to help them with their recovery. She then provides them with resources in their community that they can turn to, which means she has to do a lot of research.
She said the caseload varies, but most cases take from thirty to forty-five days to resolve. The first two weeks are what she calls “disaster shock.” She says, “It’s difficult sometimes, listening to these stories of people that are left with nothing. But that’s when you dig in your heels and say let’s see what we can do to help you.” She says the cases are all individual cases, all human beings, with different needs and different circumstances, and it’s rewarding to help a family work towards their goal of finding permanent housing, clothing, a food source. She said, “Sometimes I get kind of close to these people and I don’t want to let them go.”
She says, “I think back to when I’m on a scene and I’m dripping wet and I smell like smoke…” It’s difficult work, but Jane is always ready to help. She says the Red Cross is “a community that is so warm and welcoming and necessary, and it gives you a good feeling.”
Red Cross Month is a national tradition that began in March 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first Red Cross Month proclamation — and each U.S. president has followed ever since.
Join the Red Cross Month celebration by visiting redcross.org/volunteertoday to make a financial donation, become a volunteer or take a lifesaving skills course.