By Lizzy Brown, American Red Cross of Colorado
Photo by Catie Ballenger
On Monday, January 13, 2020, the American Red Cross of Colorado and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) installed life-changing technology, called the bed shaker, in Colorado Springs. This service was offered free of charge in the home of Melissa and Darrell Shular. Darrell and their two children Grace and Bode, are all deaf. This device sits next to the bed and when activated alerts those in the home of a fire. The bed shaker’s strobe light flashes and the small plastic pad, which stays under a pillow vibrates profusely warning deaf and hard of hearing individuals of danger.
Monday’s activities are just the beginning of an incredible partnership, between the Southeastern Colorado Chapter of the Red Cross and CSDB. In the upcoming months, more than 100 bed shaker alarms will be installed free of charge inside of homes across Colorado, thanks to the dedication of Red Cross Executive Director, Tom Gonzalez and CSDB school/community liaison, Dianne Taylor.
The installations are all part of the American Red Cross’s national Home Fire Campaign and Sound the Alarm events. Red Cross is assembling 27,000 volunteers to install 100,000 free smoke alarms this spring, impart information on fire prevention, response and recovery, elevate personal safety and decrease the number of home fires in homes of at-risk communities across the nation.
Photo by Catie Ballenger
Red Cross board members Joshua Alcorn, James Ross and Exec. Director, Thomas Gonzalez installed three bed shaker alarms in Shular’s home Monday and explained how it operates to Mayor John Suthers of Colorado Springs.
“This is something that can make a tremendous difference, it’s something we want the residents of Colorado Springs to know about, by all means, if your family could use one of these devices get in contact with the Red Cross. Knowing that if there is a fire that you will be alerted to it makes all the difference,” said Mayor John Suthers.
For Diane Taylor, seeing this project come to fruition and knowing it was to a family who truly deserved it was inspiring.
Photo by Catie Ballenger
“The Shular’s are a kind and welcoming family, allowing a gaggle of strangers from the Red Cross into their lovely home, with lots of gratitude and openness. We heard Bode, the youngest of the bunch before we met him; as we approached the house, a rhythmic base drum and sharp symbols let us know we were at the right home,” Diane continued. “Melissa specializes in working with blind folks and Darrell works at CSDB as a man of many trades, primarily a student residential housing supervisor and as the women’s basketball coach. He happens to coach his eldest child, Grace, who’s in middle school and a stellar shooting guard or center. Go Bulldogs!”
The new sense of security for the family beamed from them all. You could see in each family member’s body language and eyes how excited they were. Empowering everyone to feel safer and more prepared inside their own home.