Category Archives: Homepage Posts — Other

Hurricane Ian Anniversary: From Highway Patrol to Humanitarian Aid

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American Red Cross volunteer Melody Heilmann

The woman, and many of her neighbors, had been eating only canned food and storing very limited perishables in coolers since a hurricane had hit their homes weeks before, American Red Cross volunteer Melody Heilmann says. She chokes up as she recalls the woman screaming at the top of her lungs with joy when she was told she qualified for financial assistance from the Red Cross, “Oh my god, I can get a refrigerator now!” The woman was one of many people that Melody helped while volunteering for the Red Cross three years ago during Hurricane Ian.

This assignment was one of eight times Melody has responded to a disaster with the Red Cross, including after the wildfires in Chico, Calif. and Lahaina, Hawaii. Arriving just two days after the catastrophic fires in Hawaii, Melody vividly recalls people who arrived at the shelter still covered in soot and missing their shoes because they lost them when they fled from the deadly blaze. Although it can be very sad to meet people at what might be the worst time of their lives, seeing how the Red Cross helps them is very rewarding.

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Hope in Her Veins: Battling Disease with Courage and the Kindness of Strangers 

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By Alex Keilty 

Nivia is a full-time Howard U. student, content creator, Girl Boss, and sickle cell advocate. On her best days she finds time to get it all done while receiving her treatment!

Propped up on a reclining hospital bed, tubes are sending her blood through a machine running nearby. The staff tending to her treatment are laughing with her as she tries to hold still while also chatting in FaceTime with colleagues about a documentary she is helping create about sickle cell. This is Nivia Charles, full-time university student, public speaker, campaign model and social media content creator, and future real estate developer. This 28-year-old woman has a lot going on…and she is also managing an excruciating condition, sickle cell disease. 

“Things can be challenging and can feel impossible,” says Nivia when reflecting on life with sickle cell. “But it’s something I live with and even thrive with…I can’t be 100 percent positive all the time but I can be optimistic more often than not.” 

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A Life Saved, Many Roles Played — Thanks to Blood Donors

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Calvanay Nunley is proud to call herself a mother and a sickle cell patient advocate

“I have really depended on blood transfusions my whole life,” says Calvanay Nunley. “If we didn’t have donors, I don’t know where I would be.”

Calvanay has relied on donors since she began receiving blood transfusions at the age of five. Blood transfusions are an important part of her treatment for sickle cell disease, the most common genetic blood disorder in the U.S. Sickle cell disease distorts soft and round red blood cells and turns them hard and crescent shaped. As a result, blood has difficulty flowing smoothly and carrying oxygen to the rest of the body, which may lead to severe pain, tissue and organ damage, anemia, and even strokes.

Without regular red blood cell exchanges every three weeks – known as apheresis – Calvanay might not be able to call herself a mother, nurse, children’s camp director, non-profit founder and sickle cell patient advocate. “I wear many hats,” she says.

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2025 Chapter Focused Volunteer Awards

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Each year, our chapter proudly honors two extraordinary individuals whose dedication and service embody the very heart of the American Red Cross mission. The Volunteer of the Year Award is presented to a volunteer who has made a significant impact over the past year—contributing meaningfully to our operations, programs, and services while exemplifying the true spirit of volunteerism. The Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Leadership, our chapter’s highest, once-in-a-lifetime recognition, celebrates a volunteer whose sustained leadership and collaborative spirit over many years have helped shape and strengthen our ability to serve the community. Join us in celebrating this year’s remarkable honorees.

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One Trauma, Several Big Hearts, and an Unforgettable Outcome

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Midday Sunday, on Presidents’ Day weekend, 2025, anyone driving along I-880 near Oakland, Calif.’s Laney College would have seen a large black plume of smoke dangerously close to the freeway, billowing towards Lake Merritt. An RV fire had erupted on that dry but overcast day, its flames marking the beginning of an unusual reunification story involving at least two organizations, some very dedicated people, and a cat.

Marsha sleeping soundly under the care of her “good samaritan”

Found After Flames

A day or two after the smoke cleared, “a good samaritan,” as Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region volunteer Jessica Shobar recently said, “found a lost kitty in San Leandro…hiding under a car, badly burned, and covered in soot.” Though the kitty’s wounds were substantial—with blackened and singed paws, face, and body—she was alive. And though the distance from the fire was exceptional and the kitty didn’t have a microchip, her luck would later be viewed as extraordinary because the good samaritan and San Leandro’s Animal Control coaxed her into a carrier and took her to a local clinic. This was especially fortunate because if she’d been found in Oakland, she might have been sent to a shelter and never would have landed where the key ingredients for reunification were available.

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Community Adaptation Program Celebrates One Year in Monterey County

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The Community Adaptation Program team together at the 2025 American Red Cross Northern California Coastal Region Gala. Pictured are Lucy Rojas (left), Gabriela Perez Albarracin (middle) and Maria Magaña (right).

By Mark Phillips, Board Member Central Coast Chapter

The American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program (CAP) is an initiative to enhance the ability of local and hyper-local organizations to provide services during disasters. The Red Cross leverages its expertise, partnerships and network to level up the impact of the grassroots organizations that know their communities best. By building the capability, capacity and continuity of these groups during blue sky periods, they are better able to provide vital services during trying times.

CAP came to Monterey County in July of 2024, when Gabriela Perez Albarracin joined the area from the Lake County, California. Under her leadership, the first year of CAP activity in Monterey County has had a number of successes and laid the groundwork for an impactful year two.

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