Tom Freitas gets the help he needs and deserves
By Ellis Levinson
Tom Freitas, a senior citizen, and his stepson, Mark Johnson, refer to each other as father and son. Mark said he brought his father to the Sonoma County Red Cross Service Center this morning because “The Red Cross can provide us help.” Read more
Jamie Rosales lives in Oakmont, one of the Santa Rosa neighborhoods devastated by the wildfires. His neighbor woke him up at 1 a.m. Monday. They were told to leave and found a Red Cross shelter through word-of-mouth.
The volunteers at a Red Cross shelter find they often have a great deal in common. In fact, at the Santa Rosa Veterans Hall Shelter, the group that randomly came together to help evacuees found they had less than 6 degrees of separation among them.
“We didn’t even notice faces; we didn’t know who was there. I remember seeing scrubs, but beyond that nothing; we were focused on the job we had to do,” said Kyle Parkinson, Shelter Manager for the Sonoma/Marin Fairgrounds Shelter.
Simon Timony told his two bosses (he works two jobs – as a caretaker and a bartender) that he was leaving his home in San Francisco to help fire victims in the North Bay. Then he got a ride to his assignment in Napa County. “It was so horrific, I had to get here.”