Tag Archives: People we serve

Investing in Preparedness: Inside the CAP Bus Tour 

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When torrential rain opened over California in the winter of 2023, few could have imagined the devastation that would follow. Fueled by rare atmospheric rivers, communities were flooded with destruction like they had never seen before. Among them was Pajaro, a small Monterey County town, where homes and livelihoods were destroyed.  

While this disaster did leave behind broken levees, it also ignited a new vision for preparedness, particularly in vulnerable communities where disasters repeatedly hit the hardest.  

That realization quickly became the impetus to launch the 18th Red Cross Community Adaptation Program (CAP) across the country out of Monterey County. This is an innovative Red Cross initiative designed to strengthen local partner networks in disaster-prone areas, ensuring families have the tools and support they need before the next emergency strikes. 

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Creative Collaboration Between Red Cross and Community Partners Solves Problems in a Disaster Zone 

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Local school bus drivers helped distribute food in Guam after a typhoon

After a massive typhoon hit Guam in 2023, people on the islands were struggling to feed their families. While the American Red Cross had set up a shelter to house people whose homes had been damaged, there were many people in the community who were not staying at the shelter but still needed food and water. Red Cross leaders wondered, how can we get food to the local community, when there are no street signs for navigating and we don’t have a fleet of vehicles here? Bus drivers were the answer! So, the Red Cross worked with the school district in Guam to distribute meals on school buses because the drivers knew the streets well and had transportation available already. 

After some time, Red Cross leadership was considering ending the feeding program in the community, but the volunteers in the field were concerned. They drove around to all the local bodegas and there was “nothing there” on the shelves, says Briana Taylor, Red Cross volunteer. “We went back and said, ‘You can’t stop feeding until we have food in the markets.’ People wouldn’t have had any resources to provide food for their families.” 

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How Blood Donations and Advocacy Helped a Dancer Reclaim His Life from Sickle Cell Disease

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Noah was a professional dancer in his 20’s

Modern, jazz, and contemporary dance — he loved doing them all on stage. He was a professional dancer who had performed in shows in Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, and D.C., until the pain became too much.

“Deep chronic pain in my femurs and spine and throughout my body. It wouldn’t go away,” remembers Noah James. He was just 25 years old when the doctors told him, “Your bones are decaying.”

Noah was no stranger to pain, as he had been wrestling with Sickle Cell Disease all his life. But this was different. “It felt like I was walking on glass,” he says.

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Brought Back to Life by Blood Donations

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Latrese Fowler with her son Cameron when he was young

When Latrese Fowler found out her newborn son didn’t inherit sickle cell disease, she was so overjoyed that she had a celebration. “We had a party when we found out he doesn’t have sickle cell. We went to Las Vegas!” she remembers.

Twenty-six years later, Latrese is mom to grownup Cameron, and you can hear the pride in her voice as she describes his job as a utility locator. She is grateful her son was spared a lifetime of pain and hundreds of hospital visits treating sickle cell disease and its complications. It’s an experience she knows about firsthand.

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From wildfire survivor to Red Cross donor, Selma continues to pay it forward

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In 2017, the infamous Tubbs Fire wrecked numerous counties in Northern California, notably the Napa, Sonoma, and Lake Counties, destroying more than half of the homes in the area and displacing over 100,000 people. Starting on Oct. 8, the wildfire burned for 23 days until it was finally put out on Oct. 31. The Tubbs Fire became known as the most destructive fire in California at the time it happened, which left many fire victims with the burden of rebuilding their lives.

Selma Vandermade was unfortunately one of the many affected by the fires in Santa Rosa, which bore the brunt of the Tubbs Fire’s destruction. Having been supported by the American Red Cross herself during this tragic situation, Selma has been returning the favor as a prominent Red Cross donor and Tiffany Circle member.

Selma recalled the night of the fire itself, describing the moment when she had to leave her beloved home.

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Why Blood Donors Who are Black Matter: One Woman’s Lifesaving Connection to Donors

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“After being sick I wanted to get out of the house and look normal,” Jenielle says

Growing up, Jenielle Tulloch didn’t understand why illness followed her when no one else around her seemed to suffer the same way. Pain came in waves, sudden and consuming. “A lot of times I felt like a burden to them,” she says about getting sick so often.

“It’s like you’re being stabbed multiple times, over and over, an internal throbbing pain like a heartbeat,” she says. These crises would send her to hospital. As a child she thought: “You aren’t going to make it past 30, you aren’t going to have kids.”

Fortunately, she did make it past the age of 30 and had two children of her own. As an adult she began to educate herself about sickle cell disease. And eventually she even came to appreciate how the experience shaped her.

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