Tag Archives: People we serve

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

Posted on by

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.

Read more

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

Posted on by
“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.

Read more

One Trauma, Several Big Hearts, and an Unforgettable Outcome

Posted on by

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.

Read more

Sound The Alarm:  502 Homes Made Safer Thanks to Red Cross Volunteers, Local Fire Departments and Community Partners

Posted on by

1,357 smoke alarms installed throughout the Northern California Coastal Region in this spring

The American Red Cross responds to home fires more than any other disaster nationwide, so home fire prevention is something we take seriously. For that reason, Red Cross members, along with local fire departments and community partners, to install 1,357 free smoke alarms in 502 homes, making 1,472 residents safer from homes fires during our 2025 Sound the Alarm campaign. From April 26 – May 23, communities in Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Merced, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were made safer thanks to free smoke alarms and home fire prevention education.

Sound the Alarm events are a critical part of the national Red Cross Home Fire Campaign which aims to reduce the number of deaths from home fires. The Home Fire Campaign has helped save 2,320 lives since its launch in October 2014 due to working smoke alarms in homes. Nationwide, volunteers and local fire departments visit neighborhoods to install free smoke alarms and share home fire prevention information with residents, including home fire escape plans. Here in the Northern California Coastal Region, volunteers and partners have installed more than 55,300 free smoke alarms and made more than 20,000 households safer since 2014, saving 32 lives reported in the Greater Bay Area.

Read more

Beyond the Desk: My Red Cross Transformation

Posted on by

by Kelsey Marasigan

Photo courtesy of Kelsey Marasigan

In my weekly one-on-one meetings with my supervisor, the question of professional development often arises. Usually, I’d offer a standard answer, something about improving my Excel skills or taking a project management course. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much serious thought. That is, until I said “yes” to a deployment opportunity to help with the disaster response operation for the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. It was then I realized the Red Cross offers growth opportunities far beyond what I could imagine – opportunities for profound personal and professional development.

Read more

Health, Hunger and Housing: How the Red Cross partners with local non-profits to support high risk communities in Central Coast

Posted on by
From left to right: Maria, Gabriela, and Lucy are leading the new CAP chapter in Monterey. Photo Courtesy of CAP team.

When natural disasters sweep across regions repeatedly, it takes a lot of strength and resilience from communities to rebuild their lives. For some folks, it can take a greater effort to reestablish a sense of normalcy due to the lack of resources in the area or their socioeconomic conditions. The Community Adaptation Program (CAP) is a recent initiative by the American Red Cross designed to bring relief to regions that experience high risk of disasters through partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. One of the newest additions to the CAP’s locations across the country was just established in Monterey County, California.

CAP focuses on addressing three key areas through its initiatives: health, hunger and housing. Each CAP team is composed of a manager and two coordinators who work together to foster and sustain the connection between the Red Cross and local partners. The community of Pajaro in Monterey was a strong contender for needing these services due to reoccurring natural disasters that devasted the area. the area.

Read more
« Older Entries Recent Entries »