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Red Cross Engages Partners to Boost Future Response
Brian McArthur, Special to RedCross.org
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 — Even as the American Red Cross continues to feed families affected by last year’s hurricanes, the organization took another step in its efforts to meet future disaster needs by hosting a candid panel discussion with national relief agencies that partner with the Red Cross.
Red Cross Chairman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter welcomed the panel, which had been asked to respond to a conceptual draft of proposed changes to the way the Red Cross responds to disasters of all sizes. Noting that the Red Cross was entering its 125th year, she underscored the “great responsibility—and great opportunity—to change the face of disaster response.”
The Red Cross Board of Governors has established a Catastrophic Disaster Task Force to oversee efforts to ensure the organization can meet the needs of people affected by hurricanes and other major disasters in time for the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Concurrently, all segments of the Red Cross are finalizing lessons-learned proposals to meet the challenges revealed by the 2005 hurricane response.
A key lesson was that human needs are best met by the combined efforts of a number of organizations. With that in mind, the Red Cross is seeking to deepen its partnerships with disaster relief, advocacy and faith-based groups in an effort to better serve all segments of disaster-affected communities.
Members of the panel included executives from six major national nonprofit service agencies:
- Ande Miller, Executive Director – National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)
- Rev. Nelson Rivers, Chief Operating Officer – NAACP
- Juliet Choi, Staff Attorney – Asian American Justice Center
- Craig Nemitz, Disaster Services Coordinator – America’s Second Harvest
- Jim Burton, Director, Volunteer Mobilization – Southern Baptist Convention
- Major Todd Hawks, Public Affairs Coordinator, and John Berglund, National Disaster Services Coordinator – Salvation Army
Members of the panel provided frank assessments of steps the Red Cross could take to build more effective partnerships and improve its response, and each offered the assistance of their organization in moving forward. Panel presentations and Q&A sessions centered around three basic themes – diversity, capacity and partnerships.
Panelists concurred that the Red Cross needs to embrace “true diversity” in its ranks of volunteers and management and improve its service to minority communities. Rev. Rivers offered the support and assistance of the NAACP in this effort.
“Diversity is not a buzzword; it’s a strategy for improving service delivery,” he said.
Citing the plight of the Vietnamese fishing community along the Gulf coast, Juliet Choi spoke to the need for the Red Cross to develop language assistance programs.
“Find ways to address the needs of small communities,” she urged, adding that “a little good will goes a long way” toward addressing perceptions of insensitivity.
The organization needs to improve the capacity for service delivery at the chapter level, including training of local unit workers.
“It’s so important to invest time and energy into training chapter volunteers” to better understand the details of partnership relations, said Nemitz of America’s Second Harvest. “The Red Cross works best during a disaster where solid local relationships are firmly in place,” added the Salvation Army’s Maj. Hawks.
Particularly at the national level, Red Cross representatives need to be aware of their reputation for arrogance, bureaucracy and insensitivity in terms of both working with other agencies and meeting the needs of underserved populations.
“Let your partners help you,” said the Southern Baptist Convention’s Burton.
All panelists praised the Red Cross for asking the tough questions of itself, and for seeking the expertise and input from its peers in the not-for-profit sector. At the same time they urged the Red Cross to consider using existing and available partner resources for training and service delivery.
Sue Hassmiller, Chair of the Red Cross Catastrophic Disaster Task Force, acknowledged the challenges and emphasized the charity’s commitment to improvement.
“This is not a one-time exercise,” said Hassmiller. “We are dedicated to getting our partners in on the ground floor of this effort.”
“We want to be worthy partners,” said Chairman McElveen-Hunter, adding that much work remains to be done by the Red Cross in finalizing its plans. Still, she noted, “We will be ready for this hurricane season.”
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