By Peter Teahen, American Red Cross Volunteer 

Fort Myers, FL. – Every American Red Cross disaster response is a transformative experience. Always different and yet very much the same. 

Six months ago, Dee Chase, a retired healthcare provider, decided to become a disaster volunteer in New Hampshire. On this day, she finds herself on her first national response to Hurricane Ian, assigned to Logistics at the North Ft. Meyer High School. As her eyes swell up with tears of compassion, she shares how the last two days' events have profoundly impacted her lifetime commitment to serving others in need.  

It began with a simple act of kindness, stopping and offering to push a wheelchair for an older woman needing help down the hall. That simple act of kindness started an immediate bond that brought deep comfort to someone separated from the love of her life. After 42 years of marriage, the couple was rescued by EMS after dropping through the floor of their water ravaged house and submerged in raging waters. The couple, now separated, finds the husband in a distant hospital while the other seeks protection and security in a Red Cross shelter.

Blocked roads, communication failure and the inability to travel, the client didn't know how she could find out about the status of her husband. That is until Dee decided to stop and help push her chair down the hall.   Dee offered to use her phone to call the hospital and set up a Facetime call so the two could see each other, perhaps for the last time. Dee, along with Red Cross Health Services and Spiritual Care, have become a strong support team for the client. "She likes it when I call her "Auntie," Dee says, “she tells me I am the only family she will have.”

When asked how this experience has touched her, Dee says, "Everyone helped me when I needed help. I am just paying it back. That's how I was raised[." 

Chase is one of more than 1,600 trained Red Cross disaster workers – who have been involved in hurricane relief efforts in FL. If you would like to become a trained disaster responder, contact your local Red Cross chapter or visit redcross.org.