By Geri Denterlein

Metaphorically speaking, (and sometimes quite literally as a blood donor,) “I bleed Red.” What I mean is that among the charities I support and admire, my greatest allegiance is to the American Red Cross. I was pleased, therefore, to be asked to join a group of people from around the nation in the city of New Orleans to participate in service and education around a new program called the Community Adaptation Program. Reading the materials circulated in preparation for the trip, the goal of the program is “to strengthen resilience and build disaster response capacity in frontline communities.”

What? The description left me a bit mystified. As a former Massachusetts board chair, founding member of the Tiffany Circle and a supporter of the Red Cross dating back to my childhood swimming lessons, I wondered what was different about this program? Isn’t that what we already do.

Never-the-less, I approached the trip with the spirit embodied in the tag line of the Red Cross,

Heart Open, Sleeves Up, All In.

For the next two days, I would find myself in the company of like-minded men and women, representing familiar corporate names such as Bank of America, Starbucks , GE Vernova, Lowes, family foundations and individuals. We toured Terrebonne parish in Southern Louisiana where citizens, already challenged economically, suffered through the damaging winds and flooding of a series of recent hurricanes. Though I had witnessed firsthand the destruction of Hurricane Ida in Southwest Florida in 2022, I was not prepared for the wide swath of heartache expressed by one woman we met who described how it felt after hurricane force destroyed the trailer she called home. Nor was I expecting to hear that during recent storms, librarians turned into social workers, helping neighbors fill out the endless and confusing forms needed to get relief from the federal government. And, I was not familiar with first the trauma, then the impact of losing the roof and walls of a center designed to serve local tribal communities desperate to maintain a culture and language rich in meaning.

In talking with local representatives from community groups on the front lines of disaster recovery as well as our very own Red Cross leaders, Josh Lockwood and Neil Brockway, the answer to what is different about the CAP program came into clear focus. Recognizing that the climate change has increased the frequency and severity of natural disasters, the Red Cross has launched a series of activities in those states and communities most often impacted by natural disasters. While our venerable Red Cross always has collaborated with local nonprofits, the CAP program represents a deeper and, from the point of view of the grassroots organizations we met, a more respectful partnership. Instead of applying what Red Cross may consider “best practices,” Red Cross workers listen to and rely upon the expertise of those who live and work in the affected communities. Sometimes the CAP program assists with funding to extend the reach of local efforts but often our Red Cross colleagues offer themselves as resource to help boost the capacity and capabilities of local organizations. In a sense, this approach represents a subtle shift that requires the Red Cross to adapt to local communities, not the other way around. Lockwood calls it, “leading with curiosity and humility.”

The local nonprofit leaders we encountered applauded this new approach. If we heard this comment once, we heard it many times, “In CAP, we are not left out of the conversation.”

So, the next time I hear “Sleeves up, Heart open, All In” I will think of the CAP program as a new way for all of us Red Crossers to be All In.