Burl Brooks walked into the Southern Missouri American Red Cross chapter in Springfield, Mo. Looking for a better winter coat and left with a new bicycle. Well, almost. While it wasn’t an immediate transaction, Brooks took advantage of a unique program that the chapter administers with its partnership with the United Way of the Ozarks through its Veterans Fund. The fund assists 20-30 vets annually with emergency assistance grants of approximately $500. The funds aren’t directly given to the vet in need, but are used to pay for a service, such as overdue rent or utility payments. In Brooks’ case, it paid for a new bicycle.
The program is run by volunteers, one of whom is Louise Hansen. She is a seven-year volunteer with the Red Cross who determines the eligibility of grant applicants, evaluates the need, and guides each veteran to get the most help they can.
Brooks was getting around town with a bike that was barely functional, and much appreciated the replacement. “I wrecked my bike last year and called the Red Cross to get it fixed,” Brooks said in a recent interview. “Louise told me it would be cheaper in the long run to get a new one.” The entire process from start to finish took about two weeks, and now Brooks is happily pedaling around town. “Springfield has got a few hills, but that’s ok,” he said. But he isn’t strict about his cycling: “I do take the bus in the winter.”
Since the funds come from the local United Way, the grants are only available for veterans that live in the chapter’s 14-county area. Applicants are referred to the Red Cross through the Red Cross Hero Care Center.
The United Way/Red Cross Veterans’ Fund is a great example of how the Red Cross can work wonders to help peoples’ lives in very small increments. While the major disaster relief and blood bank infrastructure efforts are more notorious, sometimes these smaller efforts are worthy of our attention. Certainly, Burl Brooks agrees with that.
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