By Frederic Klein

Long before she was helping disaster survivors recover after hurricanes, floods and other major disasters, Joann Cournoyer was helping people solve problems.

As a physical therapist, she spent years listening to patients, understanding their challenges and helping them take recovery one step at a time. Today, she brings those same skills to her volunteer work with the American Red Cross.

A Long Island resident and 11-year Red Cross volunteer, Cournoyer has deployed more than a dozen times in support of disaster relief operations across the country. As a member of the Shelter Resident Transition (SRT) team, she helps disaster survivors move from the uncertainty of shelter life toward a stable path forward.

"What keeps me coming back is knowing that I'm helping someone move forward in their recovery," Joann said. "That's really important."

When people arrive at a Red Cross shelter after a disaster, they often face a long list of challenges. Some have lost their homes entirely. Others need transportation, access to medical care, replacement documents, clothing, food assistance or connections to local resources. While shelters provide a safe place to stay in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, Joann focuses on what comes next.

Her efforts to help people surmount recovery roadblocks after disaster has continued unabated in 2026, as Joann has recently also deployed to Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku as well as Perry County in Ohio after widespread flooding, bringing more than a decade of disaster response experience to communities beginning the long process of recovery.

Whether responding in Guam, Hawaii, South Carolina or Tennessee, Cournoyer says the work begins the same way: by listening. Each survivor arrives with a unique set of challenges, and helping them move forward requires equal parts patience, creativity and determination.

"You have to be an active listener," she said. "You have to listen to what they're saying, and sometimes you have to know how to probe a questions because they're not quite getting what you need from them."

Cournoyer was drawn to the role after years of working in shelter operations. At the time, she often saw shelter residents approaching closure dates with nowhere to go and few options for finding the support they needed.

"It was upsetting because we had some elderly folks who had no place to go, no family to go to," she recalled. "I heard about SRT starting up, I reached out to someone I knew and we got to talk."

Today, she works directly with shelter residents to identify the barriers standing in the way of their recovery and develop practical solutions tailored to each person's circumstances.

"You do have to get creative. And you have to want to seek solutions."

Housing is often the biggest challenge. Other cases require connecting survivors to transportation, food resources, medical care, rehabilitation programs, veteran services and other community support systems.

Sometimes, success requires persistent advocacy. Cournoyer recalls a fellow SRT volunteer helping an elderly couple with nowhere to go as a shelter prepared to close. After numerous calls failed to secure assistance, the volunteer met with a local assisted living facility and successfully found the couple a place to stay.

"Sometimes you have to be a really strong advocate for the client," Cournoyer said.

Growing up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Cournoyer remembers the Red Cross helping her own family during a difficult period when her father spent months hospitalized with tuberculosis. Years later, after volunteering at her children's school, she decided it was time to give back.

By listening, problem-solving and helping survivors overcome roadblocks one step at a time, she helps transform uncertainty into possibility and gives people the support they need to begin their recovery journey.

Whether a person working to reassemble their lives after a disaster or a new Red Cross volunteer trying a new role, Joann's message is the same.

"You're not out there on your own."

Put on a red vest and join us. Visit redcross.org/volunteer to find opportunities that are a fit for you.