Clarisse Smitas, American Red Cross International Disaster Response Roster Member, stands outside of the Jamaica Red Cross office where she was helping the IFRC support the country after being devastated by Hurricane Melissa.
By: Bernadette Casey
Even before joining the Red Cross as a volunteer, Clarisse Smitas had already well established her commitment to humanitarian work. She spent years working with non-governmental organizations in countries including Africa, Thailand and Myanmar. Smitas’ husband, who has worked for the United Nations for several years, shares her passion for humanitarian work.
The couple decided to put down roots in Brooklyn in February 2024, and in June Smitas began doing recovery casework as a Red Cross volunteer.
“I always wanted to work with the Red Cross,” says Smitas.
In December 2024, her longtime desire took another step forward when she was hired as the Community Disaster Program Manager for Staten Island. Smitas, along with 30 core volunteers, helps with disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts for the nearly half a million people who live on Staten Island.
In her short time with the Red Cross, she has already deployed to disasters including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the flooding in Kentucky, and more recently Hurricane Melissa which devastated parts of Jamaica.
Smitas was in Trinidad and Tobago on a hurricane preparedness training program for an international Red Cross delegation when Hurricane Melissa began taking shape.
“I was actually working with Jamaica [Red Cross] on hurricane preparedness when Melissa popped up, so we switched from preparedness to response,” she recalled.
As the hurricane wrought its destruction across the Caribbean, Smitas headed to Jamaica and began working out of a Red Cross chapter just outside of Kingston. The Category 5 storm sliced through the Caribbean, bringing winds of up to 280 km/h — the strongest storm in Jamaica’s history — and affecting nearly 1.9 million people on the island, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
“That level of destruction looks like a war zone. You can’t recognize anything because the vegetation was blown over everything and you didn’t know if you were looking at a road or a house. There was just nothing left,” says Smitas.
Smitas supported the relief operation in several ways on behalf of the IFRC, working on operations management, planning, monitoring, evaluating and reporting support. She helped design and roll out response activities before and after landfall and also helped handle initial fundraising efforts.
American Red Cross International Disaster Response Roster Members Jeff Paddock (left), Clarisse Smitas (center) and Colin Chaperon (right) pause during the workday in Kingston, Jamaica. The three responders deployed following Hurricane Melissa to support people affected by the hurricane alongside the Jamaica Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Through some long days and difficult conditions, what stands out for Smitas was how so many Red Cross volunteers came together from different countries and backgrounds to help another country in need.
“It was a beautiful thing to see the principles of humanity at work, to see the Red Cross movement at work,” said Smitas. “It was great to sit across a table and see people who didn’t speak the same language coming together and wearing the same vest and having the same understanding of the mission.”
The American Red Cross deploys disaster responders worldwide to help the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network fulfill its mission in crisis zones. Learn more at www.redcross.org/international.
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