To understand what the Red Cross means to Lisa Stokes, you have to go back in time to when her love for the organization first blossomed.

“My relationship began with the Red Cross back in 1997 because my daughter was a one-pound preemie,” she said.

Doctors gave Lisa’s daughter, Mariah, 72 hours to live.

“She was born at 25 weeks, and she needed blood transfusions that came from the Red Cross.”

Blood helped save her.

“Those blood transfusions were made possible through the donations from total strangers to keep my daughter alive, to give her a chance to live.”

Mariah was medically fragile with respiratory issues that required round-the-clock nursing care. Lisa became her protector and the coordinator of a lot of moving parts to make sure Mariah was safe and well cared for. Mariah depended on medical equipment to help keep her stable.

In 2013, a fire broke out next door. When flames crept up the walls, they ruined everything, filling that life-sustaining medical equipment with soot and destroying everything but a few clothes.

By then, Lisa had two other children, her daughter Maiya and Chantel, a niece/daughter she adopted as a toddler.

The fire left Lisa and her family with nowhere to go.

“I ended up standing in front of the Red Cross House just looking up like I cannot believe that I’m here.”

There is only one Red Cross House in the United States, and it's in Philadelphia. Last year, staff at the Red Cross House helped more than 500 families recover from a disaster by providing a free place to stay and regular meals.

When Lisa and her girls arrived in 2013, the Red Cross House had to adapt to Mariah’s medical needs. With Lisa’s help, the staff learned how to support a new type of guest.

Lisa said staying there was, “The best decision I ever made.” She said, “They were able to give me and my daughters a place to not only lay our heads, not only provide three meals a day for us, but they allowed a safe space for me to understand everything that happened to us and then begin to rebuild.”

When her stay ended and her family could finally return home, she vowed to come back. She kept her promise. That began an odyssey of more than a decade of volunteering for the Red Cross.

“When people understand that there’s people out here willing to help you, it changes your perspective, and so, Red Cross is it for me.”

Lisa became a Red Cross board member who recently won the Anita Lockwood Award, given to a leadership volunteer with years of dedicated service to the Red Cross in several areas.

“From Sound the Alarms, to setting up and packing survival and disaster kits, if they call on me and I'm available, I go.”

At the award ceremony, Red Cross Regional CEO Jennifer Graham said, “Lisa’s enthusiasm is infectious, and her passion for our mission shines brightly.” She thanked Lisa for her “exceptional leadership and enduring presence.”

During this Women’s History Month, Lisa has a message for future female leaders interested in humanitarian work like the Red Cross.

“Be bold and show up. As an African American woman, a person of color, representation means a lot.” She said, “Being bold and stepping up, maybe even out of your comfort zone, is what we have to do in an unapologetic way. I’m here. I’m here to help.”

Lisa balances a full-time job as a Community Health worker at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital with her extensive commitment to volunteering for the Red Cross. Like most women, she’s used to handling multiple things at once. So, what advice does she have for other women to avoid burnout?

“I pace myself. ‘No’ is a complete sentence with a period. With no explanation.” She said, “I tell women when I speak to them, don't forget to take some time for yourself. Self-care is not selfish.”

As for dealing with the hardships of surviving a disaster like a fire, she said, “The sun is going to come out. You may not see it right now, but the sun is going to shine again.”

Through everything she has survived and accomplished, Lisa encourages others to get involved, donate blood and especially follow her example and volunteer for the Red Cross.

“Volunteering for the Red Cross will fill the void you didn’t know that you had.”

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- Written by Jenny Farley