By Cathy Sharpe, Northwest Region

Regena had just finished remodeling her 33-foot trailer at Cascade Peaks Trailer Park. Fresh updates, carefully packed boxes, and a future she was ready to roll into. She had a date marked on her calendar: December 12^th, Glenoma, Washington. A new RV park. A fresh start. 

She never made it there. 

On December 9th, her birthday, the floods came. 

The water rose fast, tearing through everything she had just finished rebuilding. By the time it was over, her trailer was destroyed. The place she had poured her time, money, and dreams into was gone. 

With nowhere else to go, Regena moved into a community Red Cross shelter in Packwood WA, where she stayed for two weeks. After that, she relocated to a motel, carrying what little she had left in plastic totes that stayed stacked by her door ready, just in case she had to move again. 

She reached out to several organizations, searching for help, for answers, for something steady to hold onto. Through it all, she said the Red Cross volunteers were the only ones who stayed with her from beginning to end. Volunteers checked in, guided her through paperwork, and reminded her she hadn’t been forgotten. 

One of the forms she filled out was for the Emergency RV Program. She never truly believed anything would come from it. 

As weeks passed, she watched others receive RVs. The first, the second, the third.  She began to fear she might be left behind, that her next stop would be the street instead of a home. 

But Regena didn’t stop pushing forward. 

She stayed proactive in her recovery. She kept her remaining belongings packed and ready. She continued paying for her trailer lot and utilities, even though she wasn’t living there, holding onto the idea that it could happen. 

Then one day, her phone buzzed with an email. 

The words were simple: “Your RV is here.” 

Regena said she didn’t care about the size, the make, or the age. She was just grateful that the Red Cross had stood by her, and that there was an organization like Emergency RV willing to help people start again. 

When she saw the trailer, she broke down in tears. 

It was a brand-new 2026 model. It was the nicest thing, she said, anyone had ever given to her. 

The Welcome Home Kit waiting inside felt like the final, gentle touch. As she opened the boxes, she found everything she needed for her first night including bedding, supplies, and small comforts that turned a trailer into a home. 

Standing there, surrounded by fresh walls and new beginnings, Regena didn’t just see a place to sleep. 

She saw proof that she hadn’t been forgotten. 

She is deeply thankful to every person who stood with her from the very first day of the flood, to the moment she stepped into her new home and began her next chapter.