It’s 3:30 in the morning and you awaken to an overwhelming smell of smoke, maybe you even see flames, or hear the cracking of timber.  Your mind races, as your body instinctively prepares to flee.  If you are alone, perhaps you think for a split-second about the location of your wallet.  If you are a parent, caregiver, or pet owner you immediately focus on finding your loved ones and getting them out safely.  And then, if you’re lucky, minutes later you find yourself and any companions standing in the street, dazed, but unhurt, marveling at the sights and sounds before you – flames, smoke, firefighters, sirens…things so surreal that it feels like a bad dream.  But when your mind and your heart resume their normal pace, you look down to see that you are in the clothes you went to sleep in, and the wave of relief that washed over you is quickly replaced with that of panic. What about your things? Where will you go?  Who will help you?    
Thankfully, the fire department has already contacted American Red Cross of Savannah and the plan for your recovery is underway.

American Red Cross of Savannah responds to an average of two disasters each day in the Coastal Empire - largely single-family home and apartment fires. Their trained volunteers arrive at a disaster scene within minutes to provide emergency services, including food, clothing, and temporary shelter.   Most often, the victims that become clients of American Red Cross are single parents with several children living at or just above the poverty line, with little hope of rebuilding their lives without help.  "Losing everything you own just overwhelms families and even though our client base is used to adversity - they’ve had a tough life – losing just everything they own almost gets them stuck for a while," says Robin Wingate, Chapter Director.

With nearly thirty years experience working with American Red Cross, Wingate knows the importance of moving quickly when it comes to disaster relief.  "Our goal is five to seven days to get them back into another residence and on with their lives.” And just as important, she knows the value of strong working partnerships.  "American Red Cross trains ordinary people, volunteers like you and I, to do extraordinary things when bad things happen.  But we know that one agency can’t do it all. We are very proud to work with partners like The Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire." 

And she’s not alone in her convictions. If you ask Bill Oakley, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire, he'll tell you the same.  "Not one agency can provide it all...I think that the wonder, not just with American Red Cross but throughout the entire United Way community, is that we know each other; we have worked together before; we know that working together requires time and investment and trust; and I think that an organization, such as United Way, gives us opportunities to build that kind of effective relationship."

Once a family or an individual's immediate needs have been addressed by American Red Cross, they work closely with Goodwill and The Salvation Army to help their clients regain basic necessities, so that they can return to work and school with as little interruption as possible. "We’re able to refer our fire families to these organizations where they can shop for more clothing, more food, and more household items to help them get back on their feet.  And they can shop for free because of that partnership arrangement," says Wingate. 

And according to Linda James, Business Administrator for The Salvation Army, this spirit of collaboration is not necessarily a given. “When you talk to other communities outside of Savannah, and I talk to a lot of other Salvation Army counterparts, they don’t have these working relationships; we’re very fortunate...”  In addition to house and apartment fires, these agency partners mobilize quickly and efficiently to provide large-scale disaster relief, as was necessary following the explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in February 2008.  When so many in our community were faced with hardships beyond their worst fears, these service providers were there for them in the short and long-term, providing emergency relief, as well as case management to distribute the over $1M in financial support raised from community for victims and their families.

In a time when agencies must work harder than ever to stretch each dollar, it is reassuring to know that their willingness to work together is enabling them to make big differences with little resources. And, as Robin Wingate clearly sees it, in that effort, we all have a role to play.  "When I think of how a community lives united and how United Way works with local agencies, I like to think of United Way donors, hand-to-hand, that encircle our whole community and in the middle of that circle we have our community agencies standing hand-in-hand and they’re encircling our clients.  It’s really that kind of relationship that allows our agencies to work together, to serve our clients with the best service when the worst things happen to them, and then move them out of that circle.  And very often what we see here in our community are those same clients that move out of the circle end up joining hands as United Way donors, United Way volunteers, community agency volunteers…that’s how we’re all connected. That’s how we give back.”

United Way of the Coastal Empire is proud to support programs at American Red Cross of Savannah, Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire and The Salvation Army.  For information about how you can support programs such as this call 912.651.7700, and thank you for helping your community to LIVE UNITED.