LEWISTON — When the phone rings, usually about 2 a.m., they never really know what it’s going to be.
Most likely, it will be a dispatcher calling on behalf of a fire department in Central Maine looking for a volunteer to roll out with blankets and a shoulder to cry on.
“We’re on call once a month, different teams one week a month,” said Pat Beausang, a volunteer Disaster Action Team captain for the American Red Cross. “Usually here, it’s structure fire and we need to help one family.”
But sometimes, it’s a lot more than that, like the May 2013 fires in downtown Lewiston. Volunteer Janice Lara-Hewey said she was dropping her daughter off at daycare when she saw the smoke from the first fire.
“That time, I called in,” she said. “I said ‘I don’t know what it is, but the fact that I can see it, I know it’s bad.”
It was, and local Red Cross volunteers sprang into action, providing shelter and comfort for displaced families.
“They are the first ones at the scene and assess peoples’ physical and emotional well-being,” said Eric Lynes, disaster program manager of the American Red Cross of Maine. He manages the teams of volunteers, making sure there is always someone on call locally when disaster strikes — whether it’s an ice storm or a house fire.
“They make sure they have food, clothing, a place to stay,” Lynes said. “Do they have their medication? Do they need a shoulder to lean on? Do they need help in planning their recovery?”
They’re not the ones running into burning buildings, but they are the ones waiting right outside with blankets and warm words — and maybe a hotel room to help people get through the next few days.
“There has not been one big thing for me,” said Janice Lara-Hewey. “I like helping people. I like doing these services. You really get to be there and make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives at a time when they can really use the support.”
Maine has dozens of teams who all work together. The Androscoggin County team, based out of Lewiston, handles calls throughout Androscoggin County every day, all year. They’ll go north to work in Kennebec County if their colleagues there need help, or down to the Portland area if they’re needed. And if there’s a big disaster in another state, they might get sent there as well.
They do it for a variety of reasons. Tyler Low said he chose to volunteer after his apartment burned down and the Red Cross helped him.
“I found a new place, got back on my feet and told them I was going to come in and volunteer,” Low said. “I just wanted to give back a little bit.”
Chris Shenk is working his way through college with an eye toward a medical degree. Volunteering at the Red Cross seems like a useful experience.
Pat Beausang said she got involved after watching Hurricane Katrina on the news.
“I said, when I retire, this is what I’m going to do,” Beausang said.
But they keep doing it because they know they can help.
“You have these conversations with people and you get to see them start to shift from that ‘Oh my God, what is going on in my life?’ to ‘OK, I can do this. There are people that are going to help me,'” Lara-Hewey said. “You hear it over and over again, ‘Thank God you got here.’ It’s not one thing for any of us. But it’s that idea, and you see it over and over again and it’s what keeps me coming back.”
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