Special Red Cross Team Plays Vital Role in Sandy Recovery

A critical part of the American Red Cross helping people recover from Superstorm Sandy is community outreach, which is conducted by a team of community recovery specialists and government liaisons.

Community recovery specialists work with local and national non-profit organizations to identify and share information about available resources for Sandy survivors. They teach preparedness skills that help strengthen resilience in the face of future disasters. Community recovery specialists participate in Long-Term Recovery Groups across the five boroughs, Long Island and Metro North, in addition to nearly a dozen more neighborhood-level recovery coalitions. As government liaisons, these specialists – under the direction of the Regional Senior Director of Community Relations - also work with government partners and elected officials, in addition to meeting with partners to fill gaps in service, outreach, and coordination.

Over the past year, Red Cross community recovery specialists have:

• Trained 2,519 people trained in Be Red Cross Ready presentations about how to be more prepared and resilient in case of disaster
• Reached 2,182 people with booths at community and informational events
• Provided more than 1,200 Sandy-affected people information about disaster case management
• Attended 1,212 community meetings
• Made 1,459 contacts across the five boroughs, Long Island and Hudson Valley
• Coordinated training for more than 10 organizations on the Client Assistance Network, a database that helps track client records between case management agencies