The System is Broken

Here are some facts to consider if you want to get involved in helping an evacuee. I have worked on the inside of the American Red Cross and know how it operates. I am not faulting or slandering them but merely stating facts. Besides the American Red Cross, there are problems within other charitable organizations as well.

The American Red Cross gives a very small stipend to evacuees and sends them on their way. They offer a hotel stay, often in a not so nice place. All the money everyone donates goes into a big pot and gets drawn upon. If people don't take the hotel stay, what do they do with that money?

Also, they initially tell victims they get two weeks, then a week later, they are giving
another two-week hotel stay -- all the while having drawn down from that big pot of money. They never call back the people they helped initially to offer the other two weeks hotel stay. Think about this: Do individual American Red Cross shelters keep that money? Somebody needs to question this. I have questioned the American Red Cross "higher-ups" and was chastised severely. In my opinion, this organization is only concerned with their reputation and refuses to look at the big picture.

The American Red Cross gives people in need a sheet of paper that lists the United Way, Salvation Army and a few other organizations. When evacuees call on these places, there isn't much in the way of assistance. The Salvation Army, Goodwill and others have a lot of "things," but they're mostly junk that people have just wanted to get rid of. Is this really help to an evacuee?

Evacuees face challenges every day. People are suspicious of them, thinking they are looking for a handout. A minority of evacuees are, in fact, scammers, will not go to work and complain and whine that they haven't been treated fairly. This makes obtaining assistance just that much more challenging for a truly needy person. But the majority of evacuees are hard working, good people. I have seen the good and the bad at the American Red Cross, and you can pick up on it pretty quickly.

There is uncooperation between agencies, and poor communication between all. County government basically could care less -- at least here in Forsyth Coutny. If you call on Mr. Queesenbery, our county manager, he just believes whatever the American Red Cross tells him. He has never stepped foot into the Red Cross center that is servicing his county. The communication issue is serious, and it is a key cause for a system breakdown.

Check out the website of the Northeast Georgia American Red Cross at negaredcross.org. It gives limited information. And for the longest time, it never even stated where the Red Cross center is located. The National office didn't even have the Gainesville office listed. So when evacuees called 1-800-HELP NOW, they were never told about Gainesville if they were staying out here.

The list of problems is extensive. There is poor cooperation or collaboration with FEMA. The Red Cross Executive Director stated to me that he called FEMA one time to get them out at the center. When I tried to confirm this with FEMA, they claimed they never heard of the Gainesville center. I complained to FEMA, and within one day, they sent a FEMA representative to the center. What's wrong with this picture?

Here is what I have experienced first hand as a Red Cross case worker: