The Second Source of Support: Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services

by Lilly Watson, Communications Manager, American Red Cross North Texas Region 

Red Cross Disaster Mental Health worker Anita Laffey
& her husband John, also a Red Cross volunteer

Anita Laffey, a veteran Red Cross Disaster Mental Health (DMH) worker, knows that her job is to be with people after disaster. In Zone 3, the highest impacted area from the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas more than a month ago, she stood in the backyard of a woman’s destroyed home while the owner pointed to each green plant, explaining what type of flower it was. To an untrained eye, talking flowers may have seemed like irrational behavior from someone given two, twelve hour blocks to get everything from their home before demolition. Laffey patiently listened and offered comfort, knowing this was part of this victim’s emotional breakthrough. 

“This woman’s garden was her pride, and she hoped it would be her legacy,” Laffey says, who worked 14 days as the DMH lead in West. “She was realizing that she wouldn’t be here to see them bloom in a few short weeks, and she was saying goodbye to everything in life she expected to have before the sudden explosion.” 

The American Red Cross responds to disasters of all kinds and sizes, working to ensure that victims have the first necessities as they determine what to do next with their lives. Hygiene items, snacks and warm meals and a safe place to stay are often part of a Red Cross response. Another Red Cross service provided is emotional support, whether it is a hug from a Disaster Action Team member at a home fire or a visit with a Disaster Mental Health worker at a large disaster such as the explosion in West or the tornado outbreaks in North Texas and Oklahoma.

Beginning at daybreak the morning after the plant explosion on April 17, Laffey led a team of up to 18 trained and licensed mental health caseworkers to help bring hope and comfort to the people of West. Knowing immediately that this response would be different because of the private nature of the tight knit community, the Red Cross adapted its strategy and found the best way to help people in West was to show them how to help others.

“We had business cards with mental health tips and warning signs on them that we passed out to people in West as we visited with them, and instead of making it sound like we thought they needed help, we asked them if they would keep it handy and use it as a way to check on their neighbors,” Laffey explains. “West is a strong community, and empowering them to help others was often better than making them feel as though they were in need of help themselves.”

While Laffey explains that for the first weeks it was important for victims to stay out of their emotions enough to make the decisions necessary to take steps towards recovery. Now, more than a month after the blast, is when those impacted will likely begin to see the emotional enormity of their loss. 

Like the woman saying goodbye to her garden, Laffey says the emotion comes from suddenly losing things that are the heartbeat of life in a formerly quiet and peaceful town. 

“People are really saying goodbye to a community’s history, from their brave volunteer fire fighters, to their schools and their neighborhood,” Laffey says.

The Red Cross Disaster Mental Health team worked with local church ministers, school counselors and West’s Mental Health Mental Retardation center to make sure they have resources on the emotional after effects of disaster and are getting breaks themselves to cope with the changes going on in their own town. 

Even as new relief efforts in North Texas and Oklahoma spring up, Red Cross caseworkers are continuing to do follow ups on victims in West that might still be in need of help, emotionally or otherwise. 

Laffey sounds determined that her work in West will reach everyone in need there, saying, “We’re going down the list, one by one, to make sure we’ve talked with every single family.”  

This National Mental Health Month, if you are a licensed mental health professional, consider bringing your skills to life in a new way as a Red Cross volunteer. Visit us at redcross.org to learn more.

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Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder with Heroes Honoring Their Own

by Amy Yen, Digital Communications Manager, American Red Cross North Texas Region

First responders are a special group—selfless and brave and fiercely devoted to the community they protect. They understand the risk that each of them chooses to take and so, when one of them falls, they all bear the loss. The deep respect they have for all of their fellow responders was on display last week when crews from across the country came into Waco, Texas to honor the 12 emergency responders who died in the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

“An awe-inspiring moment.”

The American Red Cross was privileged to be allowed to participate in the proceedings. Two of our Emergency Response Vehicles joined hundreds of fire trucks and first response vehicles in a procession that ran more than a mile long. Our executive directors from DFW, Austin and Waco—T.D. Smyers, Marty McKellips and Mark Felton respectively—also attended the service. Before the procession, the Red Cross provided breakfast to thousands of firefighters and first responders who came to pay their respects.

“It was amazing just to be there at that breakfast to hear the bagpipe players practicing and to be flanked by literally hundreds of fire trucks, ambulances and first responders,” said Mark Felton, executive director of the American Red Cross, Heart of Texas Chapter. “We were the only non-uniformed people allowed to ride in the procession, which was such a distinctive honor. Driving under the flag held up by the two ladders on the fire trucks was just an awe-inspiring moment.”

As Marty McKellips, regional CEO for Central Texas, noted, the Red Cross has always worked closely with fire departments all over the country, responding to more than 60,000 home fires each year.

“We have a very close relationship with many of these fire departments since we work with them on home fires all the time. So it’s very special for us to be able to participate,” said McKellips.

The service was a long and emotional one, with video eulogies for everyone who passed. T.D. Smyers, regional CEO for DFW, noted a common theme in the eulogies, given by the family and friends of the deceased.

“They all said each of these people would have given you the shirt off their back. Every one of them was like that. It’s no surprise. Of course volunteer firefighters and first responders would be made up of those kinds of people. It was a real privilege to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those first responders, who were there for their comrades.”

One of the most moving parts of the ceremony came when more than 200 bagpipe and drum players surrounded the families and played “Amazing Grace.”

“The volume and the emotion of that experience was heartfelt,” described Smyers. “It felt like a moment where the community might begin healing.”

“From the moment it happened, we were ready.”

The American Red Cross has had a strong presence from the beginning of relief efforts in West. Teams from both Central and North Texas deployed within hours of the explosion and since then, more than 200 Red Cross disaster responders have worked on the operation. 

“I am extremely proud of our team. From the minute the explosion happened, our folks were ready to respond,” said Smyers. “I’m especially pleased with the leadership our team displayed, establishing the Joint Assistance Center, convening with other nonprofits to make sure we provided the best service possible. It definitely shows that providing humanitarian service to those in need is the top priority of the Red Cross.”

For Mark Felton, it has been an especially rewarding experience, since he joined the Red Cross less than a year ago and suddenly found himself called upon to be a leader in a disaster right in his backyard.

“Personally, being from the area, I was glad to able to use my personal relationships and knowledge of the area to make it a little easier for the Red Cross to provide services to the people of West,” said Felton. “It’s been especially rewarding to be able to work with city officials and our partner organizations…to be able to hear about a problem in the community and tap Red Cross resources to solve that problem.”

In the first two weeks in West, the Red Cross has served more than 18,600 meals and snacks and distributed more than 19,400 clean up and hygiene relief items. Our nurses and licensed counselors have made more than 1,200 health contacts and 1,500 mental health contacts with residents. Additionally, we’ve worked closely with partner organizations to open a joint assistance center where residents could meet with multiple agencies about their needs.

“It was really important to me to be able to respond to this community with the full force of the American Red Cross,” Felton said. “I’ve been so proud that we’ve been able to bring that to our response here in West.”

“The work of the Red Cross continues.”

More than two weeks after the explosion, West is only now taking their first steps towards recovery. Families were recently allowed back in to Zone 3, the area most critically impacted by the blast, and are now trying to collect what they can out of the debris. It’s clear the recovery process is just beginning.

Through all of this, the support from the rest of the country has been heartening. In fact, within days of the explosion, the town received such an influx of donated items, they actually had to ask that further donations be put on hold.

“It’s been an overwhelming response from the community,” said Felton.

Added McKellips: “When I think back to the memorial, I will remember how everyone came together. People from all over the country, all sides of the political spectrum, senators, the President. I think the support shown is what I will remember the most.”

So, the Red Cross will continue to support long-term recovery in West, even as disaster responders around the country are racing to support the thousands affected by flooding in the Midwest and wildfires in California. These are just some of the nearly 70,000 disasters the Red Cross responds to each year.

“A disaster that rocks a town, like the explosion in West, Texas, could happen anywhere”, said Felton. “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that the Red Cross needs more volunteers, more blood donors and more financial givers to be sure that we are 100 percent ready to go within minutes of a call to action.”

To help by donating time, blood or funds, visit RedCross.org to get started.

View more pictures from the memorial, taken by our volunteer photographer Barbara Smyers:

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The Soul of a City: An Account from West, Texas

by Anita Foster, Chief Communications Officer, American Red Cross North Texas Region

As a Red Cross worker often on the front lines of major disasters, people ask me all the time how I can drop everything—friends, family, my local job—and race to a disaster scene. It’s not a hard question to answer because I know that our call to action means that families need our help. On April 17, the call came to head to West, Texas after a fertilizer plant exploded. What no one has ever asked me is though, is how I can leave a disaster scene a couple of weeks later while people are still suffering.

As I wrap up my fourteenth and final day on the assignment in this Czech community we have come to affectionately call West “Comma” Texas, I am weepy. I weep for a city that will never be the same; for 15 families who, 14 days later, are still laying their loved ones to rest. I weep for the emergency response community who lost 12 firefighters in one fell swoop, two of them brothers. 

West lost seven of their heroes. Two more died from a neighboring small town called Abbott, two civilians were honored as firefighters because they jumped in to help put out the fire and one loss was from the area I serve every day in Dallas, Texas. 

Words cannot describe the enormity of the grief that these towns are experiencing.

Through my tears though, I’m also comforted by the kindness of this community and the sheer determination, dignity and fragility they have exhibited in the face of this unspeakable tragedy. I have learned a great deal about the soul of a city in the past two weeks and I have to say that West, Texas has a beautiful soul. 

The mayor’s home was destroyed, but he rallied his town to begin their recovery. The city secretary, responsible for getting important information to the town through their website, was also a volunteer firefighter and died in the explosion. In spite of this, the city found a way to keep information flowing to their residents. Mark Felton with the Red Cross in Waco has coordinated our services every day, around the clock. The county judge, city council members, heads of business and many others are present in the town every day taking care of their residents. And the residents are taking care of each other. 

I love it when my phone rings off the hook after something like this because I know people are calling to find out how to best help the people suffering. And help for West came by the masses. I knew early on that the community would have their physical needs taken care of, but I did worry about how they would cope with the trauma. 

So many times, we focus on the death toll—how many died in this or that disaster, but we don’t as seriously consider the number of lives that are forever changed when one third of a town is destroyed. There were more than 200 people transported to area hospitals, many still there with grave injuries requiring long-term care and rehabilitation. Others will have the images of the explosion and the gruesome aftermath in their minds for years. Everyone will grieve the loss of so many of their friends and neighbors. It’s overwhelming to think about. But with a new understanding of this place at Exit 353 off of Interstate 35, I am comforted that the people of West, Texas, will take care of their friends and neighbors for as long as it takes. That’s the soul of this city. 

As I prepare to leave West “Comma” Texas, I say this to the community: It is hard to leave because I know I’m leaving a piece of my soul behind. But I won’t be gone forever. The next time I’m making my way south down I-35, I’ll take Exit 353 and hang a left to the best kolaches in the entire world, followed by the Poopsie at the Czech pizza place. I’ll ask how the recovery is coming and how your people are healing, physically and emotionally. I’ll tell you every time what an honor it was to be here to serve with the Red Cross and with my best Czech accent, I’ll say dekuji (“thanks”) for showing me your soul. 

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Standing on a Bridge on a Saturday Morning

by Jill Bode, volunteer contributor

It was the Saturday morning after Wednesday evening’s horrific explosion at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Travelers on I-35 pulled off at the West exit for a kolache breakfast at the Czech Stop. As always, the kolaches were hot and served with a smile—the smiles were wan, but they were smiles, nonetheless. Traffic was heavy as the travelers re-entered the highway and navigated the detours caused by what seemed to be endless construction. Saturday morning traffic was moving well until it suddenly slowed to a maddening crawl. Drivers checked their watches.

Then they came into view ahead. The Waco firefighters, flanked by their fire trucks, lined up on the bridge at Valley Mills, and they stood at quiet attention. West Volunteer Fire Dept. suffered a huge loss this week. The firefighters on the bridge were there to honor their own. 

As the Dallas Fire-Rescue truck and its escorts came into view via the rearview mirrors of the frustrated drivers, they suddenly understood the gravity of the moment. Dallas Fire was rolling into town, headed for the mortuary. They came to claim the body of one of their own. Dallas Fire Capt. Kenneth “Luckey” Harris, 52, who was in West on Wednesday night and responded as a volunteer when he heard the all-call for firefighters at the plant. He died as a result.

The Waco firefighters stood at attention, showing the stoic solidarity that firefighters are famous for when they lose one of their own. A Red Cross relief worker stood on the bridge with them, tears streaming down her face. It was an honor to be there.



We join the rest of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in offering our condolences to the Harris family today, as Captain Harris is laid to rest in West. 

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National Volunteer Week: Q&A with Director of Volunteer Services Susie Spartano

by Kristen Kerr, volunteer contributor

As the American Red Cross continues to respond to the tragedies in West, Texas and Boston, along with flooding in the Midwest, we wanted to take some time to recognize the hundreds of volunteers deployed to each of those disasters, as well as the thousands more who make it possible for us to respond to nearly 70,000 disasters every year. From tornadoes and hurricanes to single-family apartment fires, Red Cross volunteers are ready to respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

American Red Cross Director
of Volunteer Services,
North Texas Region
Susie Spartano

Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking to the Director of Volunteer Services in the North Texas Region, Susie Spartano, to learn more about what she does at the Red Cross and what makes a great Red Cross volunteer.

Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and what it is that made you want to come to the Red Cross?

A: I always worked for for-profit so coming into a non-profit and reading the mission statement and absorbing the fact that the whole organization is here for the benefit of taking care of people was something that was foreign to me. I remember reading the mission statement and thinking ‘wow, this is so cool.’ 

Q: How long have you been with the Red Cross?

A: 13 years

Q: How has the job changed since you first started?

A: Actually having technology in regards to managing the volunteer services workforce is the biggest change. Everything used to be paper; manuals, Excel spreadsheets, training materials, etc. so trying to track and support a volunteer workforce of 6,000+ people and do it via Excel was difficult. Technology does allow us to respond in a way that people expect; we are better able, I think, to match the needs of the public, especially in a large metropolitan area. For example, we recently launched our new online volunteer system, Volunteer Connection.  

Q: What is it about the work that you do that has inspired you to stay?

A: As a human resource professional, I look into how to build an organization that supports the business, but also supports the individual. I feel strongly that a happy worker is one that is going to provide the organization with value, so being able to take that concept and apply it to a volunteer organization is really challenging and interesting. I just love being here and managing volunteers.

Q: What are some obstacles that you have faced while on the job?

A: The biggest one that sticks out is the re-organization of the Red Cross. It changed the way we work and the way that we look at our organization and we are still basically in the middle of that. Another big one that I want to give credit to is Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit, the Dallas Area Chapter had me and one other person working in the volunteer services area, and we were so overwhelmed. We were used to getting 25 paper applications per month, and we got about 800 in three weeks after Katrina. However, in a situation like that there is no place else you want to be because you can be a part of the solution. 

Q: What are some of your favorite moments with the Red Cross?

A: Realizing after Katrina that we served more than 24,000 people in a month and being a part of that team was life changing. I remember being in the shelter and it was an amazing experience because of course the shelter was like a small city; thousands of people were living there. I’ll never forget this one little girl who needed to go the bathroom so I took her and her little brother. As we’re walking to the restroom, I look down at her and I say “Okay angel, come on this way” and she goes (with a sassy attitude), “My names not angel!” She was so cute! Having the experience of Katrina in my life and being able to apply that so we do it better next time has been gratifying. 

Q: What does your day-to-day job entail?

A: A lot of oversight and building for the future. My main concern everyday is how we are serving our potential volunteers, that is our potential workforce as well as the department we serve. How are we responding to both of their needs, and then always looking at ways in how can we do things better; we can always take it to the next level.  

Q: What kind of challenges do you run into during your day-to-day?

A: Trying to address the cultural differences of our large geographic area is something we do quite a bit. You realize that every single community we serve is different; another big thing is how we make our workforce diverse.  

Q: Lastly, in your opinion what attributes do you think it takes to be a good volunteer?

A: To be a Red Cross volunteer, you have to be dedicated to serving the Red Cross clients and you have to have passion for taking care of people in need that have been affected by disaster or emergency. You have to want to help others because we ask a lot of our volunteers. They do everything across the organization. You have to be willing to go in and do what ever it takes. You should also be vocal because we become better when we all come together collectively. 

Volunteers work seven days a week, 365 days a year. If its 3 a.m. and there’s a flood or house fire, you can bet that our volunteers have received a phone call and are on their way. Therefore, next time you see someone in a Red Cross vest helping out their fellow man, just remember that they are more than likely a volunteer and are helping completely free of charge. 

If you are interested in being a part of the Red Cross volunteer force, please visit RedCross.org/DFW for additional information. Volunteer opportunities range anywhere from disaster preparedness to public affairs to mental health counseling. There is never a better time than now to help those in need. 

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