For more information on the Red Cross's metro Atlanta chapter and ways to volunteer, go to www.redcross.org/ga/Atlanta.
Joe Spann of Dunwoody has clocked a lot of volunteer hours over the course of 81 years. He has built homes with Habitat for Humanity, taught first graders to read and constructed ramps for folks with disabilities. In the past year, a volunteer stint with the American Red Cross is challenging Spann to dig a little deeper emotionally in his effort to give back. As incident responders, Spann and fellow retiree Bernie Wasserman are often the first link in pick-up-the-pieces chain for families whose homes have just gone up in flames. “This has been something different for me,” said Spann, whose career was managing and auditing construction operations for various telecommunications companies. “People who are burned out of their houses, no matter their resources, well, you can just imagine. You just try to be helpful.”
Q: How did you link up with the Red Cross?
A: Bernie Wasserman, a retired FBI agent and top-notch guy, told me about being an incident response leader. It sounded interesting.
Q: What exactly do you do?
A: The Red Cross calls us when there has been a disaster. That can be a flood or a home that caves in, but for the most part in Atlanta, it is fire. Bernie and I go to the scene, interview the families and determine their basic needs. There could be babies who need special attention or children who need shoes. We give the families money for food and clothing. We will set them up in a motel if necessary for a couple of days, even if they have insurance, until the insurance company comes in and gets them situated. If a person’s medications have been lost in a fire, we make arrangements for them to get the prescriptions they need immediately.
Q: Are the families just in shock?
A: Some of them are just devastated. All of a sudden they are faced with a situation where they don’t have a house they can go back to. In some cases, they can’t get their personal papers out. I’ve been in situations where someone is on the lawn with a burned out photo album, going through it trying to salvage scorched pictures.
Q: How do you deal with these families?
A: We just try to console them, to be compassionate and sympathetic. After we are finished with our work, the Red Cross has people who get in touch them, to help with their mental situations, to make sure they are stabilized. If they need additional help, our outreach services can connect them with Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army and other organizations.
Q: Do you go to different parts of the city or are you assigned to one area?
A: We are assigned by zones. Our zone, which includes other disaster assistance team volunteers, covers all of DeKalb County and parts of Gwinnett, Cobb County and Fulton. If other zones are short-handed, we do fill the need.
Q: Are you surprised by how many house fires there are in the metro area?
A: I really am. In the past year, I know I have been to at least 40 different fires. Children start a lot of them. We just had one started by an 8-year old cooking French fries. It is sad.
Q: How many hours have you worked?
A: I have volunteered more than 2,000 hours this year. We could use some more volunteers doing the same thing that Bernie and I do.
Q: Do you worry about fire?
A: Enough that I have smoke alarms, three fire extinguishers around my house and an alarm system.
Q: At 81, sounds like you are getting busier instead of slowing down.
A: I guess I am. For one thing, retired people have a lot of more time. Volunteering keeps me in touch with the community. You get a good feeling when you are able to help people.
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