Shelter Transition Worker Linda Shelley Helps a Tornado Survivor Rejoin His Family

By Diane Weber, Red Cross writer

Selma, Alabama native Michael Henderson knows how to face challenges, but he says he is very thankful for the American Red Cross assistance in facing his latest one.

Michael Henderson is a veteran of the 1980s Middle East conflict, where he worked as a government statistician. He returned to the U.S and worked several jobs, including driving trucks and construction. He married and had several children, all of whom live outside of Alabama – from Boston to Arizona. When the children were young, Michel wrote children’s stories for them, as well as three chapter books of poetry. 

His construction career brought Michael back to Alabama, where he worked on restoring historical homes. Then his next challenge hit. He said 12 years ago, he suffered his first stroke, and his health has declined ever since. 

As his health declined, so did his financial situation. Following the years of COVID shut down, Michael found himself alone, estranged from his family, in poor health and living in the shed of a family member. 

When the recent tornados damaged his home, a family member brought Michael to a Red Cross shelter. While staying at the shelter, he suffered another stroke and was rushed to the hospital. Despondent and alone, Michael one again faced his new challenges. 

Then he met a Red Crosser who changed his life. Linda Shelley was his shelter transition caseworker. A native of Laconia, New Hampshire, Linda left her home in Northern New England to deploy with the Red Cross following the tornadoes – something she has done several times in the past few years. 

She met with Michael daily, documenting his history and searching around for the best medical and community resources to meet his needs. She learned that he had a nephew in Oklahoma. This nephew, also named Michael after his uncle, had tried to get him to move closer to him. Linda called the nephew, and a plan was born.

“You’re not going to cry on me again, are you?” Michael joked with Linda when she informed him that his transportation to Oklahoma had been approved.

He had witnessed the passion and emotion Linda showed when she helped one of her clients overcome an obstacle to recovery.

As the shelter closing date approached, Linda worked with a partner agency to secure lodging for Michael at a nearby hotel until he could leave the area. Linda worked with Red Cross Disability Integration Volunteer Harry Lampton to secure a wheelchair for Michael. Then she completed necessary forms and organized his medical documents, secured luggage for his belongings and even worked with a partner organization to coordinate laundry services to ensure Michael could travel with clean clothes. Lastly, she secured transportation for him from Montgomery, Alabama airport to his family waiting in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Even after she rolled off her deployment, Linda remained concerned about Michael.

“I told him to call me when he reached Tulsa,” she said. “I just want to make sure that he is okay.”

The move will be another challenge for Michael; but thanks to the Red Cross and dedicated volunteers like Linda Shelley, he has the means and the support to start this new chapter of recovery.