Northern New England Red Cross Volunteers Work to Make a Difference After Maui Wildfires

By Dan Dowling - Regional Communications Manager

“This is going to be a long recovery. They are resilient people, and they'll rebuild. It is going to take time.”

Red Cross Volunteer Raybo Frank

Raybo Frank has volunteered with the American Red Cross for more than seven years and has been through 28 deployments. Most recently, Frank travelled from his home in northern Maine to Hawaii, where he served as an overnight shelter supervisor after widespread wildfires ravaged parts of Maui.

In late August, high winds and dry conditions combined to fuel one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. Kula, Pūlehu/Kihei, Ka'anapali and Lahaina were some of the hardest hit areas. Like other Red Cross volunteers who deployed to the region, Frank says it was a challenging and inspiring experience.

“If I can make something happen a little easier, I go for it,” said Frank.

He recalls a day when he was looking out over the burned town of Lahaina, when he was approached by several residents who wanted to thank him for being there to help.

“I remember there was a lot of crying, hugging and kissing. I couldn't ask for anything better,” said Frank. “They kept on saying to me, ‘Thank you for being a Red Cross volunteer and doing the job that you are doing.’”

Red Cross Volunteer Bob Jolley

Bob Jolley, a Red Cross disaster mental health volunteer from New Hampshire, accepted an assignment on the Integrated Care and Condolence Team, hoping to provide compassion and support for shelter residents who may have lost someone in the fire.

“Almost all Lahaina residents knew one or more people in the inner circle of family and friends who had perished in the fire. A community was gone; life, work, school, family, and many other daily interactions were gone overnight and seem distant into the future,” said Jolley.

“My role during the first week involved being available and providing supportive psych first aid with a population of 500 residents sheltered in a resort hotel near Lahaina,” explained Jolley.

“Psychiatric first aid is often listening to people’s stories, helping to find or provide for basic needs—food, clothing, a place to stay. It encourages good coping, helping people connect with family members, each other and available resources. It also involves giving accurate information and realistic reassurance when that can be done.”

photo by Raybo Frank

“On day three of my deployment, a native Hawaiian spiritual healer visited the daily disaster mental health group meeting in Hawaiian dress and shared with the fifteen of us an overview of native history and customs, emphasizing again and again the importance of the ancestors, their thoughts and pains resulting from the Lahaina fire,” Jolley continued.

“His visit ended with a spoken and sung prayer to the four corners of the earth and blessing for our presence and efforts during our visit. That visit and blessing were both moving and supportive in a meaningful way for all of us present.”

Jolley also recalls a day when a brush fire broke out on a hill above Lahaina, a week into his deployment. The nearby smoke caused fear and anxiety amongst the shelter residents, including a 10-year-old boy. Jolley and another member of his disaster mental health team jumped in to provide immediate support to the boy and the other shelter residents.

“It was fortunate we were there, that the fire and smoke diminished, and that we could provide some support while the mother took steps to connect with family elsewhere on the island,” said Jolley.

A helicopter dropped water on the brush fire, the smoke faded and the anxiety amongst the shelter residents appeared to subside.

Months after the disaster, the Red Cross remains on the ground in Maui, working tirelessly to deliver compassionate care to roughly 7,000 people impacted by the fires. Reports indicate more than 3,700 homes were either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. To further support those affected families, the Red Cross To provide further support to affected families, the Red Cross has provided two different rounds of financial assistance for those who need help recovering and whose primary residences were destroyed or sustained eligible structural damage due to the wildfires. This assistance allows people to make their own decisions and prioritize what their family needs most to start recovering.

Another New Hampshire resident and Red Cross volunteer, Dee Chase, was deployed to Lahaina to support disability integration services. She recalled many residents there who were grateful for having the Red Cross there, including a double amputee named Gary. He had physical needs that made it difficult for him to adjust to being in a shelter.

Red Cross Volunteer Dee Chase

“I met Gary on one of my trips to Lahaina. He was in the fires, and he was clearly unable to take care of himself. We got him transported to a pain clinic, and then got him to the hotel,” she said. “We got him some eyeglasses so he could give himself a shave. He was all cleaned up and looked fantastic.”

Chase also worked to get Gary the physical and emotional support he needed during this stressful time.

“This poor guy, he certainly needed help and it was so great that Disability Integration was there. It was rough going, but we took charge and took care of him. He was so appreciative,” Chase remarked.

To date, Red Cross has provided more than $11.3 million in financial assistance to help survivors with immediate needs including essentials like food; medications; transportation; replacement of durable medical equipment like CPAP machines; housing needs, and clothing. Additionally, we are providing financial assistance to some of the most significantly impacted survivors, supporting those who lost family members as they grieve and helping them build bridges from hardship to recovery.

“I think there's a lot of hope and a lot of a lot of determination. They are very, very tight knit,” said Chase.

The Red Cross is grateful to the generosity of donors from across the country and around the world who have helped make this immediate financial assistance program possible for the people of Hawaii.

Your donation to American Red Cross Disaster Relief helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters big and small. This includes providing food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance, as well as supporting the vehicles, warehouses and people that make this help possible. Visit redcross.org/donate to make a gift. Every single donation makes a difference in someone’s life.