American Red Cross

Home Fire Campaign

Home and apartment fires are the nation’s most common disaster, and any person in the community can be impacted. But for families that experience a home fire, they are just as devastating as more publicized catastrophes. Preventing and alleviating human suffering in the face of emergencies is the mission of the American Red Cross. We have responded to home fires for more than 50 years, and our Home Fire Campaign encompasses our work to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from this disaster. On average, we provide $664 in assistance to each household impacted by a home fire. Your financial help could make all the difference for a family facing this catastrophe. Preparedness. Working smoke alarms help cut the risk of death significantly, so we work with community partners canvassing high-risk areas to install and maintain smoke alarms. And we work within communities and schools to help families develop emergency plans and to help youth become fire prevention and preparedness ambassadors within their communities. Relief: Meeting Immediate Needs. Thanks to close working relationships with fire departments and emergency management agencies, the Red Cross is usually notified as soon as a home fire is reported. Our Disaster Action Team promptly contacts impacted families, listens to their needs and takes steps to help. Typically, this means emergency assistance funds that can be used to pay for food, lodging, transit, medicine, clothing, personal hygiene and baby care items, and more. Recovery: Help with Long-Term Support. Red Cross responders don’t stop there. We meet with survivors to assess ongoing needs and provide casework assistance with clothing or furniture replacement, making insurance claims, negotiating with landlords, accessing medical services, and more, free services that are offered in coordination with public and private partners. Additional financial assistance is available to help meet a recovery gap. This could include help with a security deposit, first month’s rent, appliance replacement or minor home repairs, all of which can help affected individuals return to permanent housing and continue their recovery. Research shows that certain populations are disproportionately affected by home fires, including low-income individuals, the elderly, individuals with disabilities and uninsured households. Overlapping vulnerabilities can make experiencing a home fire even more devastating for a family. Rentals may not always meet safety codes, and lower income individuals may have less control over their living spaces and repairs. And the problem has never been greater. The U.S. has a shortage of 7 million affordable rental homes available to renters who are at or below the poverty guideline. This affordable housing crisis often creates a renters’ dilemma in the aftermath of a home or apartment fire. Help from our philanthropic donors is key to our ability to meet increasing community need. With your donation, the Home Fire Campaign will be ready to help when the next fire occurs.

Disaster Relief

In the last 10 years, more than 1,000 disasters have displaced 8.5 million people in the U.S. For economically and socially vulnerable families, this disaster-caused displacement can be catastrophic. When facing an unexpected $400 expense, more than 30% of U.S. adults would borrow money or sell personal items to cover it. Imagine how they fare when their home is deeply damaged or destroyed. Every day, the American Red Cross assists people who face disasters. We secure food and lodging for the family whose home has been struck by fire. We provide cleanup supplies to the couple whose basement has flooded. We give children who lost everything immediate psychological care and, often, toys to call their own. We have prevented and relieved suffering in the face of emergencies for more than 140 years. In that time, we have served hundreds of millions of people. The public trusts the Red Cross to help, and we’re ready to help at a moment’s notice, thanks to donors like you. And these needs are growing. Increasingly frequent and extreme weather disasters caused by climate change threaten to force millions of people from their homes and communities each year, making your support more vital than ever. When you give to Disaster Relief, you pre-invest in this critical work, ensuring the Red Cross can immediately address people’s basic needs, like warm meals, shelter, relief supplies, and emotional support — and then walk with them along the long road to recovery. Thousands of Red Cross health and mental health professionals are positioned across the country and specially trained to help with everything from lacerations to disaster-related trauma. As climate disasters continue to increase, we must also ensure that the Red Cross remains ready to respond when and where we’re needed, in your community and across the country. We are now working to adapt our mission and augment our response capacity and capabilities to meet the challenges of this growing threat — particularly in the most vulnerable communities we serve.

Blood Saves Lives

When Clara Barton tended to wounded soldiers on Civil War battlefields, she committed herself to caring for service members. That mission carried over to the American Red Cross, which she founded after the war. Our role has, of course, evolved to meet the changing needs of America’s military, but our founder’s legacy endures. Every day across America, brave men and women answer our nation’s call to serve in the United States Armed Forces. These heroes and their families assume great responsibility and face challenges unique to military life. They see multiple deployments, separation from loved ones, and risk of injury and even death. Whether their injuries are physical or mental, many of these men and women often need long-term rehabilitation and support. Furthermore, when service members come home, they often struggle to readjust to family routines, build careers and manage personal finances. The transition can be especially hard for veterans who served in combat. The American Red Cross is the only organization chartered by the U.S. Congress to furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded in armies during times of war. Building from that critical mandate, and thanks to the support of donors like you, we stand with service members, veterans and their families here and on deployment in ways that are beyond compare: • Our network of about 230 Red Cross chapters provides care and supports stateside, including by leading coping skills workshops for military members and their families, by training American youth to understand international law of armed conflict, and helping military members and their families prepare for deployment and the upheavals that will entail. • Red Cross staff is embedded on more than 35 military installations overseas, ranging from deployment zones to military hospitals to continue our support for our service members. • The Red Cross is the only organization congressionally chartered to keep military members and their families connected during personal emergencies. And when it’s needed, our network of relationships with nonprofits and military aid societies can provides these clients with access to emergency financial assistance. • Working hand-in-hand with VA health care facilities across the country, we care for our warriors as they rebuild their strength, confidence, and abilities, by distributing comfort items, assisting in medical services, providing rehabilitation therapy, and conducting morale-building social activities and animal visitations with screeded and trained therapy dogs. Because we reach service members everywhere – from the smallest U.S. hometown to the most remote corner of the world – we care for our military on a tremendous scale. Your donation will assist our heroes from the first day of their military careers through the end of their lives.

Service to the Armed Forces

Every 30 seconds, a U.S. cancer patient requires a platelet transfusion. With a steady increase in new cancer cases, the need for lifesaving platelets is also on the rise. Platelets have a short, five-day shelf life. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for patients fighting cancer to have to wait for these vital blood products to be available for transfusion. The American Red Cross is the largest provider of blood products, including platelets, in the U.S. In this role, the Red Cross is dedicated to meeting the growing demand for blood and platelets and to helping cancer patients keep battling. Supported by our generous donors, here is some of what we have planned: • Nationwide, we are setting out to grow our platelet collecting capacity and make platelet donation most convenient by opening 12 new sites over the next two years. Furthermore, we continue to invest in the specialized equipment and highly trained staff that collect these lifesaving blood products. • The Red Cross is one of the first blood banks committed to providing 100% pathogen-reduced platelet products and is on track to deliver 98% by the end of 2023. This investment reflects our dedication to providing safe, reliable blood and blood products to everyone, including those most vulnerable, like people fighting cancer. • Our nationwide network and inventory management system enable us to distribute blood and blood products anywhere in the U.S. • We are also committed to supporting cutting-edge T-cell immunotherapy to people fighting cancer who may have lost hope.