American Red Cross: Relationship Building
Recommendation #431
, #431 Target Agencies/Organizations
Recommendation
ARC must do the following if it is to improve its relationships with and better serve diverse communities: Foster key relationships with local and national organizations.
Background
To better prepare for the next disaster, which will likely affect a significant number of Latinos and immigrants, both public and private sectors should do what is necessary now to ensure a “pre-positioned” cadre of professional relief workers, volunteers, and managers who can be ready for the next disaster deployment. While ARC volunteers receive training, the ability of volunteers to act responsibly in
addressing culture, language, and immigration status issues varies considerably.
Recruiting volunteers from diverse communities increases the likelihood that victims from these same communities will receive better service or, at minimum, obtain better information.
Establishing Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and agreements with national and local organizations with the capacity for referring or providing trained, professional bilingual and bicultural workers and volunteers should be part of the effort to improve diversity. At the national level, ARC should develop relationships with ethnic professional associations such as those representing social workers or mental health professionals. Locally, it is imperative that it tap the vast potential of Latino and other community and civic groups and establish systems to close remaining gaps in a disaster quickly through agreements with these types of organizations. In the post-9/11 relief efforts, for example, government and private relief agencies procured the services of members of the New York Immigration Coalition, an interethnic consortium of service and advocacy organizations, to assist with reaching out to immigrants and processing their applications for benefits.
