Acciones tomadas:
Actions Taken:
The American Red Cross provides humanitarian services in every state and county in the country. Community engagement is essential for successful service delivery all over the country. It facilitates a relationship with diverse communities and reassures them that the Red Cross will be there to support and partner with them before, during and after disasters in order to build their resilience. The goal of the Community Engagement & Partnerships (CEP) steady state program is to expand the reach and influence of the Red Cross to serve the whole community. Through a greater focus on community engagement activities and best practices, all lines of service, including Biomed, Training Services, ISD-SAF, DCS and Chapter operations will see their services reach a more diverse population group and increase in value to those populations.
To be effective and impactful, Red Cross Regions and Chapters must develop, grow and maintain a community engagement strategy that support service delivery and ensures maximum community access to Red Cross services. Several Regions and Chapters have acknowledged that there is a room for improvement when it comes engaging diverse communities in a meaningful way. CEP team members have consulted with Red Cross leadership at National, Regional and Chapter levels in order to develop CEP Standards and Procedures to support and amplify local community engagement efforts.
The American Red Cross recognizes the inherent challenges in serving diverse communities, such as people of color, migrant workers or the those with limited language proficiency. However, these communities are in desperate need of Red Cross services. With the changing demographic fabric of the United States, it is important for the Red Cross to renew a commitment to communities and to use Red Cross services as transformational activities that build community resilience. As a result of this program, Regions and Chapters will be able to expand existing relationships and develop new ones in diverse, particularly underserved, communities.
Challenges Encountered:
The Community Engagement Program has seen very little challenges to date. In fact, the American Red Cross continues to make significant investment in the program. The organization committed to funding more than a dozen additional positions within designated Regions to ensure Regions were maximizing CEA best practices, developing strong local partnerships with trusted partners and supporting Regions to increase access of their services to vulnerable and diverse populations.
In addition to investments in CEA, a national Latino Engagement program was also instituted during this period. The purpose of this pilot is to develop a well-defined and repeatable community engagement process for the Red Cross to establish relationships within the Latino community in a manner that will build trust, improve access to Red Cross services and result in the delivery of services to more Latino and Hispanic communities. Through these pilots the Red Cross will:
• Serve more Latino and Hispanic clients, offering end-to-end client experiences and outcomes supported by bilingual and bicultural staff and volunteers – beginning with all disaster services.
• Experience greater connection to the Hispanic community as evidenced by an increase in the number of Spanish speaking and racially diverse Red Cross volunteers; greater level of blood donations, and participation in preparedness and training programs.
• Strengthen the resilience of communities as a result of enhanced service delivery and community engagement.
Concrete Examples:
Puerto Rico Earthquake Response
Tested community engagement teams and community outreach work to alleviate community stress and anxiety. The Puerto Rican team managed to work with local radio stations to broadcast Red Cross earthquake safety messages to the community using 20 second public service announcements.
