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As extreme weather intensifies, the Red Cross is actively supporting communities facing both high disaster risk and socioeconomic challenges.

Hello, I'm Tom Britt.

On this edition of Tennessee is Talking, the topic is the Red Cross Community Adaptation Program.

This hyper-local initiative partners with local nonprofits to boost their capacity, capability, and continuity to provide vital services to underserved families.

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West Tennessee PBS Presents Tennessee is Talking.

Let the conversation begin.

Thanks for joining the discussion here on Tennessee is Talking.

Hello, everybody, I'm Tom Britt.

Community Adaptation Program is a collaboration with local nonprofits to provide help to people who are in need.

Here to tell us more are Program Manager Curtis Morman and Program Coordinator Bree Houston.

Thank you both for joining us today.

-Thanks for having us.

-Thanks for having us.

If you would, how does the program assist communities?

Tell us about that.

Rewinding back a couple of years ago, Red Cross launched this new initiative.

They've seen more disasters and weather-related things taking place across our country, so they launched these field teams across the country, so Madison County is one of them.

The way we assist the community is by partnering with local nonprofits, who are either feeding, providing some type of healthcare, or assist them with housing.

We come alongside of them, underwrite them, and get them some equipment and things like that that they need so that they can serve more people.

Can you tell us, one of you, what types of emergencies or situations do the CAP program responds to?

We respond to natural disasters in the county of Madison County.

That's our jurisdictional area, but we do have partners who have responded to natural disasters like in East Tennessee for Helene and Hurricane Milton.

I also like to add that we don't typically respond to disasters, but we try to make our community more resilient.

Whenever disaster happen, it's not the Red Cross who's coming in or FEMA or you're waiting on the Cavalry, but those community members are really the ones going to actions.

How does Red Cross determine which families and perhaps others who are eligible for assistance through the CAP program?

How do you determine that?

Anyone who needs something.

They show up and we feed them.

We give them a temporary shelter or whatever.

We do whatever.

It's not checks and balances or you sho..

If somebody's in need, hey, we try to help them out.

The types of services and resources that you provide them through the CAP program, would you run through those?

Mass feeding is one.

We try to partner with people in our community and nonprofits in our community that can help with mass feeding.

If something takes place on one side of Madison County, we have partners on the other side of the county that can help feed people as well.

Also, temporary housing which is important.

We're not looking to shelter people for a long time but just to keep them stable until they.. to get back into their homes or move with a loved one or a friend.

If you've never been in an emergency, you have that immediate need, don't you?

Yes.

You don't realize that u.. Is it available to anyone in the community or is it restricted to specific regions or groups or anything like that?

Initially, it's for Madison County, we focus here on our community, but if there are people who are from outside of the county who comes in who need help, we're going to help anyone who needs it.

How can someone apply for such assistance if something happens?

How do they do that through the CAP program?

You don't apply.

Again, we are building a network of community partners so that we can be resilient.

If someone shows up and they need the assistance, we're going to try to do what we can, or our partner is going to try to do what they can to get them back on their feet again.

Again, it is not that you have to qualify or have a certain income coming in or below income, it's basically as someone who needs the assistance during that time.

You took my next question, documentation or identification, will you need something like that?

Not unless some type of monetary gift is given to them.

They may have to provide some type of ID.

Something like that.

All right.

Yes.

The types of assistanc.. the financial assistance or support and what type the CAP program offers to individuals and families.

The financial assistance that the CAP, Community Adaptation Program, provide, doesn't go to individuals or families, but it actually goes to our partners, and Bree can talk about a little bit of how we give these enhancements or financial assistance to our partners.

We partner with nonprofits in the community who focus, as Curtis said, hunger, housing or health.

Once we partner with them, we give them materials or enhancements that will help with the operations that they're already doing.

For example, Community Cafe, they're one of our partners downtown, and they do help the community downtown who may be hungry.

We have given them different items to help; a freezer, dishwasher, things that would help make their operations a little easier from day to day.

That's how they're able to help and to continue to support the community.

You spoke to the immediate need for assistance.

What about long term?

Do you do such like that?

Again, with this program, we're leaning towards our partners again, so that they can help coordinate some of those resources that they need.

For instance, if doing a temporary sheltering, we have someone come in, the physicians or some nurses to come in to do health check or welfare check, and we find someone with high blood pressure, they will find out where they live and try to get them somewhere close so they can get a physician to follow up on that or some medication.

How has the CAP program impacted local communities in the past?

Can you share any success stories with us?

Absolutely.

[laughter] We have a partner, Madison-Chester & Crockett Baptist Association.

They respond to disasters all over.

They have disaster teams, don't they?

-Yes, [crosstalk] disaster relief team.

I like to call them the miniature Red Cross, because what they do is basically what we're doing, but they're boots on the ground, they've responded to the East Tennessee disasters.

What they've done is they'll go and remove trees and debris but they also do that local here in Madison County.

It doesn't have to be a disaster.

At the Red Cross, we have gray skies, which is when times of disasters, and blue skies, when everything is going well.

During blue skies, they're still here in our community helping.

If there's a tree that falls down in an elderly person's home or in their driveway, they're there to help remove that and assist them.

Whatever someone needs when it comes to removing debris or tree limbs, that's a really good benefit to have here in Madison County.

I'd also like to add another partner that we have is the Greer-Golden Alumni Association of the Old West High School.

The old high school now serves as a resiliency hub for the people that's in Denmark.

This summer, July the 19th, I'll never forget, one of our warmest days this summer, they opened up as a cooling center.

Those individuals or residents that live there can come in.

They played games, we had snacks, we had water, and it also gave those who was there to do a welfare check on those who attended, so specialized senior population that was on that end.

What steps does the Red Cross take to ensure that you're reaching the underserved and perhaps those hard-to-reach populations?

Our goal and our mission is to, again, focus on those blind spots.

The people of those communities that fall in those blind spots, one, looking at their poverty level or the poverty rate in those areas, and then try to assess what they need.

Our partners is doing some of the work, but we are doing some of the work as well.

The partners exist in those communities, one, because they're needed.

Then once we see somebody's already doing the work, it makes it a little easier when we come alongside with somebody, and then we would start working along with them as well.

How important do you think it is to partner with those local organizatio..

I think Helene brought that to point, because you read wild stuff on the internet and posting that this is not happening, this is not happening.

It seems that things were happening, and somehow it seemed like those people who were being negative got the most publicity.

Yes.

Well, the squeaky wheel get the oil, is wha.. At the same time, we know there will be some people that say, "Hey, I'm not getting help," but everybody can't be everywhere at the same time.

There will be some people who help may be around the corner or down the block or a day away, and sometimes we just have to be patient waiting on those people to respond.

That's why it's important to be in partnership with people in the community who know the landscape, know where people are.

Every neighborhood has a gatekeeper.

He or she know what's going on it.

May not be public to everybody, but they know exactly who's at home, who's handicapped, who has a resident that's disabled or who may need some help.

All they have to do is just point us to them or point our partners to them, and then we'll try to get them what they need.

Folks, I think, if you've never been through a disaster, you got to have coordination, right?

Yes.

You just can't.. because you don't know what's happening, and who you're helping and how you're helping them.

One of the things that me, Bree, and-- Lisa Peoples is our other coordinator, she couldn't be here.

One of the things that we do, when we talk t.. or a potential partnership with an organization, we tell them, first of all, "We are not here to tell you what you do.

We are here to listen to what you do, and see how we can come alongside to help you to expand the capacity of reaching more people."

Our first initial conversation is a listening.

It's a time that we are listening to find out what's going on, what type of help they need, and who needs to help as well.

That's interesting you mentioned that, because I heard some of the local first responders from here in Jackson-Madison County who went over to East Tennessee and they addressed the question of people saying, "Well, the people aren't getting what they need."

The gentleman immediately said, "No, we were there.

If we needed something, there were people there who got us the things that we needed to help other people."

I guess that speaks to the coordination that you've been talking about.

Absolutely.

With the Red Cross, when we responded to the East Tennessee flooding, our regional leadership was like, "We help people in other areas who want to participate or help us out.

It'll be better if they do it with financial donations."

That plea was because they were getting so much bottled water, but there was people who needed some-- There was a flood, but they was drowning in bottled water.

We was causing the flood, right?

Yes, yes.

We was causing the flood with the water, but in response to that, like you said, just having the locals of those who were there boots on the ground and say, "Hey, this neighborhood doesn't need it, or this community doesn't need it, but if we go this way, there are some people who could stand a need for those supplies."

How is the CAP program funded?

What should people do if they want to become involved and help out?

All right.

Initially, it was funded, just budgeted through the Red Cross.

Started off with eight field teams across this country.

Madison County was one.

We have two teams in California.

We now have two teams in Florida.

Just spread it out to wherever people are at risk for natural disasters, and they're funded through that initial investment.

Red Cross lives off the donations of the kindness and generosity of people like you and I who just want to give something to help out.

When that money is donated, a portion of it's allocated to the community adaptation program, and that's how we continue to sustain it.

What role do volunteers play in the CAP program, and can individuals get involved?

-Oh, yes.

You want to take a shot at that?

Absolutely.

The way individuals can get involved is by volunteering with our nonprofit partners, Community Cafe.

I know they accept volunteers.

We have another partner, Brown's Creek District Association.

They were doing donation- Oh wow.

and actually getting some bottled w.. [laughter] for the East Tennessee disaster.

If you want to get involved, it would be through our local partners.

If I could just mention, when she said the Brown Creek District Association, one of the coordinators for that disaster relief team was actually buying gift cards.

Bought about $1,500 worth of gift card, was about the checkout.

Somebody like, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, we getting gift cards so we can take the families in the East Tennessee area."

They was like, "Wait a minute."

They ran and got $1,000 more gift cards, gave it to our partner, so if they can go out and give it to those families and individuals who need it.

There are a lot of generous people in Madison County and we are grateful for them.

West Tennessee, Madison County usually responds to emergencies and disasters, and when the people need help, they reach out there.

How does Red Cross ensure the funds donated to the program are used effectively to help?

With the CAP program, certainly, we vet our partners, checks and balances, see what they're doing.

The money that we allocate to them or the grants that we give them, sometimes it may be to give them a temporary staff member for a while, but they have to have a plan to sustain it after that initial investment.

Another way that we make sure that we are being good stewards of the donor dollars is buying equipment that they need rather than a luxury piece of equipment.

If they need a piece of machinery like the Madison Baptist Crockett Association, we provide it because we know that they're going to do the work.

They show up and do it.

After receiving that initial assistance which we all see, and oftentimes our attention goes somewhere else, is there a follow-up support for individuals and families to help them stabilize or recover?

Yes.

Red Cross and the CAP program, we focus on thre.. One is the readiness for disaster if and when it comes into our community.

Then it's providing the relief.

Then like you said, when everybody else, when it's not a hot topic anymore, it's a long road to recovery.

Having these community partners, the Red Cross may pack up and leave, but our partners live, they play, and they work here in the county, so make sure that the recovery plan is in place for their community.

Are there any ongoing programs or services available after someone has received the assistance to help them transition back to their independence perhaps?

Well, after, there may be-- we have seminars that we hold in educational seminars that would help just provide information, because when a disaster strikes, there could be a lot of stuff that's going on.

People are thinking about, "What am I going to do?

How am I going to get my family?"

Just trying to get them access to that correct information.

Our partners do hold seminars to help with that, and provide them with the information, the casework to maybe file an insurance claim or to get the resources that they need.

Can local businesses, schools, other organizations, can they partner with the Red Cross —I think I know the answer to it— and support the CAP program in this community?

Yes.

They definitely can.

Bree done a wonderful job this summer, partnering with a summer program at TR White, and our disaster program manager came and hosted about 75 to 100 kids and just talk to them about fire safety, things of that nature.

That's one way we get our children involved, and those same programs are readily available for our school system as well.

Anyone who has a desire to partner with the Red Cross financially or just volunteer, we always point them to our website, www.redcross.org.

Is there a way that the Red Cross tries to measure the effectiveness, and perhaps improve on what you do, and how you help people and respond to emergencies?

-Interesting you say that.

The answer is yes.

Absolutely.

We just got off a quarterly report meeting.

Want to say a little something?

We have reporting programs in place so we can measure the effectiveness and efficiency of our program.

Our partners, every quarter, will report how many people were they able to reach with the material that we provided.

It's really just to show the organization how effective CAP is.

It helps the organization, because they can take that same data and use it to apply for grants, especially if they're a nonprofit.

If they have their data together, they can show that, "Hey, this is what we've done in the last year, last couple of years.

This is why we should be awarded this grant."

We want to put them in a position that they're winning on both sides.

Sounds like it is.

This is not in some of the questions that were suggested, but thinking back on my first remembrance for the Red Cross, and that's been a long time, trust me, in the '50s in elementary school and growing up, I remembered that we donated and then we would get little 10 things to put on our pockets through our lapels that were Red Cross pens.

For some reason, that's always stuck with me.

I always felt like I was helping somebody.

It was only pennies, but pennies add up to dollars, and dollars, hundreds, and thousands and that sort of thing.

It just came to mind as you were speaking there.

Talk about future directions.

Are there plans to expand and improve the program in the future, and maybe tell us about the additional services or resources you would love to see.

The future plans for the Community Adaptation Program, nationally, is to add more teams.

We started off with eight teams.

We are now up to 18.

Again, these teams are located in high-risk areas.

After two years, those teams are-- well, the first two years, those teams are supported by a national organization.

Then after two years, we integrate into our regional Red Cross leadership.

As of 2025, our team, me, Bree, and Lisa Peoples, will be under the leadership of our region, which is great.

The headquarter's in Nashville, and we get a chance to meet some of our friends across the state.

The same program and model that we're doing here in Madison, we'll be able to share that information so they can kick an initiative off to start having more community partners.

Are you finding that there are more people interested in getting involved with such programs as CAP and the Red Cross?

Absolutely, because between hunger, housing, and health care, it tugs on some people's heart, especially those who have retired from one of those fields, and they understand the need that needs to take place in the community.

They're always like, "Oh, how can I get involved with this?

I don't want to give blood, and I don't want to sound the alarm, but I would love to be part of something like this."

We just find a way to weed them into the process, which helps fortify our program.

I think also people see the importance of our program.

If we look back to Katrina, that disaster, there were people there who were stuck.

There was no help there.

CAP is a way to avoid that situation.

We have people in place, so God forbid, a disaster happened, we're already working in people who know the area, and so people won't be stranded.

We'll have, resources for housing, for food, and for health.

We don't have to wait for FEMA to come in, or the Cavalry of the Red Cross to deploy people, because we'll have people who already know what's going on, know the area, and know how to get resources to certain neighborhoods.

If I'm at home watching this right now, and I want to get involved, or if I want to share with someone, "Hey, let's go do and help them," how can I do that?

Again, they can always go online and Google www.redcross.org, and on there, it will prompt you how you can get involved.

You can get involved as a volunteer, or you can get involved just by donating and supporting some of the work that we're doing.

I will even go as far as, if anybody's watching, you can call me at 731 499 2115.

I only did that because Bree can't remember her phone.

Right.

[laughter] That's okay.

I don't know anybody [crosstalk] [?]

Throw me under the bus, I guess.

Other than this program, do you do other things to try to spread the word, and can people spread the word about the CAP program?

How do they do that?

As we're going forward, we're .. to do events throughout our county.

Bree has already helped host some financial literacy, some homeowning opportunities are going to come up, and so some cooking demonstrations, things like that.

Tom, I know how important health is for you, so I hope to see you at one of our cooking demonstrations on what healthy food is and exercising.

That's always good.

Is there anything else that you would like to tell the people of West Tennessee as they watch the show?

I just want to say West Tennessee has been very supportive of the nonprofits, as well as individuals and families in just embracing this new concept that Red Cross have.

As Bree will say, normally, Red Cross come asking you for donations.

This is one time that the Red Cross has been investing in the community and its partners to help make it more resilient.

Again, please support us, not just with your prayers, but also by volunteering, even donating financially.

I think the Red Cross is so well-known, people immediately can identify with the Red Cross.

Don't you think that's one reason people do want to help you?

Absolutely.

Typically, when you think about the Red Cr.. you think about house fires and blood drives, service and armed forces, they do so much.

This is a global operation, but to see how they are seeing that there are some opportunities in the local community, that's quite the investment.

All right.

Great job.

Sadly, we are out of time for this edition of Tennessee is Talking.

We want to thank Curtis Mormon and Bree Houston for stopping by and telling us about the American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program.

If you want to re-watch this program or share it with a friend, remember it can be streamed anytime on the PBS app, along with all local Channel 11 programs.

You can also watch it on westtnpbs.org.

Keep the conversation going by following West Tennessee PBS on social media.

Until the next time, keep on talking, Tennessee.

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