A letter, sent by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., presses the organization's CEO Gail McGovern on how layoffs and cutbacks have affected its ability to respond to disasters. Thompson, the second-highest member sitting on the House's Homeland Security Committee, specifically asked about the effects on West Virginia and California.
Heavy criticism is aimed at the organization's national office in Washington, D.C., as McGovern leads the Red Cross through unprecedented cuts in both services and manpower while focusing more attention on fundraising. As a result, local emergency officials, not-for-profits and people closely associated with the regional chapter said services have declined drastically.
In West Virginia, seven Red Cross chapters were consolidated into four two years ago. This, said the organization's Marketing and Communications Director Krista Farley Raines, in an earlier interview, saves donor dollars “so we have more resources to spend on people and communities we serve.” She explained the consolidation allows the Red Cross in West Virginia to shift costs associated with delivering service to actually delivering service. There has also been a shift in job descriptions and personnel changes. As a result, she said, there has been an increase in disaster staff.
The letter points to media reports stating the Red Cross "struggled" in recent efforts to respond to needs during emergencies in West Virginia, including providing adequate food and shelter following natural disasters.
"That Red Cross struggled to respond to these events is troubling because Red Cross is a designated support agency under the National Response Framework's Emergency Support Function 6 – Emergency Assistance, Temporary Housing and Human Services Annex," the letter reads.
The National Framework Emergency Support Function 6 is a part of the federal government's plan to provide life-sustaining resources and essential services when the needs of disaster survivors exceed local or state government's capabilities, according to FEMA's website.
The letter asks two vital questions about the not-for-profit's work in West Virginia. One is: Has the Red Cross performed an After Action assessment of its response to the disasters? The second is: How is the organization addressing the challenges it experienced responding to the incidents in West Virginia and California?
The non-for-profit has until Jan. 27 to respond.
This is not the first time Thompson requested information from the Red Cross. During a summer 2014 investigation, McGovern penned a letter to Thompson asking him to "end the Government Accountability Office inquiry," according to NPR and confirmed by a staff member of Rep. Thompson. In the letter, McGovern asked Thompson not to communicate with her in writing, then gave him her private cellphone number. Thompson told NPR the request was "unbelievable."
Thompson has introduced the American Red Cross Sunshine Act calling for an annual outside audit of the Red Cross and mandating the organization open its books to future GOA investigations. A staffer for Thompson, Adam Comis, told The Register-Herald it is too soon to know if congressional hearings will be held, as Republicans control the committee's schedule.
In early 2015, regional emergency service authorities officials expressed anger at the American Red Cross of Central West Virginia for a lack of response to natural disasters. Emergency service officials and nonprofit agency heads spoke of hearing a number of excuses why the Red Cross of Central West Virginia could not assist in emergencies.
At the time and in frustration, Mark Wilson, Raleigh County's deputy director of Emergency Service Authority, told a Red Cross employee, "It's easier to keep track of what you don't do than what you (actually) do.”
“They always got an excuse for why they don't respond,” he said during a March interview. “It's the same old song-and-dance with them — 'We are going to fix this,' but it never happens.”
In October, John Zilinski, Raleigh County director of Emergency Services Authority, was so annoyed at the regional chapter of the Red Cross he wrote to Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chair of the American Red Cross, expressing a need for more support and stronger relations with the organization's Charleston-based chapter.
"Please know that the American Red Cross is committed to providing human and material resources in support of the disaster relief efforts in all locations, including Raleigh County," the response from Richard Reed, senior vice president of disaster cycle services, reads.
The two-page letter states the organization is committed to responding to emergencies and gave Zilinski the email address of Keith Alvey, divisional disaster executive for the region overseeing West Virginia.
Typical Red Cross, a not-impressed Zilinski and Wilson said last week. "They are ready to help — on paper," the director said.
In an earlier interview Wilson said numerous times regional emergency service authorities asked the regional chapter for assistance during disasters, only to be denied help.
Early last year, when more than 1,500 people in Raleigh County's Coal River area were without water for several days, emergency officials turned to the Red Cross for help providing water and transportation.
The regional Red Cross response: denial.
When a tornado struck the Raleigh County towns of Westview and Odd, local emergency officials asked the Red Cross to help feed those impacted. The organization showed up with food provided by The Salvation Army, which quickly ran out. That was when the Red Cross left, leaving local agencies scrambling to find food for scores of people, two people who were on the scene at the time recalled.
Zilinski said there has not been a recent emergency in the county that required help from the Red Cross.
"Lucky for us, nothing has happened to facilitate a call out," he said. "We're just waiting to test the waters next time" to see how the Red Cross responds.
Policies and protocol are now set by the organization's Washington, D.C., headquarters, said Farley Raines. The regional and state branches must follow those policies and protocols. Local and state Red Cross officials make on-the-ground assessments but must follow Washington's lead when ready to act.
A growing numbers of counties across the country are removing regional Red Cross participation from their emergency operational plans, including Raleigh County.
“When the boots hit the ground, we're responsible for 70,000 people and I need people I can count on,” Wilson said.
The American Red Cross Central West Virginia is the largest recipient of funding from the United Way of Southern West Virginia Inc. It received $40,000 last year, according to the United Way's 990 tax form.
That is twice as much as the Women's Resource Center, the Raleigh County Commission on Aging and Beckley Dream Center.
Contributions to the Central West Virginia chapter of the Red Cross provide service in all seven counties served by the United Way, according to Director Margaret O'Neal. That funding is used primarily for disaster relief and notifications to service members of emergencies, O'Neal added.
When asked to obtain a copy of the Red Cross grant applications, the request was denied by both not-for-profits.
"Our funding applications are confidential due to some specific client information we ask them to provide. Our allocation committee annually reviews all applications and then awards funding based on the amount of money we raise during our campaign," O'Neal wrote in an email response to the request.
"The United Way application is propriety to the funding organization, so we are unable to share it with you," came the response from the Red Cross.
An official with the National Council on Nonprofits, an advocate for not-for-profit groups, advised asking for grant reports, which contain less private information as it is a review of what goals were or were not meet.
Those requests also were denied. The Red Cross failed to respond and O'Neal wrote in an email "to contact the Red Cross and ask ..."
While the Red Cross of Central West Virginia did not respond to funding questions, it was "excited to share" statistics from last year.
In 2015, the Red Cross assisted 130 households in these counties by serving 378 individuals impacted by a disaster, most commonly home fires. The Red Cross provided almost $100,000 in direct financial assistance to these individuals to ensure they had shelter, food, clothing, medication and other needs as well as supporting vehicles, materials and the people who make that help possible.
In an extensive story on the troubles of the national Red Cross, ProPublica, a not-for-profit investigative journalism organization, found United Ways across the nation are dropping regional Red Cross chapters from their funding awards.
"We try hard to stay abreast of any current issues with our agency partners and I am not currently aware of any local issues with" the Red Cross of Central West Virginia," O'Neal said in an email statement.
———
©2016 The Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.)
Visit The Register-Herald (Beckley, W.Va.) at www.register-herald.com
