Months after mudslide, Red Cross is still pitching in

DARRINGTON — A team of volunteers recently gathered to paint at the Darrington Community Center.

It’s one of the tasks that the center had left to do after a hectic spring and summer, when it served as the base of operations for the American Red Cross response to the March 22 mudslide.

The approximately 35 volunteers were Washington State University students, part of a school initiative to build connections with the communities affected by the mudslide.

The paint was bought by the Red Cross. As was the new tarp covering the gym floor, the new doors and locks, the carpeting and shower heads.

“I’m thinking it’s almost $30,000 they spent on us, which is quite significant for them,” said Diane Boyd, who is on the board of the community center.

“You have that many people coming and going in any facility you’re going to have to do some maintenance once they leave,” Boyd added. “But they stepped up to the plate and did their share.”

Among the dozens of agencies that responded to the deadly slide, the Snohomish County chapter of the Red Cross has taken a lead role in both the short-term emergency response and in the long-term recovery efforts.

The organization has raised $4.7 million in donations since the slide claimed the lives of 43 people and upended previously quiet rural communities.

Of that money, the Red Cross has spent or otherwise allocated more than half, and there’s a plan in place to distribute about 90 percent of the remainder over the next two years, said Chuck Morrison, the organization’s regional executive director.

“We’re not always the fastest to get the money out there but we take great care that the money is spent in the right way,” Morrison said.

Some of that money has been spent providing emergency relief, such as 142 overnight stays for people who needed shelter after the slide, and 29,000 meals and snacks served over the longer term.

More funding was handed over to other organizations providing services in areas where they have expertise, such as a $100,000 grant to Catholic Community Services of Western Washington to fund disaster case managers, who help connect people in affected communities with needed services.

As that contract winds down, the Salvation Army is taking over in supplying the case managers, and the Red Cross will fund them as well, Morrison said.

Those case managers form a key link between the residents of Oso, Darrington and Arlington and what is known in the relief community as the “unmet needs group,” representatives from social service and community groups ranging from the Red Cross and United Way to North Counties Family Services.

When the case managers and other social workers provided by Snohomish County’s navigator program identify someone who needs help — making rent, say, or restarting a home-based business — they bring that to the unmet needs group, which makes funding decisions.

Wyonne Perrault, the executive director of North Counties Family Services, said that the Red Cross is usually one of the first groups to step forward.

“The Red Cross representative is the first person there to raise her hand to say ‘I’ll cover it,’ ” Perrault said.

“Thus far, we’re able to cover 100 percent of what’s come to us,” she said.

Among the Red Cross’s outlays so far are $542,000 in emergency food, shelter and relief supplies, $649,000 for physical and mental health services, $786,000 for individual recovery planning and assistance, and $445,000 on disaster preparedness and community rebuilding.

One example of the latter is providing CPR training for people living in rural areas, which was a particular concern of area firefighters, Morrison said.

The Red Cross is also looking to fund a full-time school psychologist for the Darrington School District for this year.

Another key project moving forward is ensuring that everyone is connected to the case worker network and receiving what aid they need. A handful of people, Morrison said, still haven’t come forward.

“We know there are still folks that haven’t gone through this process, and we urge them to do that so we can help deal with their unmet needs,” Morrison said. “I know there are some folks out there and we want to be ready when they ask us for support.”

Chris Winters: 425-374-4164; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.