A day in the life of AmeriCorps member Abby Walthall at the Red Cross
The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is a national outreach effort launched in 2014 to install free, lifesaving smoke alarms in homes that need them throughout the United States. Red Crossers in the Northwest reached an ambitious regional goal of installing 4,000 alarms from July 2015 to June 2016. 
As summer progresses, so does the momentum around our Home Fire Campaign and I am ecstatic to be a part of it. In particular, I find myself thriving in the event-planning aspect, where I’ve coordinated with both Red Cross staff and several local fire departments. I’m expecting to finish seven events and then start in a new area: individual install appointments.
I am taking on more roles in case management as well, as the team begins training additional disaster action team (DAT) volunteers. My role in the updated training approach is 1:1 training of volunteers on CAS, our database entry system. Every six weeks, I am also on-call as a duty officer. This is an added responsibility on top of general case management and DAT Response (and it’s been a great learning opportunity).
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In my preparedness work, I have taken on a more independent role. I am leading more presentations by myself and devoting more time to researching and reaching out to different organizations.
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And, as you can see from the photo, I’m making new friends!
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