You can help turn tragedy into hope. Join our Disaster Spiritual Care Team.

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The holiday season is a time for festivities and family. It’s also a time for giving. This year, you can give a meaningful gift that helps people through some of life’s toughest moments. From helping people impacted by disasters, like home fires and floods, to supporting lifesaving blood donations, you can make a difference. The need for volunteers remains critical and constant during the holiday season. You can help comfort and support people who are forced from their homes due to fires, storms, and other emergencies, so they don’t have to face tough times alone.

Disaster Spiritual Care (DSC) Volunteer

The role of the Disaster Spiritual Care (DSC) volunteer is to serve as a member of a temporary work unit on a disaster relief operation to provide disaster spiritual care support to individuals and families who have been impacted by a disaster.

• Assist disaster clients to utilize their own spiritual resources, values and faith in the midst of crisis, regardless of one's faith tradition.
• Assist in developing partnerships with local faith-based organizations.
• Facilitate long-term recovery for clients by providing spiritual and emotional support, and connection to local resources.
• Be available for staff who request spiritual care support.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Meets one of the following criteria:
  • A disaster spiritual care provider in good standing in a National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) member organization
  • A Board-certified chaplain
  • A professional chaplain (paid or volunteer) and is endorsed by that organization
  • An endorsed leader of a local faith community or organization
• Has successfully completed the DSC Screening evaluation conducted by a DSC Regional Program Lead or DSC Division Advisor for new DSC Volunteers.
• Good organization skills, responsible and punctual.
• Demonstrated active listening skills.
• Demonstrated ability to implement Standards and Procedures and follow associated job tools including reporting requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to interact with community members in a clear, compassionate manner.
• Demonstrated ability to involve appropriate others in managing problems and conflict.
• Ability to acquire, evaluate, and report information accurately.
• Demonstrated ability to provide interfaith support while respecting the principles of neutrality and impartiality.
• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Action Oriented: Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Values Differences: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.
• Ability to stand and sit for two-hours periods.
• Ability walk on uneven terrain up to 2 miles per shift.
• Ability bend, stoop or crawl on the floor or ground multiple times a shift.
• Ability to work outdoors in inclement weather.
• Ability to spend hours writing, speak clearly on phone, read small print for extended periods and work for long periods on computer.
• Ability to climb two or more flights of stairs.
• Ability to drive in daytime and evenings.

Regional responses: Shift work determined by the scale of the relief operation; a minimum requirement of 8-12 hours per day during the disaster relief operation for multiple, consecutive days.

Beyond Regional responses: 12-14 hour days for extended periods depending on distance. Time and length of commitment will vary by operation.

For more information & to apply, please visit: www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Any questions? Contact Alaina at alaina.riedel@redcross.org.