By Angela Marshall
Last March, her apartment and most of her belonging were destroyed in a fire. Evans and her daughter, Zsade, were faced with one of the most difficult situations a family can face, but they were not alone. Even before they had time to absorb the devastating news, American Red Cross workers were there.
The volunteers took down the Evans' information and put them up in a hotel for two nights. The mother and daughter were given food and clothing vouchers and were made aware of the different resources available to them.
"They were wonderful," said Evans, who works a few blocks from her Rockville Centre apartment, at the Rosa Lee Young Childhood Center.
It was seven months before the Evans family was able to move back to their Meehan Lane apartment. During that time, the Red Cross kept in touch, frequently checking in to make sure they were doing OK. And even now, more than two months after the Evanses returned home, the volunteer organization is still helping them out.
The Evanses and several other Nassau County families who suffered fires during the past year were invited to a special holiday party at Red Cross headquarters in Mineola on Dec. 11. For many of the children, the gifts they received last Thursday will be the only ones they get this year.
"It is important for the children who have been touched by tragedy to feel that someone is looking out for them and cares about their loss, especially during the holiday season," said Richard W. Dalrymple, chief executive officer of the Nassau chapter of the Red Cross. "If they can forget their feelings of anxiety and loss for these two hours, it will help them in their healing process."
Zsade Evans will not only have gifts but a tree to put them under as well. Red Cross volunteers collected the names of all those in attendance who didn't have a tree and raffled the artificial tree at the party. Her mother won.
Last May, an electrical fire in the basement of the Elmont home where Carlene Perry rents an apartment destroyed all three floors. Perry is a full-time student at Nassau Community College, works as a medical secretary and is the mother of four. She didn't know how she was going to cope. The day after the fire, she mentioned it to one of her professors who happens to be a Red Cross volunteer, and he told her how to get help.
"It's been so stressful," said Perry, who has been staying with her mother in Queens and commuting back to Nassau County to take her kids to school and attend classes herself. She was exhausted at the party, but thankful to the Red Cross for providing her family with something to look forward to.
She hopes that her children will get one more present Christmas day -- a return home. The rebuilding is almost complete.
Victor Disla is also hoping to go home soon. His family was left homeless when a fire tore through seven apartments in the Pine Town housing complex in Long Beach. Disla was at work when he learned that his wife, Susana, and two children had had to flee the burning building. He is thankful that no one was hurt, but still has trouble grasping the idea that all their possessions are gone.
Red Cross volunteers came to the Dislas' aid the night of the fire. They put the family up in a hotel for a few nights and then helped them relocate for the duration of the rebuilding. Victor Disla said the Red Cross was wonderful, helping his neighbors obtain medicine and eyeglasses to replace those lost in the fire. "Most people," he said, "lost everything, simply everything."
Still, Disla remains positive. Looking around the room at the volunteers playing with the children and at the table piled high with gifts, he said, "This almost feels like family here. They helped us out a lot."
Several of Disla's neighbors also attended the party. Joe McCloskey was there with his 7-year-old son Kevin, who lives in the building with his mother. "The Red Cross has done a tremendous job," said McCloskey. He said it is nice to know that there is an entity out there that really cares.
McCloskey said the experience has made him want to become a volunteer for the Red Cross, a sentiment expressed by Evans as well. "I'm going to look into volunteering," she said. "I just love them. God bless them, because they really do help people."
