Southeast Tennessee Volunteer of the Month, Carolyn Homerding - April 2018

Carolyn Homerding, Southeast Tennessee’s Health Service Coordinator, returned from her first Houston, Texas deployment last summer with an unexpected prize. “It was the most humbling, rewarding experience of my life,” Homerding says. “I’ve never been so hot, but never felt so rewarded.”

A retired Licensed Professional Nurse from Chattanooga, Homerding is the chapter’s Volunteer of the Month.

After joining the Red Cross in early 2017, Homerding assisted with Health Services and joined a Disaster Assistance Team. She helped set up and run a shelter for Florida victims in East Brainerd, then deployed to Houston, Texas to provide disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Harvey.

“It’s hard work when you’re deployed,” Homerding recalls. “But there’s no dollar amount that could be put on what you do. It’s about helping people, about being caring and compassionate.”

For 14 days, 12 hours a day, Homerding delivered food, water and supplies to afflicted people in the community. On one 100-degree day, she recalls, they discovered an elderly woman living in a tent because her house had been flooded. “And we had stuff she could use, and water to drink,” Homerding says. “You can’t imagine how that touches your heart.”

Though her nursing skills were in demand, her duties covered a wide range. One day, for example, she helped drive an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) from Beaumont to Houston. “Just be ready for anything,” Homerding advises. “That’s the attitude you have to have.”

Earlier this year, Homerding took on the Health Service Coordinator’s role. “I was scared, but I felt honored; so I tried it, and now I love it!” Homerding helps fire victims replace such lost items as medications, glasses, wheelchairs, walkers and medical devices. Health services, she adds, needs many more volunteers. “We need nurses desperately,” she said.

She encourages volunteers of all interests, backgrounds and abilities to join in. Nothing, she says, feels more rewarding to her, than helping disaster victims in times of despair. “It’s going to be hot, and you’re going to be tired and you’re going to say ‘why do I want to do this,’ said Homerding. “But when desperate people say ‘Thank You,’ it just blesses you.”