Disaster Response

For more than 20 hours, people fleeing wildfire in Northwest Territories drove south to get to safety and plan their next steps. Michele Michetti, 29, remembers seeing flames, but it’s the people that stick out the most in her memories on the drive from Yellowknife. 

Wildfires are burning in Halifax region and Shelburne County Nova Scotia, forcing people to evacuate from their homes. The Canadian Red Cross is on the ground in support of the provincial and municipal governments. We’re working together with community organizations to provide help to those who have been impacted. 

France Hurtubise, a retired Communications delegate living in Montréal, looks back on her experience in the humanitarian sector and shares her story with us. Over the course of 25 years working abroad, France traveled to four continents and worked in countries heavily impacted by conflicts and disasters. In May 2022, she published “Grandeur et dénuement”, an account of her years with the Red Cross (ICRC, IFRC and CRC) and the UN.

Joe Michielsen is entering his third decade as a volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross in southern Alberta. Discover why he thinks “volunteering is the best job”.

What does it mean to live through a year of armed conflict? For some, it means having to leave behind everything they know for somewhere safer. For others, it means spending hours in bomb shelters, or hours without electricity. For too many it means being separated from family, struggling to access basic medical care and not knowing what will happen next. 

A new program has been launched to help community service organizations in Canada strengthen their internal structures and practices as they recover from the pandemic. This will, in turn, assist them as they continue to support their communities.

When Hurricane Fiona hit William Coney’s quaint neighbourhood on September 24, 2022, the Canadian Red Cross volunteer did what he knew best: help others. He says volunteering gave him a sense of agency. “Certainly, it was a lot nicer to be autonomous and active. This was a way I could help my local community.”

Sarah Parisio's role within the Canadian Red Cross involves supporting people impacted by disasters through leading teams of fellow humanitarians who respond to emergencies in Canada and around the world. Discover how she brought with her skills developed through responding to emergencies in Canada to an international context and what new knowledge she brought back home in return.