Passers-by stop American Red Cross volunteer Carol Janssens everywhere – in the hallway, at shelters, and on the street. But it’s Faith, her seven-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, they’re drawn to.

Faith is a service animal that enables Janssens to respond to disasters all across the country, despite mobility challenges and painful medical conditions.  Throughout October, the pair has been in the Fort Myers, Fla., area where Janssens leads a Red Cross reunification team, reconnecting loved ones in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Janssens has been a local disaster volunteer in Washington state for more than 17 years, but for the last decade, the Red Cross disability integration policy has broadened her horizons. “I’m a big fan” of disability integration, she said.

 John Mathews, a volunteer with the Red Cross since 1981, is the disability integration manager for the Hurricane Ian response. He said the Red Cross welcomes and accommodates volunteers with disabilities in its workforce.

“Disability integration is the process of identifying the barriers to service or service delivery and finding ways to accommodate or build bridges over those barriers,” Mathews said. 

“Whatever the barrier is for that individual, whether a client or a member of our workforce, my job is to find a way to accommodate, to make that less of a barrier so the service can be delivered, or be received.” For example, he located American Sign Language interpreters for a client who was deaf and needed help understanding the various assistance programs.

He said that several of the more than 2,600 Red Cross responders on the Hurricane Ian relief operation have physical disabilities that are easy to see, while others have hidden disabilities. On the current operation, he arranged to have a shower ramp extended for an individual staying at a staff shelter.

Mathews himself needs an accommodation when he deploys: electricity to power a continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP machine for sleep apnea therapy. Along with allowing him to breathe freely while sleeping, it stops him from snoring. “It keeps everyone (in the staff shelter) happy,” he said.

Faith is the latest in a series of service animals Janssens has had to help with challenges she faces as a result of fibromyalgia, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. “No. 1, she’s my purse,” she said. “She picks up things I’ve dropped that I don’t realize I’ve dropped.”  Faith’s ability helps Janssens avoid the bending and stooping that gives her pain.

For two and a half weeks, the pair lived in a staff shelter on the fairgrounds near the Lee County Civic Center, where Faith’s bed was under or around Janssens’ cot. In public, Faith lounges quietly on the ground, her big eyes following people, but her attention is clearly on Janssens’ every move.

The dog wears a purple and black pack across her shoulders, emblazoned with the words “Service Dog,” carrying both her own supplies and Janssens’. Red Crossers – many of them dog-lovers themselves who have left their pets behind at home – stop to admire Faith, saying, “She’s a love.” She’s very sweet.”

Janssens doesn’t mind, but she has advice for people who encounter service dogs: “Don’t ever pet a service dog without asking. When someone has a service dog, it’s because they have a medical need, just like a cane or a wheelchair.”

American Red Cross relief is free to anyone with disaster-caused needs, thanks to the generosity of the American people. To become a trained disaster volunteer, go to redcross.org/volunteer or call 1-800-REDCROSS. 

Written by Betty Adams, American Red Cross Public Affairs