American Red Cross Of Massachusetts Bay - South Coast Area
The mission statement of the American Red Cross reads as follows: "The American Red cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. It achieves this mission through services that are consistent with its congressional charter and the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross movement." The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay (ARCMB) is responsible for providing services across 127 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts with a combined population of almost four million (60% of the state's residents). As the 7th-largest Red Cross chapter in the United States, the Massachusetts Bay chapter remains consistent with the national mission of our organization throughout our area offices (in Brockton, Fall River, Melrose, New Bedford, Peabody, Quincy and Waltham), and in the implementation of our programs and services. ARCMB mobilizes nearly 4,000 volunteers and 85 staff annually to provide services to more than a quarter of a million people.
Description:
Over the past year, the Massachusetts Bay chapter provided Disaster Services, Hunger Relief, Health Care Job Training, Armed Forces Emergency Services, International Social Services, and Services to New Immigrants. Each of these services is provided by the South Coast Area Offices in Fall River and New Bedford. Specifically, Disaster Services offers direct assistance to victims of disaster for temporary lodging, food, clothing and additional supplies as well as disaster preparedness & prevention planning and community disaster education. In addition to our responsibilities to individuals and families in specific disaster situations, we also have large-scale disaster preparedness and response planning work on a statewide level. Currently, ARCMB is the only non-government agency included in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Response Plan and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency plan. In this plan, we are responsible for Mass Care (providing shelter).
History:
The Greater New Bedford American Red Cross was chartered in 1912, and served ten area communities from Wareham to Dartmouth. Our total service area population was over 196,000 people. We are funded in part by the United Way and the generosity of our donors.
In the fall of 2003, the ARCMB responded to a call from the national American Red Cross to expand our territory through the integration of two other local Red Cross units in the southeastern part of Massachusetts. This merger has since created the opportunity for our chapter to apply for allocation funding from the United Way of Greater Fall River, as we now share certain cities and towns in both of our jurisdictions. This merger, effective since January 2004, allows our entire region to be more efficient in our use of resources and more effective and coordinated in our delivery of services as we expand our service territory from 78 to 127 cities and towns. The South Coast Area now comprises 25 communities from Wareham to Westport to Wrentham.
Contact person: Seth Batstone, Program Coordinator, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (508)996-8287
Address:
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995 Rockdale AvenueNew Bedford, MA 02740-2714(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.bostonredcross.org
Directions:
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From Exit 3 off Route 140, bear right. Follow to the top of the hill, and Rockdale Avenue will be on your right after Hallmark Nursing Home.
Nearest Bus Stop: Rockdale and Potter, 0 minute walk |
| Last updated on April 22, 2009 |
