Through a Child's Eyes
Recovering from Fire
Opened in April 2003, Red Cross House is a place where lives are rebuilt and hope is restored. This one-of-a-kind facility located in West Philadelphia keeps families together through the recovery process, providing an ideal setting for intensive casework management, day care, life skills, emotional care and more, all under one roof.
During one family’s stay at Red Cross House, their child was able to spend time with an art therapist to help in the recovery process. The picture that you see here is from an activity on good vs. bad after a fire ravaged the child’s home.
On the outside children may show no signs of trauma or stress. But as this picture and others illustrate, the recent fire was very much on the child’s mind. This drawing tells a story of the trauma that accompanies the devastating aftermath of a disaster, but it also illustrates that there is still a reason to smile, thanks to the Red Cross and the safety and security children feel during their stay at Red Cross House.
Pictures like this one are often used to help articulate to the family if a child needs help from one of our Red Cross counselors, or perhaps if the entire family needs assistance. Thanks to Red Cross House, families get intensive mental health counseling, which is critical to long-term recovery. Our emotional care team provides support to families at the scene of disasters, while they are staying at Red Cross House, and wherever the need arises in the future.
Red Cross House helps families look back on their disaster experience as a brief interlude, rather than a permanently life-altering tragedy.
For more information on Red Cross House, visit www.redcross-philly.org/redcrosshouse2006.htm
