Opening Our NEW Doors in Niagara County

Our new Niagara County Home at
1522 Main Street in Niagara Falls

The American Red Cross has been a part of the Niagara County community for more than 90 years, so saying we "opened our doors" in that community would be a little misleading. The truth is, they never closed, they just moved a little. So we were happy to invite all of our supporters to visit our new office inside the Niagara Family Center on Main Street in Niagara Falls at an open house last night!

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a little background: The American Red Cross in Erie & Niagara Counties officially merged operations back on July 1, 2011. When that happened, it was determined to no longer be feasible to maintain two large office spaces in Niagara County in addition to our administrative headquarters here in Buffalo. So the previous offices on Davison Road in Lockport and Sawyer Drive in Wheatfield are being sold (if you're looking for a large office space in Niagara County, do we have a deal for you!!), and we recently consolidated our staff to one location in Niagara Falls.

The biggest advantage to this new office is it's location. By being located in the population center in Niagara Falls, we are closer to the majority of our clients, many of whom are able to walk to the new location for services. Of course, if someone on the other side of the county needs services, we'll make sure we can accommodate them as well. Once clients do arrive, our new office allows us to offer them additional services. The Red Cross is just one of six community service organizations sharing space inside Family & Children's Service of Niagara's newly renovated building at 1522 Main Street. So it is easy for us to, say, refer a client to Ways to Work Niagara for employment assistance, or for the Girl Scouts to come across the hall and sign up for one of our First Aid classes.

Inside our new Niagara County office

If you're saying to yourself, "I didn't know anything changed," that's the idea. We're still providing the same disaster preparedness and response, Health & Safety Trainings, Blood Services and assistance to members of the military and their families that we always have in Niagara County, but hopefully we're doing so a little better and a lot more efficiently than before. Last night, we welcomed supporters to see where these services are now originating from, and answer any questions they may have. It was a wonderful gathering of some of the great people who make it possible for the Red Cross to provide our services to the community. We even almost had a chance to test our first aid skills, although it appears everyone involved in the bike "incident" escaped unscathed.

The open house may be over, but you can trust that our doors will always be open to help turn heartbreak into hope for our neighbors in need in Niagara County! The new doors are located at 1522 Main Street, Niagara Falls, NY 14305 or you call (716) 299-0900.

Anyone can help save a life!

Earlier today, www.redcross.org posted a story about a manager who used his CPR training to save a co worker's life. It's a great story that shows the importance of learning these lifesaving skills. So I found the email I received from a colleague later this afternoon very interesting.

Our Regional Preparedness Coordinator, Denise Herkey-Jarosch, delivered a Be Red Cross Ready program to 27 students in the Buffalo School District's Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program. These are some of the city's newest residents, and now they have an important new skill. You see, today's program included Citizen Hands-Only CPR! 

Today's program at the Herkimer Site in Buffalo was the first time the Red Cross has offered Citizen CPR to ESL students, and as you can see from the photos, the instruction was well received. Denise will be presenting this same program to six more Adult ESL classes throughout the month of August, so even more folks will be prepared should they find themselves in a situation like the manager in the above story.

If you'd like to learn more about Hands Only CPR, click here or visit www.redcross.org/takeaclass for a full list of Red Cross Health & Safety courses. To schedule a FREE disaster preparedness course such as the one Denise taught today at your school, business or other organization, contact her at denise.herkey-jarosch@redcross.org or (716) 878-2231.