Nov 29, 2018 4 min read

An American Red Cross volunteer from Uniontown recently traveled to Chico, Calif., to help survivors of the devastating Camp Fire find their inner strength.

“It was an influx of people who were arriving with just the clothes on their backs. Most were in pajamas,” said Red Cross Disaster Spiritual Care Responder Cynthia Bellina. “There are boards everywhere with posters of missing people. We’ve had to support people who found out they lost a parent or a child. People are experiencing loss – not just material, but human loss.”

California’s most destructive blaze to date ignited Paradise, Calif., at about 6:30 a.m. Nov. 8. As of Monday, 85 people have been killed and 249 were missing. The fire was finally contained Sunday with the help of rain that fell in the area. More than 150,000 acres burned, and about 13,500 homes were destroyed, in addition to about 5,000 other buildings.

Amidst that tragedy, DSC responders met with survivors to begin the healing process. Bellina, a Presbyterian, said the responders represent a variety of faiths, including a Jewish rabbi, an atheist, a Buddhist, a Universalist and other Christian denominations.

“We’re not evangelizing. We’re not trying to convince anybody. It’s not about us. We’re not trying to change them. We’re meeting them where they are and letting love flow through both of us to find their strength,” she said.

DSC responders work closely with the mental health team. Bellina spends much of her time listening to survivors and connecting with them. In telling their stories, Bellina said she often hears people shift from referring to themselves as victims to referring to themselves as survivors, signifying an important step of healing.

“Healing begins when a person can reclaim their life, so how we react as responders with these vulnerable people can be a major contributing factor in the beginning of the healing process,” she said.

In Chico, Bellina is based at a church sheltering more than 200 survivors, many with medical needs such as oxygen dependence, wound care and disabilities. She arrived in the first wave, when only three DSC responders were serving about 27,000 evacuees. Some survivors were living in their cars before additional shelters were opened and a new wave of responders arrived. She was recently promoted to DSC team lead.

Many of the survivors are senior citizens without family, who were forced to leave pets behind.

“Their pets were their family,” she said. “Knowing that they’re leaving them behind, they’re going through the grieving process.”

One of her most memorable exchanges was with Paul “Turtle” Royce, who lost his home in Paradise. He spent parts of his life living on the road and in communes. Now using a wheelchair, he has a desire for independence. He said he wanted to move to Grass City, and Bellina got on the phone, making calls until she found a hotel that would house him for one month.

“Within a day, he transitioned there and is starting to rebuild his life and reclaim it. It all started with a cup of coffee,” Bellina said.

She noticed him drinking coffee one day in Chico, and when she saw him later she asked if he wanted a cup. When she brought him cream and one sugar, he jokingly told her he needed more than one packet. The next day, she brought him a coffee and cream with two sugar packets, and the pair sat down for a conversation.

“There were probably 300 people around us, and it was just like we were sitting in a coffee shop, sharing our lives. It was beautiful,” she said.

Bellina, a seminarian with Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Iowa, said she had just returned home to her three teenage daughters six days earlier from a mission trip to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina when she received a phone call from the Red Cross.

“I looked at my kids when I got the call and said ‘This is up to you. Do you want me to go or do you want me to stay?’ They all three teared up and said ‘You’ve got to go,'” she said.

Bellina said she is extremely grateful for the support of her children and her church, Third Presbyterian in Uniontown.

While she planned to return to Uniontown soon, “I’ll never be the same,” she said. “And neither will they.”