It was March 2002 and Navy veteran Mike Peoples was getting a tour of an American Red Cross facility, mainly just so he could get a couple of persistent staffers off his back. Little did he realize that it would be that day – March 22, 2002 – that he says the Red Cross saved his life.
“I was broken,” he said, reflecting on those days a couple of decades ago. But since then, his full-time volunteer work has helped to make him whole again. He works with veterans and Red Cross staffers to create meaningful, healthy programs that can help others feel whole again, too.
Being part of an organization, he says, can help get you out of your funk.
He knows that first-hand. Peoples spoke on Tuesday’s Town Talk with John C. Rose and guest co-host Phyllis Maynard to share his experiences as a veteran and as a Red Cross volunteer.
Peoples said he missed out on an overseas station assignment because of some physical problems that ultimately resulted in him having several back and knee surgeries. He was in a body cast for two and a half years, he said.
He was discharged from the Navy, and had to live with his parents because he physically couldn’t manage by himself.
“I was in a pretty dark place,” he recalled.
In an effort to help her son, Peoples said his mother “schemed up this idea with a local board she was on.” It was at these board meetings of a housing improvement program that he met a couple of folks from the Red Cross.
Topics like building resiliency and preparedness in the community were right up his alley, Peoples said, and it didn’t take long for him to raise his hand to contribute to the conversation. “I felt sorta, kinda, close to my old self,” he said. One of the Red Cross reps approached him after a meeting and said, “you know, the Red Cross really likes military folks. Come be our disaster chairman and our disaster action team coordinator.”
He protested, saying that his daily doctor visits and physical therapy six days a week would interfere with his ability to do a job. “They were persistent,” Peoples said. He was floored when, during the tour, one of the staffers pulled a key ring full of keys out of her desk and gave them to Peoples. “We made you a set of keys because we know that you’ll have to come and go” on your own schedule,” he said.
He is the Central Atlantic Division’s hospital recovery veterans and caregiver services lead, and supports Red Cross personnel primarily in hospitals. There are volunteers and programs in VA hospitals, medical facilities and Department of Defense medical facilities. “I support the folks on the ground, building capacity, programming, and executing those program and making sure they’re executing healthy programs for the military-connected communities.”
He also serves on the disaster cycle services side of things, reconnecting people who have been separated by disaster.
Another program he helped roll out, designated by the VA as a signature program for the Red Cross, pairs volunteers with veteran patients. A check-in by phone to make sure the person on the other end is doing ok can be a lifesaver. Literally.
“I’ve made a phone call and I’ve taken a phone call,” Peoples said.
He knows what it feels like to be broken and in a dark place. And he also knows that those feelings can be temporary.
Watch the Youtube video featuring Peoples here: https://youtu.be/QkWj6SCfYhM