The Red Nose Response presence at Umpqua Community College on Monday, October 12 came together quickly.
After having been alerted to the October 1 shootings by East Coast RNR colleagues Paul Kleinberger and Barbara Bird, I turned on CNN, then immediately reached out to a long-time personal and professional friend at UCC, 125 miles down I-5 from his home in Salem, Oregon. This became very personal very quickly when I found out that her office was in the same hall where the shootings took place, and it was only by happenstance that she was out of the office that morning.
Not really knowing how many local RNR and clown resources might respond, I offered assistance and involvement in any kind of effort that could benefit from the gentle humor, compassion, caring, and laughter that a clown – or the heart of a clown, for that matter – could add. I was then given contact information for the student activities director at UCC.
While re-extending the offer to help, I provided some background on Red Nose Response. I noted that RNR was a not-for-profit charity that grew out of the Hurricane Katrina devastation ten years ago, and has since responded to community needs in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings and the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, as well as smaller scale, local disasters. Numbering over 1100 clowns across the country, I explained that RNR was essentially a network of third-level responders, plugging in their talents and caring hearts wherever and whenever needed, and that there were a handful of Red Nose folks ready to respond to the call in the Northwest (I thought).
The UCC mass shootings, as well as the resulting community grief, had stirred up immense feelings of horror, sadness, shock, and an outpouring of compassion in the caring clown community in the Northwest and across the nation through the Red Nose Response network. RNR stood ready to help and offer gifts of humor and laughter and soft assistance if any efforts in the UCC community needed or wanted them. On behalf of RNR, I said “We care.”
Initially, the response was “thank you for the offer, but not at this time.” But on Friday afternoon, October 9, after suggesting how RNR could help welcome students and staff back to campus on Monday, October 12, UCC invited RNR’s participation. RNR would be there to welcome people back and greet them with hugs, smiles, and paper napkin roses (but no balloons, fearing possible popping and adverse reactions, and not in clown costume, since the time wasn’t right for that).
So . . . two days to pull together an RNR response. Appeals were made through the RNR Facebook page and the Rose City Clown Alley in Portland, but on such short notice and because it was a week day, no other responders were able or available to help out. I flew solo that day in uncharted territory, since it was my first opportunity to be an RNR responder. But, the efforts were well received and appreciated. I had done what I could to represent Red Nose Response, a network of caring clowns who "send smiles to the rescue" and bring the heart of the clown into relief and healing efforts in communities dealing with disasters or catastrophes.
What can be learned from the RNR response to the tragedy at Umpqua Community College? For a first-time responder like I was, pretty much EVERYTHING, from readiness and communication, to networking and appropriate soft assistance.
From that experience in Roseburg, it seems that at least four pieces are essential in responding to this kind of human tragedy. This first experience both as an RNR responder and as someone taking the lead on mobilizing and coordinating an RNR response was certainly intense.
Here are four critical pieces to an RNR response:
1. Contact/communication with someone (or an agency) close to the situation.
This contact can keep you informed, guide you through the maelstrom of information, reactions, emotions, and activities already taking place, connect you with an appropriate event/response coordinator, help determine RNR response appropriateness, and advocate for your involvement and efforts.
2. Awareness/understanding of situation and range of responses already taking place.
This builds empathy and compassion, and helps guide your suggestions, design, and determination of (an) appropriate response(s).
3. Contact, communication, resource assessment, and mobilizing other RNR responders.
Someone from RNR in the area should take the lead and serve as the liaison and coordinator between the site/responding agency and the potential RNR volunteers. Planning, response, and support can occur as a group among other RNR responders within the area/community affected by the event. Skills of the resource pool of RNR responders, preparedness (is that ‘grab-and-go bag’ always ready?), willingness, and availability must be considered. A tragic event, and the need or time frame to respond, can occur without a lot of lead time, so being ready and being able to communicate and mobilize quickly and efficiently could be critical to providing needed support and an appropriate RNR response.
4. Appropriate response(s) that are coordinated and invited by someone close to the situation.
What you do and when you do it is critical, and being invited to participate within the context of an appropriate RNR response is far more effective than well-meaning ‘fools rushing in.’
Considering these four elements will help your mind, body, and soul to be prepared to deliver an appropriate Red Nose Response when you're called. And you’ll know when you’re called.
After having been alerted to the October 1 shootings by East Coast RNR colleagues Paul Kleinberger and Barbara Bird, I turned on CNN, then immediately reached out to a long-time personal and professional friend at UCC, 125 miles down I-5 from his home in Salem, Oregon. This became very personal very quickly when I found out that her office was in the same hall where the shootings took place, and it was only by happenstance that she was out of the office that morning.
Not really knowing how many local RNR and clown resources might respond, I offered assistance and involvement in any kind of effort that could benefit from the gentle humor, compassion, caring, and laughter that a clown – or the heart of a clown, for that matter – could add. I was then given contact information for the student activities director at UCC.
While re-extending the offer to help, I provided some background on Red Nose Response. I noted that RNR was a not-for-profit charity that grew out of the Hurricane Katrina devastation ten years ago, and has since responded to community needs in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings and the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, as well as smaller scale, local disasters. Numbering over 1100 clowns across the country, I explained that RNR was essentially a network of third-level responders, plugging in their talents and caring hearts wherever and whenever needed, and that there were a handful of Red Nose folks ready to respond to the call in the Northwest (I thought).
The UCC mass shootings, as well as the resulting community grief, had stirred up immense feelings of horror, sadness, shock, and an outpouring of compassion in the caring clown community in the Northwest and across the nation through the Red Nose Response network. RNR stood ready to help and offer gifts of humor and laughter and soft assistance if any efforts in the UCC community needed or wanted them. On behalf of RNR, I said “We care.”
Initially, the response was “thank you for the offer, but not at this time.” But on Friday afternoon, October 9, after suggesting how RNR could help welcome students and staff back to campus on Monday, October 12, UCC invited RNR’s participation. RNR would be there to welcome people back and greet them with hugs, smiles, and paper napkin roses (but no balloons, fearing possible popping and adverse reactions, and not in clown costume, since the time wasn’t right for that).
So . . . two days to pull together an RNR response. Appeals were made through the RNR Facebook page and the Rose City Clown Alley in Portland, but on such short notice and because it was a week day, no other responders were able or available to help out. I flew solo that day in uncharted territory, since it was my first opportunity to be an RNR responder. But, the efforts were well received and appreciated. I had done what I could to represent Red Nose Response, a network of caring clowns who "send smiles to the rescue" and bring the heart of the clown into relief and healing efforts in communities dealing with disasters or catastrophes.
What can be learned from the RNR response to the tragedy at Umpqua Community College? For a first-time responder like I was, pretty much EVERYTHING, from readiness and communication, to networking and appropriate soft assistance.
From that experience in Roseburg, it seems that at least four pieces are essential in responding to this kind of human tragedy. This first experience both as an RNR responder and as someone taking the lead on mobilizing and coordinating an RNR response was certainly intense.
Here are four critical pieces to an RNR response:
1. Contact/communication with someone (or an agency) close to the situation.
This contact can keep you informed, guide you through the maelstrom of information, reactions, emotions, and activities already taking place, connect you with an appropriate event/response coordinator, help determine RNR response appropriateness, and advocate for your involvement and efforts.
2. Awareness/understanding of situation and range of responses already taking place.
This builds empathy and compassion, and helps guide your suggestions, design, and determination of (an) appropriate response(s).
3. Contact, communication, resource assessment, and mobilizing other RNR responders.
Someone from RNR in the area should take the lead and serve as the liaison and coordinator between the site/responding agency and the potential RNR volunteers. Planning, response, and support can occur as a group among other RNR responders within the area/community affected by the event. Skills of the resource pool of RNR responders, preparedness (is that ‘grab-and-go bag’ always ready?), willingness, and availability must be considered. A tragic event, and the need or time frame to respond, can occur without a lot of lead time, so being ready and being able to communicate and mobilize quickly and efficiently could be critical to providing needed support and an appropriate RNR response.
4. Appropriate response(s) that are coordinated and invited by someone close to the situation.
What you do and when you do it is critical, and being invited to participate within the context of an appropriate RNR response is far more effective than well-meaning ‘fools rushing in.’
Considering these four elements will help your mind, body, and soul to be prepared to deliver an appropriate Red Nose Response when you're called. And you’ll know when you’re called.
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