Diane Roberts:  

This is a copy of an article that was recently written about me and tells my story better than I could... On the surface, Diane Roberts would appear to be an unlikely volunteer. The (mostly) Atlanta native is no stranger to a life in the fast lane. For twenty years she managed nightclubs in Atlanta, Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale among others. A single lady, Roberts was a familiar fixture in the club scene. In 2001, Diane made a momentous conversion. In lieu of what she describes as her "hedonistic lifestyle" she decided to dedicate her life to helping other people. The commitment began with a promise made to her mother on her deathbed. She then put herself through undergraduate school, graduating with a 4.0 average, completed graduate school and obtained certification as a professional in human resources. She spent six years working as the Director of Administrative Services for the Alzheimer's Association, Georgia Chapter. In April of 2008, Diane decided to volunteer for the American Red Cross. Since then, Ms. Roberts has participated in two major disaster operations ¿ the Central Georgia Tornadoes and the Iowa Tornado and Floods. She called upon decades of experience which allowed her to "think well on her feet and to work well with people of all backgrounds". In Iowa, Diane served as Lead Supervisor for Shelter Outreach where she led a team of caseworkers including C. J. Perry, Trina Diedrich, Diane Brummett, Charles Wilson and Peggy Zeller (self-named Roberts' Rangers) in providing relief to residents of four shelters in Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Johnson County. Among the drenched cornfields of America's heartland, far from the urban club culture, Diane was on the road in Iowa and Western Illinois for 30 days, serving flood victims in their most desperate moments. For ARC, this was a Level 7 response, the biggest since Hurricane Katrina. No disaster response is ever the same. They are all unique events that require special attention and a great deal of flexibility, both on the part of the ARC workers and the agencies assisting in the disaster areas. These abilities allow workers to respond quickly and to serve appropriately to minimize human suffering as much as possible. Roberts' Rangers found themselves in a very unique situation at one particularly challenging shelter, Viola Gibson. All of the residents had been flooded out of either a homeless shelter, a domestic violence shelter, one of two HUD towers or the city jail, which the prisoners were led out in waist deep water, chained together in the middle of the night. The majority of these residents had some form of disability, whether mental or physical. From her diary she writes. "We touched base with all the clients of all shelters on a daily basis trying to help them plan their next moves, but VG residents were fairly paralyzed, uncommunicative and with very limited options available to them. My team quickly gained the residents¿ trust (and) moved into advocacy mode with a new member, Paula Farrales. We contacted Partner Services and got HUD and FEMA involved. We also arranged a few Angel Flights to various parts of the country. We advocated on behalf of the clients with Aging Services and the Abbey Center (for Mental Health) as well. Still, there were about forty residents left with no means of finding a way out of the shelter. The head of the DR arranged a meeting with Linn County Mental Health, the Iowa Department of Health, HUD, the Abbey Center, Aging Services and the Red Cross (which I attended). At this poi...Expand for more