Jeffersonville house explosion victim says the Red Cross left her in the dark
- May 24, 2019 Updated May 24, 2019
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) — At a time when some victims of the Jeffersonville house explosion were dazed and homeless, one woman said the Red Cross left her in the dark.
Charlotte Glover lived three houses down from the one that exploded Sunday morning. Physically, she was OK. But mentally it left her in a daze.
“I didn’t know where I was going, what I was going to do. I was just left out in the cold,” she said Friday. “Seeing it, it’s just mind boggling. You just don’t know what to say or what to do.”
While the Red Cross opened a reception center Sunday and Monday for families affected, Glover said she never heard from them after she had signed up.
“A couple of the clients that have been served, they weren’t communicated with where to go,” said Paul Stensrud with the homeless outreach group Exit 0.
It took others in the community like Exit 0, Park Memorial United Methodist Church, Jeffersonville Township Trustee Dale Popp and others getting involved to help get her needs and getting her into a hotel room paid for by Vectren.
“There was a lot of communication breakdown,” Stensrud said.
Exit 0 got involved with Glover after learning other needs weren’t being met. The group provided clothing and toiletries and worked with local agencies to get her in a new apartment after her hotel stay.
“After those five days, her next step would have been in a shelter until she would have been able to find something on her own,” Stensrud said.
The Red Cross said its disaster relief employees have been working with families all week and meeting their needs.
“If there were additional people that did not have lodging at this point, effective today, then the Red Cross provided them financial assistance to continue hotel stays through the weekend,” said Amber Youngblood, senior communications director the for the Louisville Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Stensrud said there needs to be a better job of following up on case work, because people like Glover could have been homeless after already going through a tumultuous week.
“I can see the light at the end of the day,” Glover said.