March 28, 2025 • 36 mins
What drives someone to rush toward disasters while others flee? For Emily Mew, Director of Emergency Disaster Services for The Salvation Army Massachusetts Division, it's about creating order in chaos and offering compassion when it's needed most.
Having spent over a decade with The Salvation Army and four years working with children in Nicaragua, Emily brings extraordinary perspective to disaster response. From her first deployment to Hurricane Harvey with less than 24 hours' notice to walking through earthquake-damaged communities in Puerto Rico where families slept in tents outside their homes for fear of aftershocks, Emily shares what happens behind the scenes when tragedy strikes.
"You're not anticipating what re-entry is going to be like until it's happening to you," Emily explains, revealing the emotional complexity responders face when returning home after witnessing communities in crisis. This "ministry of presence" - simply being there in someone's darkest moment - forms the foundation of effective disaster response.
The episode opens with a humorous yet relatable parenting challenge as co-host Nate discovers his young son has made nearly $60 in unauthorized Amazon in-app purchases, prompting nostalgic reflections on how technology and responsibility have evolved since the days of Tamagotchis.
Whether you're curious about emergency response, considering disaster volunteer work, or simply want to understand how faith communities mobilize during crises, this conversation offers rare insights into the people who run toward trouble rather than away from it. Subscribe now and join our new segment exploring Jesus's farewell message in John 14-17.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
all right, everyone, welcome back to the plugged in
podcast.
This is episode number 24.
Hard to believe that we are 24episodes into this uh adventure,
uh, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're recording on saint patrick's day yeah, you
guys are wearing some shade ofgreen, we are this is the best
shade of green that we've got inour closet.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm not.
I'm rolling with all black.
I don't even think I knew itwas St Patrick's Day until I got
to work.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
You are at a funeral.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
You know our last episode.
I feel like we entered Marchand I put on the green colors in
the background.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I was like oh, we're.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
It is strong.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's a strong green it plummeted our numbers like we
can't do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We can't do that again.
We have to try and come backfrom that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Nate, you got something for us today.
Oh man, I have a rant today.
Okay let's hear it.
If anyone knows me, they knowthat one of the things that
really, like I get frustratedabout is spending unnecessary
money.
Yep, this is true.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I am a cheapskate and I will go out of my way to not
spend.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
If you listen to the last episode, he was basing his
rankings for March fatness.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, five guys.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Too expensive, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So this morning this is my routine.
After I like get up go to thebathroom.
I check my bank account everyday to see if like any
ridiculous charge just likeposted to my account.
And today I saw four ridiculouscharges on my account 1593,
1593, 1593 734.
(01:35):
Is this from your wife?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
no, no, this is not from my wife.
I mean, it's a natural question.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's a natural question, other heinsman.
No, we, we talk like we have agreat cooperative.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
You know financial agreement like we work together
cooperative financial agreementI ask.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I ask if I can spend.
That's how we cooperate.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
We work on it but um, yeah, yeah, this came from the
one and only our son, oh jackson.
His first purchase ever no, nothis first, unfortunately, this
has become a pattern ofdestructive behavior.
So he has a Amazon Fire tabletOkay, and most of the time he
only gets to use it when we'reon long car rides, you know
(02:13):
traveling on a Sunday or we'reroad tripping or whatever,
because you know if he could beon all day he would, yeah, and
we try to limit that, sure.
And so he loves playingdifferent games.
Has a like a plethora of gameson this amazon kids account.
However, amazon, my rant isreally against amazon.
They make it impossible for youto I don't know, block in-app
(02:35):
purchases or to prevent thestore from popping up.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
They, they fish at kids knowing that they're just
going to click any button forthe next game.
Last month he spent about 70dollars, yeah, so we went in and
we took all the in-apppurchases off we did what we
could.
The problem is he likes towatch kids youtube, which you
can't watch on the kids account,so he was.
He was on like my account okay,just linked to prime yeah then
(02:59):
he just spent another like like60 bucks we're at like close to
200 dollars.
It's amazing and like and one ofthem was, just like this
princess game, 15 bucks.
I said jackson, what are youhe's like, he's like.
You have to get her like youhave.
She has to like race throughthese different like clothing
items she has to race and getthe right clothes on so that, so
that the boy will marry her.
I'm like what I was so angry soI did some internet sleuthing
(03:24):
this morning and blocked myaccount now, so you can't do it.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
As soon as you started telling this story, I
was like Jeff Bezos somewhere islike this was the plan.
This was the plan, and here weare, and this is why he's like a
trillionaire.
Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Because of little five-year-old kids that are
buying apps every day.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The worst part was like nate got up and started his
morning routine.
I was still laying in bed justwaking up.
Jackson had come in and was waskind of barely awake.
He was just kind of layingthere.
Nate charges out of thebathroom and is just like have
it again and I'm just like likeso jackson.
So jackson shoots out of bedand he's like I'm sorry, daddy,
(04:02):
I didn't buy anything withnumbers, it just had words.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh, my goodness.
So I was like Nate, you need tojust calm down We'll talk about
this when we are vertical andawake At some point, he's going
to buy something that overdraftsyour account.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He's on a good trend for it.
Yeah, he's going to have like a$3,000.
Yeah, buy a new iPhone.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
We're going on vacation next month and I keep
telling him Jackson, if you keepbuying these things, we can't
go on vacation.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
He's like Dad are we not able to go on vacation
anymore?
Then I felt guilty.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I don't want to put fear into him.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He said are you going to leave me behind when you go
on vacation?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I was like you need to turn this around.
I need to tone it down a bit.
I get a little bit too intensesometimes.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You don't want to hear that at like 7.15 in the
morning but that was me today,wow.
That's crazy, like when you'reat the store and you're like
buying kids toys like you cantell I mean I feel like your
eyes don't really open to thisuntil you're a parent but you
see like, oh, they don't maketoys that are like you know,
(05:06):
they don't make it by accidentthat you can purchase like oh,
here's how you swipe your creditcard, or like there's that cash
register machine Like no.
this is made by a for profitcompany that wants you to.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It's probably sponsored by MasterCard or you
know, but no, that's a big bucksbehind a real men young man.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, Strategically they're probably.
I mean, that's like it's awhole different world.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah but now the app that pops up and it's like you
can continue playing with tomthe cat and you can get him a
new hat for 15 and it's like why?
Yes, I do want to do.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It's just too easy we had tamagotchis when we were
kids right, and it's like youclean up their poop and you feed
them, but you're not makingin-app purchases this is
basically, this is basically thetamagotchi of 2025, because
it's like, oh, if you want tomthe cat to survive, you need to
pay for this yeah, no, when, tom.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Just a quick side story.
I can't believe you brought uptamagotchis millennials, baby
let's go.
No, I like have distinctmemories of first of all, like
everyone had them yeah to yourbelt, yeah, belt loop but I
distinctly remember, like oncethey got banned from my school.
Yep, like you had to have a realconversation with your mom that
was like, hey, I have to leavethis at home, but if you don't
(06:12):
like relieve it, let it go tothe bathroom.
It's going to die.
Like mom, can you take care ofmy Tamagotchi?
And like I'm just trying toimagine myself in that situation
now.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
The ridiculousness.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yes, are you serious, mom?
You need to feed, like.
Here's my tamagotchi.
Take him to work with you.
I'm not allowed.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, I have an embarrassing tamagotchi story.
Okay, I'm here for it.
I borrowed a friend'stamagotchi on the bus and I want
to take care of it.
Yeah, I dropped it in thetoilet at my house, nice, and
then I had to pretend to myfriend that I just lost.
I lost it because I didn't wantto admit to him that I dropped
it in the toilet and it died.
I ended up like reimbursing himReimbursing your parents, my
(06:50):
parents paid some money to him,but I just didn't want him to
know that I dropped it in thetoilet.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Now, he knows.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Now it's out there.
Public record.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I have to imagine that somewhere like our parents
had a conversation that was justlike well, I mean, it's
teaching them responsibility.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, Like you know anyways.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Well, hilarious, okay , good start.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, episode number 24 of the Plugged.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
In Podcast.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
We do have a really strong episode for you today.
In just a minute we're going towelcome a special guest.
We're bringing in Emily Mew,who is the Director of Emergency
Disaster Services for theSalvation Army Massachusetts
Division.
Now I don't know Emily thatwell personally, but from my
interactions with herprofessionally over the years I
can say she is the kindestperson with the biggest heart.
(07:35):
She cares about people and I'mreally excited to ask her some
questions about emergencydisaster work here in the
Massachusetts Division.
And I'm almost stunned that shedidn't cancel on us today
because as far as when werecorded this this weekend,
there were deadly tornadoes thatkind of ripped across the South
.
(07:55):
So I'm curious to hear if sheknows if the Salvation Army is
being mobilized in the South andif sometimes they draw in major
disasters, they'll draw fromteams in the South, and if
sometimes they draw in majordisasters, they'll draw from
teams in the North.
So I'm just curious to see if,if, uh, if she may get deployed.
So that's going to be a greatinterview and then, uh, at the
back half, the back end of ourpodcast.
(08:15):
So we're going to start a newsegment today and as we lead
into oh, you smiled Cause youdid, you think I was going into
March fatness.
I thought you were going intoMarch Fatness.
I wasn't, I wasn't, I forgot allabout it.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
He was ready.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
No, we're going to continue our bracket with March
Fatness.
We have an update for thevoting that took place on
Instagram at MassYouth, so we'llupdate our listeners with that,
and we'll do that while Emilyis here.
Right, but in the latter halfof our podcast today, we're
starting a new segment that'sgoing to lead us into the Easter
season and there is a Biblestudy that we're going to focus
(08:47):
on.
That's called Jesus's farewellmessage, and so this is done by
Francis Chan and it's on rightnow media.
So if you're a salvation armycore officer, uh, listening to
this podcast, you have access toright now media for free.
There's a subscription that'spaid for you.
So if you're interested in goingthrough this with us, uh, with
people in your core, it's a veryinteresting study.
(09:09):
And I will say, um, for someoneI like to think like, uh,
cinematically.
I like to think kind of like onEpic proportions, like when I
read the red letters of theBible and know that Jesus is
speaking.
I hear like the slow pace inhis voice, or I hear like the
pad of music underneath it thatprovides that like intensity.
You know what I'm talking aboutmaybe in the post production
(09:31):
I'll put a pad to my words rightnow, just so it can provide
some gravitas.
but Francis Chan, he has somevideos and he talks about.
When you're reading thispassage, we're going to be
looking at John 14 through 17.
He says take yourself to aplace that no one can find you,
(09:52):
because the weightiness of thewords of Jesus this is the last
thing that he says to hisdisciples and, by extension, to
us before he leaves earth andthe weight of what he has to say
is so crucial, so consequential, so massive that it's not
something that you can justgloss over or just read, but you
need to be alone, you need tomeditate, you need to be
(10:15):
connected to God.
When you hear these words, whenyou read them, it's also I can
save this for later but I alsofound it really challenging,
because you're like readingJesus' words and I felt like a
disciple, where half the timeI'm like, okay, I get that, and
then the other half I'm justlike what does that mean?
Yeah, exactly Like what are youreally saying?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
And show us yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And the disciples have those questions.
So if you're curious, stickaround all the way to the end of
the podcast.
We're going to break this intotwo segments.
Yep, so today we're startingJesus's farewell message.
Well, we're going to take aquick break here on the Plugged
In Podcast, episode number 24.
And when we come back we'llhave Emergency Disaster Services
(10:59):
.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Director Emily Mew, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
All right.
Welcome back to episode number24 of the Plugged In Podcast we
are recording this time.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Oh good.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
We just had a little snafu with our Should have been
here five minutes ago.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
everyone I know.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I'm going to redo all the jokes now.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
You had the most amazing things in those five
minutes and you lost it.
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So, like I always say , our production budget it's not
low.
It's not low, but it's also nothigh.
It's not low but it's also nothigh.
So, anyways, well, we are here,episode 24.
None of the listeners know whatwe're talking about, but we are
here with a special guest today.
In just a minute, we're goingto fill you in on our March
fatness bracket, but before wedo, we want to welcome to the
studio, which you're familiarwith, emily Mew, who is the
(11:46):
Emergency Disaster ServicesDirector for the Salvation Army
Massachusetts Division.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Welcome to the podcast, Emily.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Thank you there it is Not at that time.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
There it is.
Second time's a charm.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, Emily, we're happy to have you on the show
today.
We'd like to know, and for ourlisteners to know, kind of your
story.
How did you come to yourposition?
Why do you work for theSalvation Army?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
What does a day in your life look like Sure?
So, as I was, saying the lasttime we started this
conversation before we wererecording.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I'm not going to live this one down.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
No, I just said that there's no sort of like crazy
story of how I got here prior toand I've been here for about 11
years or going on 12.
That's incredible, and I'veworked in two different
departments here.
I started in service extensionand, for those who don't know,
that's a department that doessocial services outside of the
(12:40):
core area, so the core havetheir catchment areas and their
towns and then across the restof the state is service
extension, and so I would workwith volunteers, recruit
volunteers to provide servicesthrough the Salvation Army.
Prior to that, I had been doingsocial services mostly in my
(13:00):
life, working with kids andteens, some of who had
behavioral issues, and then Iwent to grad school for public
policy and administrationbecause I wanted to change the
systems that I had been workingin.
After grad school I ended uptraveling and actually moved to
(13:23):
Nicaragua.
So I lived in Nicaragua forfour years Wow, yeah, four years
Met somebody, got married whileI was in Nicaragua and then got
pregnant and decided I did notwant.
And while I was there I wasworking with kind of the kids
living on the streets.
(13:44):
So the kids who you know inother countries.
Kids aren't mandated to go toschool all the time, so their
parents, who are living inextreme poverty, sometimes send
them out to the streets to sellstuff or to just work and bring
money back to the household.
And we were trying to get thosekids into school.
(14:06):
So that was what I was doingdown there.
But when I got pregnant Idecided I was living in an area
that didn't have good healthcare and I decided I did not
want to give birth in that area.
So I started looking for a joband landed the job in service
(14:26):
extension.
Wow, it's the Salvation Armyhere in Massachusetts.
And going a little bit fartherback, my father was a
firefighter and he used to ringthe bell for the Salvation Army
years ago, and so I obviouslyknew a little bit about the army
(14:48):
, but like most people, I knew avery tiny amount.
So I applied to this job thatwas mostly because it was like
social service stuff and then Ilearned all of the amazing
things that the army does.
And here I am, 12 years later,in a different position because
(15:09):
I ended up getting involved inthe emergency disaster piece.
So out in Western Mass I livein Western Massachusetts.
So I was out there We'd hadsome big fires.
I started working with Chris,who was my predecessor, started
responding to some of those bigfires and realized this is this
(15:29):
is it, this is what I want to do, um, and then when this
position opened up, I applied umand I had already, before that,
been deployed.
So I actually my first majordeployment, um and when I say
deployment it's a two weekperiod uh was to hurricane
Harvey in Houston.
Wow, so that really opened upmy eyes to what the EDS
(15:54):
department does here and reallygot me excited about that type
of work or this type of workthat I now do.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I remember the visuals from Hurricane Harvey
and it was, like you know,highway overpasses in Houston
that were underwater.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
That was a huge, huge thing.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, so you said your, your dad was a firefighter
, yep, and so your family has ahistory of of helping people, or
just, uh, I said before youcame out, I told you you were
saying all good things, um, youhave a huge heart, you're
extremely kind, you have a hugeheart.
Was there like a, like, a, aturning point or a moment in
your life where you're like I, Iwant to help people?
(16:34):
Or you said you went to schoolto change the systems, Like, was
there any kind of like?
I don't know, that's a veryspecific question, but was there
a turning point where you werelike I want to do this, I want
to help people?
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Well, I don't know about a turning point.
I mean I feel like I always did, I always, even in high school
and college.
I mean in college like I ranthe local chapter of the Habitat
for Humanity and so you know acouple spring break trips like
(17:04):
we took week trips down south tobuild homes, homes, and I did a
.
I actually did a like a medicaltrip and also one of my spring
breaks to, and I was liketranslating.
I wasn't in the medical fieldbecause I was only in college,
(17:24):
but I had studied Spanish andand so went with this local, you
know local doctors.
It wasn't it wasn't DoctorsWithout Borders, but one of
those types, something like that, yeah.
Something like that and wentdown and I remember translating
for the physical therapist.
So I was like in this room andyou know, my Spanish was not
super great as a college student, it's still amazing but I was
(17:44):
like I could figure it out, yeah, so like doing those sorts of
things just early on, I guess,was sort of always been what
I've done.
And I don't know, maybe I gotit from my dad, but I remember a
story he told me years agoabout like going and running
into a burning building andpulling out a baby.
You know, like saving a baby'slife was like the moment for him
(18:06):
as a firefighter.
And maybe I, you know, I neverstrangely.
Maybe it's because back then,like women, didn't really go
into firefighter, um, and maybeI, you know, wanted I never.
Strangely, maybe it's causeback then, like women, didn't
really go into firefighting, um,it didn't really cross my mind
to become a firefighter.
But maybe figuring it, figuringout other ways to help, was.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, I mean we've talked on the podcast before
about having generationalinfluences on us whether we know
it or not, you know having itbe there, modeled for us, has an
impact on your life, um in yourcurrent position here at the
Salvation Army.
What does a normal day looklike?
And then what does like themost chaotic day?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
look like yeah, and it can really vary, it goes back
and forth.
A normal day would be mesitting at my computer, just
like everybody else's day, youknow, like making connections,
planning meetings, figuring outyou know an event that's coming
up.
And then a chaotic day would beactually just like yesterday.
(19:00):
Fresh off a chaotic day, it wasa Sunday, I just said to.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Loretta, I'm almost surprised that you didn't cancel
on us today based on thetornadoes that went through
yesterday.
So I don't know if any of ourteams are being deployed, or
because I know sometimes we getpulled down to other areas.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Yeah, not yet.
That doesn't mean yes, we'll go.
It doesn't mean no, we won't.
The southern territory has apretty solid EDS response.
They have way more people thanwe do up here.
They have way more capacity,way more money.
They've got money and theyreach out when they don't have
(19:44):
what you know like.
The most recent was thehurricanes, obviously Hurricane
Helene and Milton.
They reached out, which wasactually surprising, because
that's the first time in a longtime that they have requested so
many personnel so quickly, Ithink, since 9-11, if I'm not
mistaken.
So no, we haven't been requestedyet.
(20:05):
I don't know if we will.
So I don't want to make itsound like, yeah, I'm just
waiting and we will, becausethey may be able to handle it.
But yesterday there was a bigfire in Boston.
Yeah, it was an eight alarmfire and it was a Sunday morning
and of course all of ourofficers are about to go do
(20:25):
church and and it's the daybefore Thanksgiving, the day
before St Patrick's Day, whereeverything is closed.
It was not.
It was a plant of some sortlike a trash receptacle plant,
so there was no displaced,thankfully.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
There's a lot of the parade was yesterday, right?
I mean there's a lot of likeBoston Police Department Fire
Department involved in thatparade.
I don't know if it wasyesterday or I don't know what
day.
The parade was yesterday, right?
I mean there's a lot of likeBoston Police Department, fire
Department, correct.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Involved in that parade.
I don't know if it wasyesterday or I don't know what
day the parade was or was, butyeah, I mean I was.
I had a day planned because itwas a Sunday.
I was driving down to New Havenand I'm like trying to call
everybody as I'm driving with mykids, I'm late for where I'm
going, coordinating with mydeputy, trying to figure out
like who's going to go, you know, and who's available, and
(21:15):
nobody's available and nobody'sanswering their phones, and it
ended up not being our bestresponse ever, but we did have a
presence and we, we did get acanteen there and we did make
some lunches but, um, you know,we don't always, we don't always
rise to the needs, um, as theyare, but we do what we can and
(21:36):
we put pieces together and wefigure out, figure it out, um
can you give our listeners likea brief overview of that process
, like who calls you, who's yourfirst call when we do get a
team there?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Like what exactly is happening?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Sure, I mean it can be a.
It can be a number of ways, soit's not always the same
step-by-step process.
Sure, yesterday I heard aboutthe fire because I get alerts on
my phone.
So I reached out to a partneragency called the Boston Sparks.
They are a fire rehaborganization and they work with
(22:12):
Boston Fire directly and a lotof the surrounding towns and
they go to every single fire andtheir primary job is to provide
food and hydration to the firstresponders.
So sometimes we're not neededbecause they've got it covered
and they have enough resourcesand it's a smaller fire and if
there's no displaced then youknow it's not always necessary
(22:35):
for us to go.
But if it's a building of ahundred people and we can go and
provide food and hydration andemotional and spiritual care to
the people displaced, we mightshow up on scene and do that,
working alongside the Red Crossor other agencies.
Or whether it's the cityemergency management or a local
(22:55):
community center that wants tohelp out, we'll partner with
them on the ground and we'llwork with them on getting food
and resources to the people thatare displaced.
So yesterday I reached out tothe Boston Sparks.
At first they were like we'reall set, we're good, and then 20
minutes later, as sometimeshappens, you get one answer and
(23:16):
then 20 minutes later or fiveminutes later, everything's
different.
And then actually they calledand they were like actually get
a team together, we'll need you,and so I had already called my
people off, and so then callingthem back and to you know, to be
like it's happening it'shappening, I'm sorry and and
that's one of the hardest thingsfor some of our volunteers to
(23:38):
understand, because they theywant, you know, they want
answers and they want time yeah.
And they, if they're going togo, they want to go.
If they're not, then you've gotto tell them no.
But sometimes you have to like.
There's this like period ofwaiting where you don't know,
and they don't know and they'regetting frustrated.
And you know we're trying tokeep that balance of like okay.
Well, it's a disaster scene.
(23:59):
Things are shifting at it, youknow, minute by minute.
So, just try and be patient andthat's kind of how yesterday,
when it was a little bit chaoticbecause of that.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I'm sure in your training of volunteers you're
probably telling them disastersaren't on a schedule.
Exactly, absolutely, and Ialways tell them.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I say they will happen on Sunday mornings, they
will happen on Thanksgiving 100%, every year there's a big fire
on Thanksgiving, um, and itmeans, you know, having to pull
away from your family.
You know, you know we'll, we'llwork with what we have.
And you know, some people wedon't make anybody go.
If they can't go, they can't go.
But we'll, you know, we'll,make a lot of phone calls and
(24:36):
try to figure out a plan B and aplan C and a plan.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Z.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
All the way down.
My dad, before he was in thecurrent role that he's in, he
worked in EDS at territoriallevel, but he responded to like,
like the 9-11 situation.
So my question for you is isthere or has there been like a
specific disaster that you'veresponded to or that you've been
(25:02):
involved in, maybe deployed toum, that was either like really
powerful or meaningful to you insome way?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yeah, they all are.
Yeah, that's true, I would saymy first one, though was which
was Hurricane Harvey.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
And I went down terrified because of one.
I didn't even work in thisdepartment yet.
Right, you know, I was inservice extension and they sent
me down as liaison and Iremember like and I tell this
story a lot, this is a storythat I share with volunteers to
kind of help them ease theirminds a little bit that I went
(25:41):
down knowing, feeling like Iknew absolutely nothing, like
they sent me out to this EOC,which is emergency operations,
to figure out what was going onin one of the like outer
counties of Houston.
And I get there and I'm bymyself and I'm the only
Salvation Army rep and they giveme a desk and they're like here
(26:04):
, this is where you're going towork.
And I sat there and I was likefor two hours I was like Chris
made, chris made a mistake, ohmy goodness I shouldn't be here?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Um, and I'm like opening my computer, like what
should I do?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Right, where do I start?
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah, exactly, and this was literally probably
three days after the hurricanehit.
So, and I got sent with lessthan 24 hours notice.
So I got a call oh my goodness,are you ready to go, can you go
?
And I was like, oh sure, lessthan 24 hours later I was on a
flight, that's insane.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And then I was there for two weeks.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
So, in any case, I was there, sitting there and
finally got up the courage tostart talking to people and
realized nobody else, knewNobody else.
(27:03):
They were all like professionalE, yeah, were still underwater.
I mean, I had gone out to someof these towns and just seen the
water, um, and just been likeblown away by that.
I'd never been that close tothat type of extreme disaster,
um and.
But you know, by the end of thetwo weeks, like I was 100%
(27:26):
invested in that community, hadmade friends, had met people,
had gone and made connectionsand and um, and just yeah, it
was to come home, because thatbecomes your world in your life.
And I had a family too, I had ason at the time and I just
(27:56):
remember coming home and beinglike I can't talk to anybody
about this, nobody understandsit, and feeling just really sad
that I had abandoned them andalso remembering, of course I
didn't abandon them, but that'swhat it feels like the feeling
Right, also remembering, ofcourse I didn't abandon them,
but that's what it feels likethe feeling right.
And feeling like it was aprivilege to be able to pick up
(28:17):
and leave.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And leaving them in those same circumstances.
And we all saw the piles ofdebris and household goods that
were like lined the streetsRight and just realizing it was
such a long road ahead for allof them and just being able to
come home to my home and yeahthere's that guilt.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
It's a guilt for sure .
I have a friend, a childhoodfriend, who lives in Houston.
I remember watching it, likethrough her, like what she was
posting, and she's a teacher inHouston and I was just like this
is insane.
So yeah yeah, I can imaginewhat that guilt would have felt
like.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Yeah, but I mean, I have a lot of stories like that
and I, you know, I don't want to.
I I know we only have a certainnumber of minutes left, so oh,
no, we can, we can go, we can goall day.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
We can we can split this episode into three parts.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
We can release it week after week.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Let me just share one other story, though, about a
deployment for real, thoughdon't feel like you have to be
brief, no, okay.
Yeah, we'll re-rack the cameras, we'll go um another.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Another deployment experience was I had.
I went to puerto rico during theearthquakes um, and the
earthquakes were still activewhen they sent us.
So you know, there was thefirst big one and then there was
a couple of smaller ones afterthat and everybody was waiting
for the next big one becausethey were continually happening.
Um, and I remember going houseto house and um and visiting
(29:45):
with people who were literally,they had their home, their home
was intact.
Maybe there's some cracks intheir home, um, but we were live
, they had their home, theirhome was intact.
Maybe there's some cracks intheir home, but they were living
on the street in tents becausethey were afraid to be in their
home because their homes weremade of cement.
And so if a big one hit and theyhappened to be sleeping inside.
They would be dead.
So I remember this.
(30:06):
They wanted to show us this onehouse that I went to.
They wanted to show us thecracks and the way their house
was built.
It was like on a hill, so so,and the front of the house was
where the road was.
The house was right there andthen behind it was this steep
hill.
So the the back of their housewere on these cement like, like
stilts yeah, stilts um, andthose were cracked.
(30:30):
so you know it was compromised,the structure of the house was
compromised, but he wanted toshow us the cracks, and so he
wanted to take us under hishouse to show us the cracks.
And I was like um, maybe nottoday.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Send me a picture.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
The thing is is I did because I didn't want, you know
, I I was there to support themand I just prayed to God that
the earthquake didn't come atthat exact moment.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
They were still active.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
They were still active and they were still
happening.
It's a real leap of faith.
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Um.
So it's like moments like thatwhere you can really be with
somebody, be present in theirfear, in their uh, in their
moment, to share Um and alsotheir gratitude to you for
coming to give them supplies, toprovide something to them and
to um, you know, to just be apart of their lives for that
second.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
So yeah, so that that ministry of presence that
you're talking about is socritical, just to show up, just
to say you know someone's here.
For me I'm wondering howre-entry, or when you come back,
how do you and your team, howdo you kind of decompress from
those things that you saw, thetraumas that weren't directly
inflicted upon you, but you'retaking some of those things on
(31:43):
yourself and just how do youdecompress from that?
How do you release that?
How kind of find space to forself-care afterwards?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
We encourage the self-care, we encourage the.
You know, make sure you talk topeople.
If you don't have somebody thatcan understand, like, we're
here for you, um, do thosethings that make you happy, um,
whether it's like going, goingto watch a funny movie or going
to the gym or, you know, eatingyour favorite foods.
(32:12):
You know, and we, once back,support our fellow deployees as
much as we can, but personally,you know it's hard.
It's definitely hard when youdon't have, if you don't have,
not when, if you don't have thepeople that can understand what
(32:33):
you just went through.
Sure, so we want to make sureyou know, as coworkers and like
team members, to offer that tothe people that are being
deployed.
And you know, those who havedone it many times over, kind of
they know what to do, they knowhow to manage that.
(32:53):
But people who go for the veryfirst time, like my first time,
like I was talking about, youknow you're not.
You're not anticipating, you'renot anticipating what re-entry
is going to be like, um, untilit's happening to you, and I
remember just being like this isso stupid.
I don't want to do these stupidred kettles Cause I had gone,
like in September, and then it'slike I got back and it's like
(33:13):
red kettle season.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
I'm like.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You're not the only one who said this when you, when
you were talking about firstshowing up and feeling kind of
lost at your first, your firsttime, um, I was just like
thinking how many countlessstories in the Bible are, uh,
demonstrating that very factthat God equips those who are
willing to go, and it's notnecessarily God calls the people
(33:41):
who are equipped, but he'sgoing to equip the people who
are willing to go and serve.
So I just think that's the factthat you were able to go and
just be there and be present andbe willing to give of yourself
in that way is super admirable,and be willing to give of
yourself in that way is superadmirable In terms of.
I have two questions kind ofabout faith, you know.
So, when you're on longdeployments, whether it's you
personally or your team, do youfind one?
(34:01):
Does your faith intersect withEDS work?
And then, what do you kind ofdo physically, mentally,
spiritually during those longdeployments, like how do you
stay in the moment?
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Yeah, I mean.
So when we talk about my faith,um, I I'm a, I'm not a
salvationist.
Um, I grew up Catholic.
Uh, I've kind of wandered.
Um, I have, you know, aspiritual.
I have a spirituality I guessyou could say.
(34:34):
And you know, I sometimes go tochurch.
So I'm not as faithful as maybeyou all are.
No, no, all are, um the the,you know the, the definition,
but um, that being said, I, youknow, I pray to God.
(34:55):
I love being a part of the armyand I love being in those
scenarios, in those situationswhere the officers are praying
and the officers are bringingpeople together, um, or
non-officers, you know.
I don't want to say that it hasto be officers yeah, bro yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Anybody man.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Anybody, and that I guess I've never been in a job
longer than two years until Igot to the Salvation Army.
So being part of this communityis amazing to me.
This community um is amazing tome.
So, on a deployment, um reallyleaning into those, you know,
(35:45):
those uh meetings slash prayermoments Um, cause we combine
them right, like you know.
You have your brief out in themorning and then somebody does a
prayer and everybody goes ontheir way and then, uh, when you
come back, you discuss how theday was.
you know those ministry ofpresence, moments that people
had and you share, and that'sreally what I think, how it, how
my faith intersects with thework that I do.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
And.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Um, and knowing that you know you're, you're
providing that emotional supportto people, um, who just went
through really something reallyawful and traumatic.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Um and just being with them in their moment and um
helping them to process.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah.
Yeah, we are going to take aquick break on a plugged in
podcast.
Do you have a few more minutes?
Yeah, you stay with us.
Yeah, okay, we're going to takea quick break.
Plugged In Podcast, episodenumber 24.
We will be right back.
all right, everyone, welcome back to the plugged in
podcast.
This is episode number 24.
Hard to believe that we are 24episodes into this uh adventure,
uh, but here we are.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're recording on saint patrick's day yeah, you
guys are wearing some shade ofgreen, we are this is the best
shade of green that we've got inour closet.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm not.
I'm rolling with all black.
I don't even think I knew itwas St Patrick's Day until I got
to work.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
You are at a funeral.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
You know our last episode.
I feel like we entered Marchand I put on the green colors in
the background.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I was like oh, we're.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
It is strong.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
It's a strong green it plummeted our numbers like we
can't do that anymore.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We can't do that again.
We have to try and come backfrom that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Nate, you got something for us today.
Oh man, I have a rant today.
Okay let's hear it.
If anyone knows me, they knowthat one of the things that
really, like I get frustratedabout is spending unnecessary
money.
Yep, this is true.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I am a cheapskate and I will go out of my way to not
spend.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
If you listen to the last episode, he was basing his
rankings for March fatness.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, five guys.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Too expensive, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
So this morning this is my routine.
After I like get up go to thebathroom.
I check my bank account everyday to see if like any
ridiculous charge just likeposted to my account.
And today I saw four ridiculouscharges on my account 1593,
1593, 1593 734.
(01:35):
Is this from your wife?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
no, no, this is not from my wife.
I mean, it's a natural question.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's a natural question, other heinsman.
No, we, we talk like we have agreat cooperative.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
You know financial agreement like we work together
cooperative financial agreementI ask.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I ask if I can spend.
That's how we cooperate.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
We work on it but um, yeah, yeah, this came from the
one and only our son, oh jackson.
His first purchase ever no, nothis first, unfortunately, this
has become a pattern ofdestructive behavior.
So he has a Amazon Fire tabletOkay, and most of the time he
only gets to use it when we'reon long car rides, you know
(02:13):
traveling on a Sunday or we'reroad tripping or whatever,
because you know if he could beon all day he would, yeah, and
we try to limit that, sure.
And so he loves playingdifferent games.
Has a like a plethora of gameson this amazon kids account.
However, amazon, my rant isreally against amazon.
They make it impossible for youto I don't know, block in-app
(02:35):
purchases or to prevent thestore from popping up.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
They, they fish at kids knowing that they're just
going to click any button forthe next game.
Last month he spent about 70dollars, yeah, so we went in and
we took all the in-apppurchases off we did what we
could.
The problem is he likes towatch kids youtube, which you
can't watch on the kids account,so he was.
He was on like my account okay,just linked to prime yeah then
(02:59):
he just spent another like like60 bucks we're at like close to
200 dollars.
It's amazing and like and one ofthem was, just like this
princess game, 15 bucks.
I said jackson, what are youhe's like, he's like.
You have to get her like youhave.
She has to like race throughthese different like clothing
items she has to race and getthe right clothes on so that, so
that the boy will marry her.
I'm like what I was so angry soI did some internet sleuthing
(03:24):
this morning and blocked myaccount now, so you can't do it.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
As soon as you started telling this story, I
was like Jeff Bezos somewhere islike this was the plan.
This was the plan, and here weare, and this is why he's like a
trillionaire.
Yeah right.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Because of little five-year-old kids that are
buying apps every day.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
The worst part was like nate got up and started his
morning routine.
I was still laying in bed justwaking up.
Jackson had come in and was waskind of barely awake.
He was just kind of layingthere.
Nate charges out of thebathroom and is just like have
it again and I'm just like likeso jackson.
So jackson shoots out of bedand he's like I'm sorry, daddy,
(04:02):
I didn't buy anything withnumbers, it just had words.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Oh, my goodness.
So I was like Nate, you need tojust calm down We'll talk about
this when we are vertical andawake At some point, he's going
to buy something that overdraftsyour account.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
He's on a good trend for it.
Yeah, he's going to have like a$3,000.
Yeah, buy a new iPhone.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
We're going on vacation next month and I keep
telling him Jackson, if you keepbuying these things, we can't
go on vacation.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
He's like Dad are we not able to go on vacation
anymore?
Then I felt guilty.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
I don't want to put fear into him.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
He said are you going to leave me behind when you go
on vacation?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I was like you need to turn this around.
I need to tone it down a bit.
I get a little bit too intensesometimes.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
You don't want to hear that at like 7.15 in the
morning but that was me today,wow.
That's crazy, like when you'reat the store and you're like
buying kids toys like you cantell I mean I feel like your
eyes don't really open to thisuntil you're a parent but you
see like, oh, they don't maketoys that are like you know,
(05:06):
they don't make it by accidentthat you can purchase like oh,
here's how you swipe your creditcard, or like there's that cash
register machine Like no.
this is made by a for profitcompany that wants you to.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
It's probably sponsored by MasterCard or you
know, but no, that's a big bucksbehind a real men young man.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, Strategically they're probably.
I mean, that's like it's awhole different world.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah but now the app that pops up and it's like you
can continue playing with tomthe cat and you can get him a
new hat for 15 and it's like why?
Yes, I do want to do.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It's just too easy we had tamagotchis when we were
kids right, and it's like youclean up their poop and you feed
them, but you're not makingin-app purchases this is
basically, this is basically thetamagotchi of 2025, because
it's like, oh, if you want tomthe cat to survive, you need to
pay for this yeah, no, when, tom.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Just a quick side story.
I can't believe you brought uptamagotchis millennials, baby
let's go.
No, I like have distinctmemories of first of all, like
everyone had them yeah to yourbelt, yeah, belt loop but I
distinctly remember, like oncethey got banned from my school.
Yep, like you had to have a realconversation with your mom that
was like, hey, I have to leavethis at home, but if you don't
(06:12):
like relieve it, let it go tothe bathroom.
It's going to die.
Like mom, can you take care ofmy Tamagotchi?
And like I'm just trying toimagine myself in that situation
now.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
The ridiculousness.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yes, are you serious, mom?
You need to feed, like.
Here's my tamagotchi.
Take him to work with you.
I'm not allowed.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, I have an embarrassing tamagotchi story.
Okay, I'm here for it.
I borrowed a friend'stamagotchi on the bus and I want
to take care of it.
Yeah, I dropped it in thetoilet at my house, nice, and
then I had to pretend to myfriend that I just lost.
I lost it because I didn't wantto admit to him that I dropped
it in the toilet and it died.
I ended up like reimbursing himReimbursing your parents, my
(06:50):
parents paid some money to him,but I just didn't want him to
know that I dropped it in thetoilet.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Now, he knows.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
Now it's out there.
Public record.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I have to imagine that somewhere like our parents
had a conversation that was justlike well, I mean, it's
teaching them responsibility.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, Like you know anyways.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Well, hilarious, okay , good start.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, episode number 24 of the Plugged.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
In Podcast.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
We do have a really strong episode for you today.
In just a minute we're going towelcome a special guest.
We're bringing in Emily Mew,who is the Director of Emergency
Disaster Services for theSalvation Army Massachusetts
Division.
Now I don't know Emily thatwell personally, but from my
interactions with herprofessionally over the years I
can say she is the kindestperson with the biggest heart.
(07:35):
She cares about people and I'mreally excited to ask her some
questions about emergencydisaster work here in the
Massachusetts Division.
And I'm almost stunned that shedidn't cancel on us today
because as far as when werecorded this this weekend,
there were deadly tornadoes thatkind of ripped across the South
.
(07:55):
So I'm curious to hear if sheknows if the Salvation Army is
being mobilized in the South andif sometimes they draw in major
disasters, they'll draw fromteams in the South, and if
sometimes they draw in majordisasters, they'll draw from
teams in the North.
So I'm just curious to see if,if, uh, if she may get deployed.
So that's going to be a greatinterview and then, uh, at the
back half, the back end of ourpodcast.
(08:15):
So we're going to start a newsegment today and as we lead
into oh, you smiled Cause youdid, you think I was going into
March fatness.
I thought you were going intoMarch Fatness.
I wasn't, I wasn't, I forgot allabout it.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
He was ready.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
No, we're going to continue our bracket with March
Fatness.
We have an update for thevoting that took place on
Instagram at MassYouth, so we'llupdate our listeners with that,
and we'll do that while Emilyis here.
Right, but in the latter halfof our podcast today, we're
starting a new segment that'sgoing to lead us into the Easter
season and there is a Biblestudy that we're going to focus
(08:47):
on.
That's called Jesus's farewellmessage, and so this is done by
Francis Chan and it's on rightnow media.
So if you're a salvation armycore officer, uh, listening to
this podcast, you have access toright now media for free.
There's a subscription that'spaid for you.
So if you're interested in goingthrough this with us, uh, with
people in your core, it's a veryinteresting study.
(09:09):
And I will say, um, for someoneI like to think like, uh,
cinematically.
I like to think kind of like onEpic proportions, like when I
read the red letters of theBible and know that Jesus is
speaking.
I hear like the slow pace inhis voice, or I hear like the
pad of music underneath it thatprovides that like intensity.
You know what I'm talking aboutmaybe in the post production
(09:31):
I'll put a pad to my words rightnow, just so it can provide
some gravitas.
but Francis Chan, he has somevideos and he talks about.
When you're reading thispassage, we're going to be
looking at John 14 through 17.
He says take yourself to aplace that no one can find you,
(09:52):
because the weightiness of thewords of Jesus this is the last
thing that he says to hisdisciples and, by extension, to
us before he leaves earth andthe weight of what he has to say
is so crucial, so consequential, so massive that it's not
something that you can justgloss over or just read, but you
need to be alone, you need tomeditate, you need to be
(10:15):
connected to God.
When you hear these words, whenyou read them, it's also I can
save this for later but I alsofound it really challenging,
because you're like readingJesus' words and I felt like a
disciple, where half the timeI'm like, okay, I get that, and
then the other half I'm justlike what does that mean?
Yeah, exactly Like what are youreally saying?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
And show us yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
And the disciples have those questions.
So if you're curious, stickaround all the way to the end of
the podcast.
We're going to break this intotwo segments.
Yep, so today we're startingJesus's farewell message.
Well, we're going to take aquick break here on the Plugged
In Podcast, episode number 24.
And when we come back we'llhave Emergency Disaster Services
(10:59):
.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Director Emily Mew, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
All right.
Welcome back to episode number24 of the Plugged In Podcast we
are recording this time.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Oh good.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
We just had a little snafu with our Should have been
here five minutes ago.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
everyone I know.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I'm going to redo all the jokes now.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
You had the most amazing things in those five
minutes and you lost it.
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So, like I always say , our production budget it's not
low.
It's not low, but it's also nothigh.
It's not low but it's also nothigh.
So, anyways, well, we are here,episode 24.
None of the listeners know whatwe're talking about, but we are
here with a special guest today.
In just a minute, we're goingto fill you in on our March
fatness bracket, but before wedo, we want to welcome to the
studio, which you're familiarwith, emily Mew, who is the
(11:46):
Emergency Disaster ServicesDirector for the Salvation Army
Massachusetts Division.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Welcome to the podcast, Emily.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Thank you there it is Not at that time.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
There it is.
Second time's a charm.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, Emily, we're happy to have you on the show
today.
We'd like to know, and for ourlisteners to know, kind of your
story.
How did you come to yourposition?
Why do you work for theSalvation Army?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
What does a day in your life look like Sure?
So, as I was, saying the lasttime we started this
conversation before we wererecording.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
I'm not going to live this one down.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
No, I just said that there's no sort of like crazy
story of how I got here prior toand I've been here for about 11
years or going on 12.
That's incredible, and I'veworked in two different
departments here.
I started in service extensionand, for those who don't know,
that's a department that doessocial services outside of the
(12:40):
core area, so the core havetheir catchment areas and their
towns and then across the restof the state is service
extension, and so I would workwith volunteers, recruit
volunteers to provide servicesthrough the Salvation Army.
Prior to that, I had been doingsocial services mostly in my
(13:00):
life, working with kids andteens, some of who had
behavioral issues, and then Iwent to grad school for public
policy and administrationbecause I wanted to change the
systems that I had been workingin.
After grad school I ended uptraveling and actually moved to
(13:23):
Nicaragua.
So I lived in Nicaragua forfour years Wow, yeah, four years
Met somebody, got married whileI was in Nicaragua and then got
pregnant and decided I did notwant.
And while I was there I wasworking with kind of the kids
living on the streets.
(13:44):
So the kids who you know inother countries.
Kids aren't mandated to go toschool all the time, so their
parents, who are living inextreme poverty, sometimes send
them out to the streets to sellstuff or to just work and bring
money back to the household.
And we were trying to get thosekids into school.
(14:06):
So that was what I was doingdown there.
But when I got pregnant Idecided I was living in an area
that didn't have good healthcare and I decided I did not
want to give birth in that area.
So I started looking for a joband landed the job in service
(14:26):
extension.
Wow, it's the Salvation Armyhere in Massachusetts.
And going a little bit fartherback, my father was a
firefighter and he used to ringthe bell for the Salvation Army
years ago, and so I obviouslyknew a little bit about the army
(14:48):
, but like most people, I knew avery tiny amount.
So I applied to this job thatwas mostly because it was like
social service stuff and then Ilearned all of the amazing
things that the army does.
And here I am, 12 years later,in a different position because
(15:09):
I ended up getting involved inthe emergency disaster piece.
So out in Western Mass I livein Western Massachusetts.
So I was out there We'd hadsome big fires.
I started working with Chris,who was my predecessor, started
responding to some of those bigfires and realized this is this
(15:29):
is it, this is what I want to do, um, and then when this
position opened up, I applied umand I had already, before that,
been deployed.
So I actually my first majordeployment, um and when I say
deployment it's a two weekperiod uh was to hurricane
Harvey in Houston.
Wow, so that really opened upmy eyes to what the EDS
(15:54):
department does here and reallygot me excited about that type
of work or this type of workthat I now do.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I remember the visuals from Hurricane Harvey
and it was, like you know,highway overpasses in Houston
that were underwater.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
That was a huge, huge thing.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Yeah, so you said your, your dad was a firefighter
, yep, and so your family has ahistory of of helping people, or
just, uh, I said before youcame out, I told you you were
saying all good things, um, youhave a huge heart, you're
extremely kind, you have a hugeheart.
Was there like a, like, a, aturning point or a moment in
your life where you're like I, Iwant to help people?
(16:34):
Or you said you went to schoolto change the systems, Like, was
there any kind of like?
I don't know, that's a veryspecific question, but was there
a turning point where you werelike I want to do this, I want
to help people?
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Well, I don't know about a turning point.
I mean I feel like I always did, I always, even in high school
and college.
I mean in college like I ranthe local chapter of the Habitat
for Humanity and so you know acouple spring break trips like
(17:04):
we took week trips down south tobuild homes, homes, and I did a
.
I actually did a like a medicaltrip and also one of my spring
breaks to, and I was liketranslating.
I wasn't in the medical fieldbecause I was only in college,
(17:24):
but I had studied Spanish andand so went with this local, you
know local doctors.
It wasn't it wasn't DoctorsWithout Borders, but one of
those types, something like that, yeah.
Something like that and wentdown and I remember translating
for the physical therapist.
So I was like in this room andyou know, my Spanish was not
super great as a college student, it's still amazing but I was
(17:44):
like I could figure it out, yeah, so like doing those sorts of
things just early on, I guess,was sort of always been what
I've done.
And I don't know, maybe I gotit from my dad, but I remember a
story he told me years agoabout like going and running
into a burning building andpulling out a baby.
You know, like saving a baby'slife was like the moment for him
(18:06):
as a firefighter.
And maybe I, you know, I neverstrangely.
Maybe it's because back then,like women, didn't really go
into firefighter, um, and maybeI, you know, wanted I never.
Strangely, maybe it's causeback then, like women, didn't
really go into firefighting, um,it didn't really cross my mind
to become a firefighter.
But maybe figuring it, figuringout other ways to help, was.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, I mean we've talked on the podcast before
about having generationalinfluences on us whether we know
it or not, you know having itbe there, modeled for us, has an
impact on your life, um in yourcurrent position here at the
Salvation Army.
What does a normal day looklike?
And then what does like themost chaotic day?
Speaker 4 (18:40):
look like yeah, and it can really vary, it goes back
and forth.
A normal day would be mesitting at my computer, just
like everybody else's day, youknow, like making connections,
planning meetings, figuring outyou know an event that's coming
up.
And then a chaotic day would beactually just like yesterday.
(19:00):
Fresh off a chaotic day, it wasa Sunday, I just said to.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Loretta, I'm almost surprised that you didn't cancel
on us today based on thetornadoes that went through
yesterday.
So I don't know if any of ourteams are being deployed, or
because I know sometimes we getpulled down to other areas.
Speaker 4 (19:18):
Yeah, not yet.
That doesn't mean yes, we'll go.
It doesn't mean no, we won't.
The southern territory has apretty solid EDS response.
They have way more people thanwe do up here.
They have way more capacity,way more money.
They've got money and theyreach out when they don't have
(19:44):
what you know like.
The most recent was thehurricanes, obviously Hurricane
Helene and Milton.
They reached out, which wasactually surprising, because
that's the first time in a longtime that they have requested so
many personnel so quickly, Ithink, since 9-11, if I'm not
mistaken.
So no, we haven't been requestedyet.
(20:05):
I don't know if we will.
So I don't want to make itsound like, yeah, I'm just
waiting and we will, becausethey may be able to handle it.
But yesterday there was a bigfire in Boston.
Yeah, it was an eight alarmfire and it was a Sunday morning
and of course all of ourofficers are about to go do
(20:25):
church and and it's the daybefore Thanksgiving, the day
before St Patrick's Day, whereeverything is closed.
It was not.
It was a plant of some sortlike a trash receptacle plant,
so there was no displaced,thankfully.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
There's a lot of the parade was yesterday, right?
I mean there's a lot of likeBoston Police Department Fire
Department involved in thatparade.
I don't know if it wasyesterday or I don't know what
day.
The parade was yesterday, right?
I mean there's a lot of likeBoston Police Department, fire
Department, correct.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Involved in that parade.
I don't know if it wasyesterday or I don't know what
day the parade was or was, butyeah, I mean I was.
I had a day planned because itwas a Sunday.
I was driving down to New Havenand I'm like trying to call
everybody as I'm driving with mykids, I'm late for where I'm
going, coordinating with mydeputy, trying to figure out
like who's going to go, you know, and who's available, and
(21:15):
nobody's available and nobody'sanswering their phones, and it
ended up not being our bestresponse ever, but we did have a
presence and we, we did get acanteen there and we did make
some lunches but, um, you know,we don't always, we don't always
rise to the needs, um, as theyare, but we do what we can and
(21:36):
we put pieces together and wefigure out, figure it out, um
can you give our listeners likea brief overview of that process
, like who calls you, who's yourfirst call when we do get a
team there?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Like what exactly is happening?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
Sure, I mean it can be a.
It can be a number of ways, soit's not always the same
step-by-step process.
Sure, yesterday I heard aboutthe fire because I get alerts on
my phone.
So I reached out to a partneragency called the Boston Sparks.
They are a fire rehaborganization and they work with
(22:12):
Boston Fire directly and a lotof the surrounding towns and
they go to every single fire andtheir primary job is to provide
food and hydration to the firstresponders.
So sometimes we're not neededbecause they've got it covered
and they have enough resourcesand it's a smaller fire and if
there's no displaced then youknow it's not always necessary
(22:35):
for us to go.
But if it's a building of ahundred people and we can go and
provide food and hydration andemotional and spiritual care to
the people displaced, we mightshow up on scene and do that,
working alongside the Red Crossor other agencies.
Or whether it's the cityemergency management or a local
(22:55):
community center that wants tohelp out, we'll partner with
them on the ground and we'llwork with them on getting food
and resources to the people thatare displaced.
So yesterday I reached out tothe Boston Sparks.
At first they were like we'reall set, we're good, and then 20
minutes later, as sometimeshappens, you get one answer and
(23:16):
then 20 minutes later or fiveminutes later, everything's
different.
And then actually they calledand they were like actually get
a team together, we'll need you,and so I had already called my
people off, and so then callingthem back and to you know, to be
like it's happening it'shappening, I'm sorry and and
that's one of the hardest thingsfor some of our volunteers to
(23:38):
understand, because they theywant, you know, they want
answers and they want time yeah.
And they, if they're going togo, they want to go.
If they're not, then you've gotto tell them no.
But sometimes you have to like.
There's this like period ofwaiting where you don't know,
and they don't know and they'regetting frustrated.
And you know we're trying tokeep that balance of like okay.
Well, it's a disaster scene.
(23:59):
Things are shifting at it, youknow, minute by minute.
So, just try and be patient andthat's kind of how yesterday,
when it was a little bit chaoticbecause of that.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I'm sure in your training of volunteers you're
probably telling them disastersaren't on a schedule.
Exactly, absolutely, and Ialways tell them.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
I say they will happen on Sunday mornings, they
will happen on Thanksgiving 100%, every year there's a big fire
on Thanksgiving, um, and itmeans, you know, having to pull
away from your family.
You know, you know we'll, we'llwork with what we have.
And you know, some people wedon't make anybody go.
If they can't go, they can't go.
But we'll, you know, we'll,make a lot of phone calls and
(24:36):
try to figure out a plan B and aplan C and a plan.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Z.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
All the way down.
My dad, before he was in thecurrent role that he's in, he
worked in EDS at territoriallevel, but he responded to like,
like the 9-11 situation.
So my question for you is isthere or has there been like a
specific disaster that you'veresponded to or that you've been
(25:02):
involved in, maybe deployed toum, that was either like really
powerful or meaningful to you insome way?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yeah, they all are.
Yeah, that's true, I would saymy first one, though was which
was Hurricane Harvey.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
And I went down terrified because of one.
I didn't even work in thisdepartment yet.
Right, you know, I was inservice extension and they sent
me down as liaison and Iremember like and I tell this
story a lot, this is a storythat I share with volunteers to
kind of help them ease theirminds a little bit that I went
(25:41):
down knowing, feeling like Iknew absolutely nothing, like
they sent me out to this EOC,which is emergency operations,
to figure out what was going onin one of the like outer
counties of Houston.
And I get there and I'm bymyself and I'm the only
Salvation Army rep and they giveme a desk and they're like here
(26:04):
, this is where you're going towork.
And I sat there and I was likefor two hours I was like Chris
made, chris made a mistake, ohmy goodness I shouldn't be here?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Um, and I'm like opening my computer, like what
should I do?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Right, where do I start?
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah, exactly, and this was literally probably
three days after the hurricanehit.
So, and I got sent with lessthan 24 hours notice.
So I got a call oh my goodness,are you ready to go, can you go
?
And I was like, oh sure, lessthan 24 hours later I was on a
flight, that's insane.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And then I was there for two weeks.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
So, in any case, I was there, sitting there and
finally got up the courage tostart talking to people and
realized nobody else, knewNobody else.
(27:03):
They were all like professionalE, yeah, were still underwater.
I mean, I had gone out to someof these towns and just seen the
water, um, and just been likeblown away by that.
I'd never been that close tothat type of extreme disaster,
um and.
But you know, by the end of thetwo weeks, like I was 100%
(27:26):
invested in that community, hadmade friends, had met people,
had gone and made connectionsand and um, and just yeah, it
was to come home, because thatbecomes your world in your life.
And I had a family too, I had ason at the time and I just
(27:56):
remember coming home and beinglike I can't talk to anybody
about this, nobody understandsit, and feeling just really sad
that I had abandoned them andalso remembering, of course I
didn't abandon them, but that'swhat it feels like the feeling
Right, also remembering, ofcourse I didn't abandon them,
but that's what it feels likethe feeling right.
And feeling like it was aprivilege to be able to pick up
(28:17):
and leave.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
And leaving them in those same circumstances.
And we all saw the piles ofdebris and household goods that
were like lined the streetsRight and just realizing it was
such a long road ahead for allof them and just being able to
come home to my home and yeahthere's that guilt.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
It's a guilt for sure .
I have a friend, a childhoodfriend, who lives in Houston.
I remember watching it, likethrough her, like what she was
posting, and she's a teacher inHouston and I was just like this
is insane.
So yeah yeah, I can imaginewhat that guilt would have felt
like.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
Yeah, but I mean, I have a lot of stories like that
and I, you know, I don't want to.
I I know we only have a certainnumber of minutes left, so oh,
no, we can, we can go, we can goall day.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
We can we can split this episode into three parts.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
We can release it week after week.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Let me just share one other story, though, about a
deployment for real, thoughdon't feel like you have to be
brief, no, okay.
Yeah, we'll re-rack the cameras, we'll go um another.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Another deployment experience was I had.
I went to puerto rico during theearthquakes um, and the
earthquakes were still activewhen they sent us.
So you know, there was thefirst big one and then there was
a couple of smaller ones afterthat and everybody was waiting
for the next big one becausethey were continually happening.
Um, and I remember going houseto house and um and visiting
(29:45):
with people who were literally,they had their home, their home
was intact.
Maybe there's some cracks intheir home, um, but we were live
, they had their home, theirhome was intact.
Maybe there's some cracks intheir home, but they were living
on the street in tents becausethey were afraid to be in their
home because their homes weremade of cement.
And so if a big one hit and theyhappened to be sleeping inside.
They would be dead.
So I remember this.
(30:06):
They wanted to show us this onehouse that I went to.
They wanted to show us thecracks and the way their house
was built.
It was like on a hill, so so,and the front of the house was
where the road was.
The house was right there andthen behind it was this steep
hill.
So the the back of their housewere on these cement like, like
stilts yeah, stilts um, andthose were cracked.
(30:30):
so you know it was compromised,the structure of the house was
compromised, but he wanted toshow us the cracks, and so he
wanted to take us under hishouse to show us the cracks.
And I was like um, maybe nottoday.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Send me a picture.
Speaker 4 (30:46):
The thing is is I did because I didn't want, you know
, I I was there to support themand I just prayed to God that
the earthquake didn't come atthat exact moment.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
They were still active.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
They were still active and they were still
happening.
It's a real leap of faith.
Yeah, wow.
Speaker 4 (31:02):
Um.
So it's like moments like thatwhere you can really be with
somebody, be present in theirfear, in their uh, in their
moment, to share Um and alsotheir gratitude to you for
coming to give them supplies, toprovide something to them and
to um, you know, to just be apart of their lives for that
second.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
So yeah, so that that ministry of presence that
you're talking about is socritical, just to show up, just
to say you know someone's here.
For me I'm wondering howre-entry, or when you come back,
how do you and your team, howdo you kind of decompress from
those things that you saw, thetraumas that weren't directly
inflicted upon you, but you'retaking some of those things on
(31:43):
yourself and just how do youdecompress from that?
How do you release that?
How kind of find space to forself-care afterwards?
Speaker 4 (31:51):
We encourage the self-care, we encourage the.
You know, make sure you talk topeople.
If you don't have somebody thatcan understand, like, we're
here for you, um, do thosethings that make you happy, um,
whether it's like going, goingto watch a funny movie or going
to the gym or, you know, eatingyour favorite foods.
(32:12):
You know, and we, once back,support our fellow deployees as
much as we can, but personally,you know it's hard.
It's definitely hard when youdon't have, if you don't have,
not when, if you don't have thepeople that can understand what
(32:33):
you just went through.
Sure, so we want to make sureyou know, as coworkers and like
team members, to offer that tothe people that are being
deployed.
And you know, those who havedone it many times over, kind of
they know what to do, they knowhow to manage that.
(32:53):
But people who go for the veryfirst time, like my first time,
like I was talking about, youknow you're not.
You're not anticipating, you'renot anticipating what re-entry
is going to be like, um, untilit's happening to you, and I
remember just being like this isso stupid.
I don't want to do these stupidred kettles Cause I had gone,
like in September, and then it'slike I got back and it's like
(33:13):
red kettle season.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
I'm like.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You're not the only one who said this when you, when
you were talking about firstshowing up and feeling kind of
lost at your first, your firsttime, um, I was just like
thinking how many countlessstories in the Bible are, uh,
demonstrating that very factthat God equips those who are
willing to go, and it's notnecessarily God calls the people
(33:41):
who are equipped, but he'sgoing to equip the people who
are willing to go and serve.
So I just think that's the factthat you were able to go and
just be there and be present andbe willing to give of yourself
in that way is super admirable,and be willing to give of
yourself in that way is superadmirable In terms of.
I have two questions kind ofabout faith, you know.
So, when you're on longdeployments, whether it's you
personally or your team, do youfind one?
(34:01):
Does your faith intersect withEDS work?
And then, what do you kind ofdo physically, mentally,
spiritually during those longdeployments, like how do you
stay in the moment?
Speaker 4 (34:13):
Yeah, I mean.
So when we talk about my faith,um, I I'm a, I'm not a
salvationist.
Um, I grew up Catholic.
Uh, I've kind of wandered.
Um, I have, you know, aspiritual.
I have a spirituality I guessyou could say.
(34:34):
And you know, I sometimes go tochurch.
So I'm not as faithful as maybeyou all are.
No, no, all are, um the the,you know the, the definition,
but um, that being said, I, youknow, I pray to God.
(34:55):
I love being a part of the armyand I love being in those
scenarios, in those situationswhere the officers are praying
and the officers are bringingpeople together, um, or
non-officers, you know.
I don't want to say that it hasto be officers yeah, bro yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
Anybody man.
Speaker 4 (35:16):
Anybody, and that I guess I've never been in a job
longer than two years until Igot to the Salvation Army.
So being part of this communityis amazing to me.
This community um is amazing tome.
So, on a deployment, um reallyleaning into those, you know,
(35:45):
those uh meetings slash prayermoments Um, cause we combine
them right, like you know.
You have your brief out in themorning and then somebody does a
prayer and everybody goes ontheir way and then, uh, when you
come back, you discuss how theday was.
you know those ministry ofpresence, moments that people
had and you share, and that'sreally what I think, how it, how
my faith intersects with thework that I do.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
And.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Um, and knowing that you know you're, you're
providing that emotional supportto people, um, who just went
through really something reallyawful and traumatic.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:20):
Um and just being with them in their moment and um
helping them to process.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah.
Yeah, we are going to take aquick break on a plugged in
podcast.
Do you have a few more minutes?
Yeah, you stay with us.
Yeah, okay, we're going to takea quick break.
Plugged In Podcast, episodenumber 24.
We will be right back.
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