In 2019, Brittany Bouck was living in Sycamore, Illinois with her 8-year-old daughter Bella. They had their own apartment and Brittany was happily employed at a nursing home until their world was turned upside down.
On July 27th of that year, a massive fire broke out at the Saint Albans Green apartment building where Brittany and Bella lived, displacing about 120 residents. Not only did they lose everything, but they had no idea how to begin the process of picking up the pieces.
“I had already really worked hard to get myself back on my feet into that apartment,” Brittany said. “I was just kind of feeling like I was getting my feet on the ground. And then the next thing I knew, everything was gone.”
Shortly after the fire occurred, Brittany attended a multi-agency resource center, which is meant to help residents get the disaster relief services and information they need to start the recovery process. It was there that Brittany met Red Cross volunteer, Charlie Sharp.
“Charlie and I connected immediately,” Brittany said. “Everybody was very much in crisis. I was having a hard time with my anxiety, and he just had this amazing, calming, presence. After that day, he would call me and check in on me, I really appreciated it.”
“It wasn’t just me, it was all of the Red Cross volunteers that day, so I can’t take all the credit,” Charlie said. “But I did spend a lot of time with her because I just wanted to make sure she was okay and that she had what she needed for herself and her daughter.”
Brittany was able to get into another apartment and was just starting to get back on her feet again when the COVID-19 pandemic began, causing her hours at the nursing home to be cut significantly. But because of the experience Brittany had recently gone through, she found a position at the Family Service Agency of DeKalb County as a family support specialist.
“I felt like I was such a great fit for that role because of my lived experience,” Brittany said. “That helps me have that extra level of empathy and understanding. It also has a healing component for me as well. I think the more exposure I get to what I’ve gone through helps me heal knowing that I’m helping others.”
Brittany has since earned a B.S. in Human Services and has moved up to the Community Action Program Coordinator for the Family Service Agency. It’s her role to attend multiple-agency resource centers, only now she is representing her organization and helping others the same way she received that help five years ago.
Recently, it came full circle when Brittany ran into Charlie when they were both attending a resource center after a large apartment fire in the area.
“She saw me, and she said, ‘Charlie, I was hoping you’d be here’,” Charlie said. “She went from needing help to giving help and when she told me that, I had goosebumps. It is such a turnaround story. And knowing she’s happy and her daughter is doing great, that’s all I could ever hope for.”
“It just means so much to me,” Brittany said. “Seeing Charlie’s face, it made me so happy, I wish I could put it into words.”
Thank you, Charlie, for your commitment as a Red Cross volunteer which has a lasting impact on those you serve.
Visit redcross.org/volunteer to start your Red Cross volunteer journey.
Written by Communications Manager Mara Thompson
American Red Cross of Illinois 