Emergency Disaster Services Volunteer Recalls Moments Responding to Disasters, Providing Hope to those in Need

“As I was walked up and down the streets of High River, Alberta during the flood of 2013, it didn’t look so much like a town but more like a war zone.”

That’s how Dean Gregory, 47, chaplain and volunteer with The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services, described his experience during one of Alberta’s most devastating floods.

“You couldn’t actually see the houses in the town because they were gutted and everything inside was piled up in the road,” he said.

Dean was deployed to the area for three weeks, as part of the Emotional and Spiritual Care Team, to support those affected by the disaster. It was his first deployment as a volunteer with the Emergency Disaster Services but one that had a huge impact on him.

“I would walk up to people and say to them I know you have been given food and water but how are you doing personally?” said Dean.

Dean approached a lady in her mid-70s standing on her front lawn with all her photographs and other memories scattered across her property. She had lost everything and was crying.

“I asked if she was crying because of all the lost memories and belongings and she replied, ‘No that’s just stuff, I’m crying because of them’ as she pointed to a group of Salvation Army volunteers working in the neighbourhood,” said Dean. “The women continued ‘They don’t owe us anything, yet they show up in our time of need and that’s why I am crying. It’s so beautiful.’”

It was this moment that made Dean want to continue volunteering and make a difference in people’s lives.

“I sure hope this will encourage others to join Emergency Disaster Services because we are there to answer the call and provide hope to so many when a disaster occurs,” said Dean.

At another home in High River, Dean and another volunteer knocked on the door and a man came out.  When he realized it was The Salvation Army tears started to flow down his face.. He said to the volunteers “Can you come upstairs and pray for my wife?”

The couple couldn’t evacuate their home because his wife was in a hospital bed with stage four cancer.

“We prayed with the man and his wife as we watched the flood waters come in. The water surrounded the whole house but stopped at the driveway,” said Dean.  “As a volunteer this is why you’re here.”

Dean explained that what he saw in High River is the type of thing you only see on TV and it hardly seems real.

“This can happen to anyone and these people didn’t see it coming. It made me also realize how important it is to be prepared for any kind of disaster,” he said.

Dean first got involved with Emergency Disaster Services after a friend told him about the program.

“I have been a volunteer my entire life, so I took The Salvation Army EDS training in 2012. I started volunteering on the canteen truck serving food but since I became chaplain at The Salvation Army Centre of Hope in London, they put me on the Emotional and Spiritual Care team.”

Dean is now part of the Salvation Army Territorial Emergency Response Team and he responds to any type of emergency big or small. Dean has been called to various types of emergencies from a barn fire, a local house fire, serving soup and beverages on a cold winter night to the homeless as well as being deployed to help when major natural disasters occur.

Dean says he was told in the EDS training “If you get called to do something you leave your ego at the door. If you are asked to clean a toilet, you clean a toilet, if you are asked to serve soup, you serve soup.”

Dean was deployed to Constance Bay, Ottawa during the Spring of 2019.

“As part of the Rapid Emergency Response Team you are sometimes given only two hours to leave, so I always have a bag packed and ready to go,” said Dean. “In the case of Constance Bay, I happen to already be in Ottawa from London for a conference.”

The first week Dean was supporting the flooding in Constance Bay, he was assigned to Emotional Spiritual Care and the second week he was working with the logistics team.

“We were working 14 to16-hour days, but you don’t’ think about it in the moment. You don’t even realize how tired you are until you’re done,” said Dean.

 

While checking on residents in Constance Bay, Dean and other volunteers came across a woman who refused to evacuate because there was no one to look after her pet bird.  Her home had no power, there was mold developing in the house and the water was rising up to the doors. The Salvation Army found someone to look after her bird and the woman was then taken to hospital.

“Back then we were able to exchange many hugs through this process,” said Dean.

Dean says volunteering is about helping your community and along the way you make new friends.

“By the time you finish up a big response it’s like you’ve extended your family,” he explained. “It’s one of the added benefits of being a member of the Emergency Disaster Services team.”

Dean says there are times when the job is extremely hard, but every minute you put into it you are making someone else’s life better.

“It’s totally worth it. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner.”

By: Caroline Franks