A Validated Volunteer: Shelley Koski
What job description encompasses helping little girls find their lost puppies, unloading ice trucks, cooking food, making beds, plugging in fans, delivering death notifications, and more? For Shelley Koski, mental health coordinator at Prairie Correctional Facility (PCF), these are only a handful of the tasks that she’s likely to perform through volunteering as a disaster mental health manager for the Red Cross. “It’s not mental health as you would imagine,” she says. But for Koski, it’s simply a way of life.
Koski serves as a member of the National Disaster Services Human Resources (DSHR), individuals scattered across the country and deployed to respond to crises all over the nation. She also serves locally on her Disaster Action Team (DAT), responding to local events such as single-family fires. “When everybody is trying to leave an area, that’s when I’m going into it,” Koski explains.
Although Koski’s position brings her face to face with unpredictable circumstances, her work always has the same goal: “It’s helping to provide comfort in whatever way you can,” she says. “I really like what I do and where I do it, and to have an employer who’s supportive of my work with the Red Cross is so important to me. Both positions validate who I am as an individual.”
When Koski joined CCA over two years ago, the negotiations of her employment included the flexibility to go on leave any time the Red Cross needs her assistance. Before joining CCA, Koski went on her first national deployment in response to Hurricane Katrina, a journey that took her to various sites in New Orleans over the course of six months. “The first time I went, I was impacted,” she says. “I knew it was something that I had to continue doing.”
Since then, Koski has helped bring relief to victims of Hurricane Ike, San Diego wildfires, a tornado in Atlanta and numerous other natural disasters. And she continues to monitor national conditions in the event that another catastrophe strikes. “My family and friends watch the news differently because they all anticipate me leaving at the drop of a hat,” she says.
Most recently, Koski has been trained and certified as a facilitator of a new Red Cross program called Coping with Deployments. The program is operated and funded by a grant from the Red Cross and the Department of Defense, in conjunction with branches of the military. The program is designed to bring psychological first aid to families of deployed military personnel. In October 2008, Koski and other facilitators were released to teach the course. Koski is one of only two certified facilitators in Minnesota, and 32 nationwide.
The curriculum breaks down into two parts: one deals with aid for adults, the other with aid for children. The manual that instructors use highlights ways to for military families to build resilience, recognize stress, and utilize coping tools. “These tools will help parents learn how to keep a routine and model healthy self care habits, among other practices. The class will also teach families how to get additional help if they need further professional attention,” Koski says.
Sound Out
Victoria Hammerud at Prairie Correctional Facility:
Way to go Shelley! I'm so proud of your acomplishments! Keep up the great work out there!