Don't know if this matters much, but I thought I'd share my personal experience with the Red Cross. About a year ago, a house that I was temporarily living in over the summer with some other college students burned down and everything I owned was completely destroyed; I came home after lunch and found out that my only possessions were the clothes I was wearing and half a pack of cigarettes.

I waited for a while in the rain, and the Red Cross came and gave my housemates and me blankets, a bag with a toothbrush, soap, shampoo, a razor, etc. along with $350 to get a motel room for a few nights. They left and told us to call them if we needed anything else. Well I only had enough money for the summer to pay for this cheap sublet (which was $250 a month), and everywhere else in the city I live in runs about $700 a month for rent. With no backup plan, I lived off the kindness of friends for a few weeks, but I quickly realized I did not have enough money to find another place to live more permanently. The Red Cross called me a few times to check up on how I was doing, I said I was fine because I didn't feel like I deserved any more help; I wasn't a hurricane victim or anything.

Finally, facing homelessness, I swallowed my pride, called them and said I'm really not doing very well, they immediately offered me $700 to help get back on my feet. I accepted and at that point had been given $1,050 from them. I was able to share a basement room in a house with my friend with this money, get a job, and work until I could sign a lease at another house. I'm now doing fine, and the Red Cross kept me from becoming homeless. I still sleep with the blanket they gave me every night.