As the Indiana Region Director of Service to the Armed Forces and International Services, Jeff Imel oversees the support and care of veterans, military and their families across the region. A special highlight of his role is guiding volunteers in the Restoring Family Links (RFL) program run by the American Red Cross. Working hand in hand with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the program reunites families separated by armed conflicts, disasters, migration and other humanitarian crises. These efforts may result in anything from an in-person reunion to a simple confirmation of safety.
Restoring Family Links is often an international effort. Even if a search begins overseas, answers may be found through the help of any Red Cross chapter; oftentimes here in the Indiana Region. To begin the process, anyone may contact their local Red Cross chapter to request aid and fill out a tracing form. From there, the search is tailored to each situation and may include field work, data analysis, forensic science, humanitarian dialogue within a conflict, and accessing areas that are difficult to reach. With any method, RFL works to bring clarity and support to families in need.
Jeff helps recruit and train volunteers for the program. Once trained, volunteers can receive cases from anyone inquiring about a lost loved one and act as their personal aid throughout the process. Even if the separation occurred decades ago, the volunteer caseworker works relentlessly to restore their connection.
“We recently had someone in Germany reach out to the Red Cross and say, ‘I haven’t seen my sister since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I wonder where she is now,’” Jeff recalled regarding a previous case. “We found her sister in a nursing home in Maryville, Indiana, and put those two on a FaceTime call together. They hadn’t seen each other since 1989, and we were able to make such a big difference in their lives.”
Restoring Family Links caseworkers follow the situation as long as it takes to find a missing counterpart, whether it means conducting a brief local search or contacting international ties. The three short words “I am alive” may be all that is needed to ease the minds of distraught loved ones half a world away. If the process demands further steps to ensure safety, RFL steps up to the challenge.
One of the most recent cases reinforced this point and hit close to home for Jeff and his team. Upon receiving a case from the Red Cross Society in Rwanda, an Indiana caseworker began a search that ended a mere three miles away from the downtown Indianapolis office. The Rwandan chapter reached out on behalf of a mother in a refugee camp who wanted to find her daughter, whom she had placed for adoption twenty years earlier. She recalled that her daughter was adopted by an Indiana family and wished to reconnect. The caseworker’s efforts resulted in a heartfelt FaceTime call, and the Rwandan mother got to see her daughter again and meet her two-year-old granddaughter for the first time.
When asked about the driving force of this program, Jeff immediately highlighted the immense volunteer work that goes into RFL. “Our caseworkers are the ones who really get to talk to clients, and they’re the ones who see that gratitude. They see that joy.”
If you are interested in becoming a caseworker for the Restoring Family Links program, the first step is to apply at redross.org/volunteer and click on ‘find my volunteer opportunity.’ Once you enter your zip code, you will find the list of positions, including ‘IS – Regional International Restoring Family Links Caseworker Team Member. Once your application is processed, you will be contacted by your local Red Cross to discuss next steps.
To begin the search for a loved one, contact your local Red Cross chapter and ask to speak to a Restoring Family Links caseworker. You can also call our free national helpline at 844-782-9441 or visit redcross.org/familylinks.
Written by Communications Intern Mallory Kempf.