Red Cross Specialist From Phoenix Helps Organization Open New Office in Baghdad
By Mike Saucier
Opening a Red Cross office in Baghdad is not an enterprise many are able to undertake.
But for Kimberly Chromicz, it’s a means of doing what she likes to do – which is to help make life easier for American service members, civilians, and contractors in Iraq.
Chromicz, a Red Cross specialist from Phoenix, is in the Iraqi capital as part of a two-person team responsible for opening a new office. Their primary mission, she told Frontdoors, is to provide emergency communication messages for service members, civilians, and contractors there who are having a family emergency back home.
Her mission doesn’t end there. “We’ll also have a canteen service set up with a lounge, books, movies, coffee, snacks, toiletries, and more to provide the service members, civilians, and contractors there a place to relax and enjoy a little bit of home,” Chromicz said.
In other locations with the Red Cross, Chromicz has organized fun runs and other activities that help boost morale and resiliency.
“We’ll be reaching out to forward deployed locations and seeing how we can support them with whatever they may need,” she said. “While we cannot travel throughout the country, we can ship food, toiletries, and comfort items.”
She will likely get the chance to interact with patients at a hospital to ensure they have clothing, toiletries and comfort items. But, just as important, “providing a friendly face to visit with,” Chromicz said.
Chromicz grew up in Magnolia, N.J. before moving to Arizona in 1993 after high school to attend Arizona State University. At ASU she earned her bachelor’s in religious studies and stayed in the Valley after graduation until she got married in 2002.
After getting a master’s in international relations from Webster University in 2010 she knew she wanted to work with a nonprofit organization.
So Chromicz joined the Armed Forces Division of the American Red Cross in 2011 as a volunteer at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The timing was perfect. Her husband was on active duty for the Air Force at the time.
Chromicz was hired as staff in 2012 and as a Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces reservist in 2014.
Her first deployment was to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Shortly after that she accepted a full-time position as a regional program specialist in Baumholder, Germany, where she will return after her work in Baghdad is completed. Deployment rotations typically last about six months.
During her 2014 Bagram Air Base deployment, Chromicz was part of a team that provided similar services as in Baghdad – emergency communication messages, volunteer opportunities, and a lounge area with movies, games, snacks, and toiletries. The team organized a “relaxing” 2K race, a 5-mile race, and a “Crazy Carnival” with food, a pie-eating contest, a three-legged race, darts, cotton candy, a flash mob, among other fun things.
“It’s all about being creative and find ways to help service members, civilians, and contractors a way to relax and have a little fun in a high-stress environment,” Chromicz said. “It’s very important for their resiliency.”
She does not speak Arabic. Typically, as part of the Service to the Armed Forces division, her team is always located with American service members and do not travel off post.
What makes it all worth it is the knowledge that she is making a difference for those doing work in a country halfway around the globe.
The American Red Cross provides 24/7 global emergency communication services and support in military facilities around the world.
“The appreciation that people have for getting connected during a family emergency or even for something that reminds them of home is universal,” she said. “The Red Cross is globally recognized as a source of comfort and care. No matter where I go, I almost always meet someone with their ‘Red Cross story’ and how the Red Cross was there when they needed us most. It’s an honor to be part of an organization with that reputation.”
At deployments, Chromicz said, they often get to know people “really well” because they will come in just to talk and to “make that human connection outside of their normal day-to-day.”
“Seeing the regulars who come in for their morning coffee, the volunteers who relax by helping around the office, or the new patrons who come in, look around, sit down and you can watch them decompress,” she said. “Being that place for people feels great. Knowing the work we do has a positive impact on the morale and resiliency of the service members, civilians, and contractors at a deployed location is the definitely the best part of the job.”
