Hispanic Heritage Month: Spanish Language Skills Help Hero Care Network Representative Comfort Military Families in Times of Crisis

Sierra Villegas works on Fort Sill, Oklahoma with a team of dedicated Service to the Armed Forces Red Crossers who provide the necessary infrastructure to maintain the American Red Cross Hero Care Network.

This network is a free conduit of services including casework, emergency communications and agency referrals, available to service members and their families 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

She's also the communication medium for Hispanic military families and deployed service members whose preferred language is Spanish.

"I take a lot of the Spanish calls. I also do a lot of the translations from documents from doctors if they're in different countries. Being one of those bilingual representatives really brings out my culture because that's how I grew up," Villegas says.

Family is another piece of her heritage that she champions.

"I believe family is everything and you want to do everything to keep them together. With this job, that's what we're doing. We're bringing those family members home who haven't been seen by their families in years at a time," she said.

In the event of an emergency, families can count on Red Crossers like Sierra to verify the emergency with medical staff and relay that information and required documentation to the soldier's command, even when they're deployed in secure locations like a naval vessel at sea. The Hero Care Center at Fort Sill, where Sierra works, is the largest facility of its kind, processing thousands of cases annually ꟷ cases which she describes as both heartbreaking and touching.

One of those cases came when a dying woman told her nurse that her daughter was in the military. There wasn't enough time to get her daughter home to say goodbye, but Sierra was able to relay the woman's last words in an emergency communication.

"It brought me to tears, hearing the nurse explain what the deceased said about her family before she passed," Villegas said.

Having the chance to explain an emergency in one's preferred language goes a long way towards making an already challenging situation just a bit easier. And it is a fast-growing necessity for a population that makes up almost 20% of our nation's military.

"I grew up speaking Spanish first and then English. I understand the language barrier completely," Villegas shared. "It just feels good [to help]. I feel like I want to do more. I don't want to just help them. I want to follow up with them. I want to do it all."

The American Red Cross is honored to be represented by such a talented and multicultural team of staff and volunteers and celebrates their contributions during Hispanic Heritage Month.

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