Port Washington resident Naomi Berkowitz stood next to a small tree in downtown Montecito when she noticed a flower bud peeking out of the thick mud, days after the January 2018 mudslides killed two dozen people and left the California city in ruins.
“I saw that, and said, ‘This is how this community is going to heal,’” she said. “In the midst of a disaster just look for something that you’re going to be able to use to help you emotionally move forward.”
The mudslides were one of the dozens of tragedies across the nation – from natural disasters to mass shootings – that Berkowitz has responded to over the past 24 years as a mental health volunteer with the Red Cross. For her work, Berkowitz will be honored in May by the Red Cross as the Hero of the Year during its Brave Hearts event in Milwaukee.
“Brave Hearts celebrates local individuals and groups who have exhibited acts of courage, kindness and service,” Mark Thomas, CEO and Regional Executive for the Red Cross of Wisconsin, said in a statement, noting that eight people will be honored with various awards.
“I am floored. It’s really a great honor to be recognized that way,” she said.
“I do it because it’s very rewarding to work with the clients, to work with the community and to work with other volunteers. I think about it through the lens of tikkun olam (repair the world),” she added, crediting her parents as her role models who gave back to the community through volunteering.
Professionally, Berkowitz is a psychotherapist. As a volunteer with the Red Cross in Wisconsin she is a disaster mental health chief/manager and a lead on the integrated care and condolence team and mass casualty response team lead. She is also the disaster mental health advisor for the nine-state Midwest region.
“After somebody has been through a disaster it’s very traumatic so the disaster mental health team helps clients move forward emotionally,” she said.
“We are the first person that’s gives them hope,” she added.
Berkowitz is a member of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in River Hills. Her faith helps her cope with her experiences as a volunteer.
“I have very strong faith,” she said. “When we go to Shabbat services it’s a way of regrouping, or when we celebrate Shabbat or the holidays, it’s a way to re-energize. It’s making that transition from disaster to decompressing to enjoying and seeing the good in the world.”
Berkowitz said she has a great support system, including her husband and has hobbies such as photography and reading and takes an interest in music and the arts. She is also a ham radio operator.
To respond to these types of tragedies, one would need a good coping and stress management strategy.
“What may work for one disaster doesn’t necessarily work for another disaster,” she said. “You don’t become immune. Every one of them is very heartbreaking.”
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