“I enjoy meeting everyone who comes through the door.”

Elaine Avila thinks of them every day and knows the frequent fliers by name.

“There isn’t one person who I don’t have contact with,” she says. “I like meeting all kinds of people. I like to see to it that they connect with the right person.”

As receptionist, Elaine is the face of the Red Cross. She knows every one, but like us all, has her favorites. “All the clients that come in to visit our Homeless Outreach staff members are very friendly and kind,” she says.

As soon as she is done speaking, the phone rings. It’s a client, who just wants to say hello. “Talking to you makes everything brighter,” he says.
Monday to Friday, Elaine greets visitors and clients and directs phone calls to the appropriate staff member at the Milwaukee and Waukesha offices. She also makes occasional mail runs at the office. As a member of General Services, Elaine is at the center of Red Cross business and seems to enjoy every minute. In between those minutes, she also has time to think.

“I meet very interesting people that come from all walks of life. When they leave, you sit here and count your blessings,” she says.

She didn’t always feel so blessed. In the early 80s, Elaine worked at a foundry until it closed. She found a job at another company. When they laid off their workers, as a recent hire, Elaine found herself unemployed with two children to support. Then a friend of hers, a Red Cross volunteer, called about a job opening. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Almost twenty four years later, she has seen programs and staff members come and go, but through it all, Elaine has remained the face of the Red Cross to members of the public who come through the doors of the Milwaukee office. Today, her two children have become three, and she is proud to be a grandma to three boys and a girl.

A recent widow, Elaine counts herself lucky to have her friends, children, grandchildren and her Red Cross family. “When you are here this long,” she says, “everyone is like family.”