Josh Riddle: Neighbors Helping Neighbors through the Red Cross Community Adaptation Program

Written by Remy Kennedy

Josh Riddle wants the message about the Red Cross community adaptation program (CAP) to be one of longevity. “I don’t like to say CAP is only linked to disasters. We’re doing the work whether there’s a disaster or not,” he said. Coming from 7 years of foster care work, Josh joined us in 2022 as our CAP Risk Reduction Manager within Warren County, Kentucky. CAP’s goal within the county is to bolster existing nonprofits and community resources with a focus on the international and low-income communities.  

“Our three H’s are health, hunger and housing. If you take [the 2021] tornado out of the picture, the need is still extremely high. Families need to be connected to food sources. Reliable transportation. Affordable housing. I don’t want people to focus on the tornado. We are working with the community so in case [disruption] happens, people will be more resilient and less likely to be displaced from their homes…,” said Josh. One team goal is to build community coalitions comprised of local organizations to hold regular meetings to brainstorm and plan. 

Josh spoke with us about how the credit for building up the community goes to the people and neighbors helping neighbors. “They were already doing the work. I don’t want to say we are coming in and building resilient people. The resiliency was already there. I’ve never seen groups of people come together like that (after the tornado response). The community was already working together, we are just helping fill in some gaps.” 

The CAP team is working with 15 local partners to improve their programming and community reach. The team helped the International Center of Kentucky install an industrial kitchen in their building, where the women are doing cooking classes and providing food resources. They have provided a passenger van, commercial refrigerators, and freezers to the Delafield Co-Op market. House on the Hill received apple smart devices, walk in coolers and a box truck to assist with their food delivery service. 

These are just a few of the services CAP has provided to help these local organizations provide aid to more families in need. Josh said no day is the same and there isn’t a set “routine” for his job, but he likes it that way. “I have a passion for helping others… It’s a new adventure and a new type of problem to solve every day.” 

Josh has a daughter named Sierra and three grandkids, Kacie, Axel, and Jameson. He’s married to Melissa, and they play in the band, Wet Eyed Liars, together. Melissa sings and plays the guitar, and Josh plays the drums. You can find Wet Eyed Liars on all the streaming services! Josh loves the outdoors and hiking. When he’s at home, he’s snuggling his two dogs, Ollie and Mitski.