Disaster Mental Health Services
Hurricanes have played an unusual role in shaping my life. My grandmother, a native of Cayman Brac in the British West Indies, came to Mobile, Alabama with her family in November of 1932 to escape the worst hurricane in Cayman Brac history. Most of the homes, and all of the schools, in the Cayman Islands were destroyed during this storm. My grandmother never returned to the Cayman Islands. She was educated in the United States thanks to the British government’s commitment to pay for all Caymanian childrens' educations, since there were no schools left on any of the three Cayman Islands. My grandmother obtained a Masters degree in Library Science, married, raised three children, and become a U.S. Citizen. She often spoke with me about how thankful she was to have received the education she received.
On September 18, 2003, my home in Chesterfield, Virginia was badly damaged by Hurricane Isabel. This storm caused extensive and unexpected inland damage across Virginia. I had thirteen trees fall in my yard and two hit my home. Were it not for the tremendous outpouring of support from my family and friends, and the generous help of complete strangers (clean-up crews from neighboring states), I don’t know how I would have recovered so quickly from this storm.
Having grown up hearing about my grandmother’s gratitude for the support she received, and having personally experienced such overwhelming kindness during a hurricane myself, I resolved to give back to others what had been given to me and my family. So in 2005, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Central Gulf Coast region of the United States, I answered the call of The American Red Cross and The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide mental health services to those in need.
My first deployment was to Fort Worth, Texas for two weeks where I served in a critical care shelter that housed over 200 guests with special physical and psychological needs. Several months later, I returned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (not far from New Iberia, Louisiana where my grandmother had lived) to work for two weeks providing counseling and substance abuse services to individuals who had been displaced from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. These experiences forever changed my life. My colleagues, the families we assisted, and the organizations I volunteered for, represent what is best about our great country; working together, we can accomplish anything.
Perhaps my experiences are best summarized by a handmade sign I photographed in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana after hurricane Katrina, “There is magic in the act of kindness.”
To learn more about The American Red Cross visit www.redcross.org
To learn more about The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration visit www.samhsa.gov
On September 18, 2003, my home in Chesterfield, Virginia was badly damaged by Hurricane Isabel. This storm caused extensive and unexpected inland damage across Virginia. I had thirteen trees fall in my yard and two hit my home. Were it not for the tremendous outpouring of support from my family and friends, and the generous help of complete strangers (clean-up crews from neighboring states), I don’t know how I would have recovered so quickly from this storm.
Having grown up hearing about my grandmother’s gratitude for the support she received, and having personally experienced such overwhelming kindness during a hurricane myself, I resolved to give back to others what had been given to me and my family. So in 2005, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Central Gulf Coast region of the United States, I answered the call of The American Red Cross and The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide mental health services to those in need.
My first deployment was to Fort Worth, Texas for two weeks where I served in a critical care shelter that housed over 200 guests with special physical and psychological needs. Several months later, I returned to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (not far from New Iberia, Louisiana where my grandmother had lived) to work for two weeks providing counseling and substance abuse services to individuals who had been displaced from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. These experiences forever changed my life. My colleagues, the families we assisted, and the organizations I volunteered for, represent what is best about our great country; working together, we can accomplish anything.
Perhaps my experiences are best summarized by a handmade sign I photographed in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana after hurricane Katrina, “There is magic in the act of kindness.”
To learn more about The American Red Cross visit www.redcross.org
To learn more about The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration visit www.samhsa.gov
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