Impressions from Volunteering at the Hurricane Katrina Family Assistance Center

Suzanne B. Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP, CGP

 Because The American Group Psychotherapy Association is clearly recognized as an organization with the experience and willingness to step up in the face of disaster, I together with many of our members had the opportunity to volunteer at the Hurricane Katrina Family Assistance Center housed at City College of New York( the HRA Job Center) and later at 80 Centre St. The center responded to the needs of evacuees who came to New York because family, friends, a college or some other connection made New York a haven.  My experiences left me with impressions about “lessons learned,” the complexity of victims’ needs, and the nature of the role we can play.

Reflecting on the “lessons learned” after 9/11, The Hurricane Katrina Family Assistance Center coming under the Office of Emergency Management impressively housed and coordinated volunteers and agencies that worked together to meet as many of the evacuees needs as possible, including housing, finances, medical, eye-glass prescriptions, senior needs, children’s needs etc. Agencies as the American Red Cross, The Immigration Office, New York Cares, Disaster Mental Health etc. worked together to provide what was termed  “ One Stop Shopping.”  The most common reaction voiced to me by evacuees was “If only there was something like this in New Orleans” or “ I have friends who could also use this but they will never get to New York.” It became apparent to all of us volunteering that the infra-structure was in place in New York to make this happen.

            Hearing from and reading the experiences of those who went to New Orleans or nearby areas to respond to the unimaginable aspects of this disaster, it was clear that we and those we responded to were fortunate to be physically far from the epicenter of the disaster. What became apparent, however, was the complexity of loss, and unfolding needs that follow in the aftermath of disaster: People with elderly family still there but unable to return; college students with memories of breaking into vending machines for food, fears of never being evacuated, or of being shot in the bus used to evacuate them; students afraid to go back to New Orleans next semester, but unable to keep their scholarships unless they returned; young adults, born, raised and formerly employed in New Orleans feeling that the choice to leave had been taken and a decision about their future pushed onto them; family members here in New York who had feared for their loved ones and now worried about helping them.

Coming under the Disaster Mental Health Office of the NYC Dept of Mental Health, we were told that our roles could vary from being a supportive mental health presence to the staff and volunteers from the many agencies, to crisis counseling and referrals. The second Saturday that I spent at the Center underscored for me the value of Psychological First Aid, the importance of being a “ mental health presence” who lowers anxiety by being there “just in case,” and the importance of doing anything it takes (bringing a volunteer to the staff room for a break, passing along a volunteer’s suggestion of how to reduce time in the waiting room, checking to make sure certain confidential forms were shredded) to make a joint effort work.

That Saturday morning, it happened that in addition to the Disaster Mental Health staff person, I was the only mental health volunteer- a psychiatrist would join me at noon. Concerned that I might need to make a referral for a higher level of care, I reviewed all the hospitals that had agreed to be available for medication, admissions or follow-up from a crisis counseling. My entire shift was busy, but not with formal crisis counseling. The barriers to formerly seeking mental health care exist in the aftermath of disaster, but people are eager to sit informally as they did in the waiting room and share their story, to laugh, to tear up, to ask specific questions, to receive some information that normalizes symptoms and worries, to have someone bear witness to what happened. This is Psychological First Aid.

 Particularly poignant to me as I sat in the waiting room listening and responding were the stories of the caretakers – the New Yorkers who had brought their family and friends for help. Not identified as the evacuees or scheduled to see anyone, they took the opportunity to talk about their secondary trauma – the impact of someone you love being in grave danger. Just as striking to me was the gracious acceptance of my role by the staff, the informal sharing when I asked how they were doing, and the occasional sharing of their 9/11 story. If we remember that trauma echoes trauma, how important that we had the opportunity to support and participate a New York effort to reach out together in the aftermath of a yet another terrible disaster.