Helping after the Hurricane
Hurricane
Katrina's devastation played itself out before our eyes, TV cameras capturing
the heart-rending plights of those caught in its path of destruction.
Many of us
made financial contributions to the Red Cross and other sources established to
provide support. Two members of the College of Education Counseling Department,
though, gave more than money.
Counseling faculty members Dr. Jeannette
Seaberry and Dr. Paul Barnes gave away time from their families, the comfort of
their homes and their sorely-needed professional assistance to persons who
survived the hurricane. The two professors, with approval of the college,
responded to a request for volunteers with specific credentials to meet the
mental health demands in areas affected by the storm. The volunteers were asked
to commit up to 14 days of service in an unspecified area of the Gulf Coast.
The Red Cross described their service as "hardship assignments" due to adverse
living conditions and the potential for emotionally difficult circumstances.
Seaberry in Tylertown
Seaberry was among 80 volunteers who served up to 500 persons each
day at a center in Tylertown, Miss., located approximately 60 miles north of
Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain. Volunteers were housed in a Baptist Church
basement, where they slept on cots placed approximately 12 inches apart. They
had access to three bathrooms and, when available, three outdoor portable
showers.
Seaberry and other volunteers assembled for the 12-hour workday in
a roofed, open-air rodeo arena. Five hundred colored tickets were issued each
day to storm victims seeking assistance. Victims waited in their vehicles in
long lines for the tickets; those who received one were assembled in the
stands, where they waited to be called to the arena floor. There Seaberry and
other volunteers interviewed families in regard to their need for services. The
volunteers authorized spending of up to $1,565 per family, depending on the
family's size and the amount of destruction to their homes.
Seaberry filled out forms for the families, many of which still
were in shock from their experiences. "It was not unusual for the hands of
those interviewed to be shaking," she says. While she was able to provide brief
counseling during the interview, her primary responsibility was to interview as
many of the families as possible so that those in need could secure help.
Seaberry also walked among the persons in the hot arena stands to
identify individuals who should be moved to the front of the line, such as the
very elderly and pregnant women. "Temperatures were in the 100s, accentuating
the smell that emanated from the arena floor," she says.
At the Tylertown center, donations such as diapers, toiletries and
limited food items donated by corporations were distributed. Seaberry was moved
when volunteers pooled $7,000 from own funds to be distributed to persons in
the community who were unable to come to the center. She also was impressed
with the services and organization of the Red Cross. "The professional Red
Cross workers emphasized the volunteers' mission to remain positive and provide
services," she says.
Seaberry feels her training gave her the strong diagnostic skills
needed for short-term counseling. She also emphasized that mental health
counselors in such volunteer circumstances are needed to assist other
volunteers who experience tremendous stress. "It is important that the mental
health professionals know their own self and their limits," she says.
Barnes in Biloxi
Paul Barnes was one of two mental health professionals who worked,
ate and slept with approximately 150 storm survivors in a shelter located in
the damaged, but intact, D'Iberville Civic Center, located about one-half mile
inland across the peninsula that is Biloxi, Miss. Barnes was gone from
September 21 through October 4.
"The survivors ranged in
age from toddlers to persons in their 80s," he says. "While in the shelter they
were likely to encounter outbreaks of lice, flu-like symptoms and rashes, and
grimaced at the invasion of maggots from piles of debris."
Barnes worked in several
different capacities at the shelter. Foremost was assisting individuals
overwhelmed with emotions as they recounted their survival experiences. "Many
shelter residents reported witnessing horrific sites during the storm, while
others shared miraculous stories of survival," he says. "Many survivors had
lost everything, including loved ones, homes, autos, clothing, personal
belongings and medications. Several residents of the shelter had physical
disabilities, ailments or mental disorders that were going largely untreated
and sometimes without medication. Daily tasks often involved working with these
survivors to reconnect them with needed resources."
As a part of the Red Cross
shelter staff, Barnes also helped serve meals, distribute supplies and clean
portable bathrooms.
Though the shelter Barnes lived and worked in had restrooms, the
facilities periodically would cease to function. Portable toilets located
outside were the most dependable alternative. Outdoor showers made of plywood
provided the opportunity to keep clean.
Buildings in the Biloxi-Gulfport region essentially were
flattened. Persons in the shelter were anxiously awaiting FEMA trailers to
provide them a home and privacy. Those who owned land that was clear of debris
were likely to receive a trailer before persons without a place to locate the
trailer. Work was being done to secure areas for persons who did not own land,
and a tent city was developing near the shelter as people awaited more
permanent housing.
"Witnessing this kind of destruction and loss serves to trivialize
my daily concerns at home," Barnes says. "It was very satisfying to know I was
able to help in even the smallest way. Despite their incredible resilience, the
people in this region will need help for many years."
The experience provided
Barnes an opportunity to hone his crisis intervention skills. Such experience
will help him in the classroom as he teaches and trains counselors. He added
that his past experience working as a school counselor was the best preparation
for living in the shelter.
"Life in the shelter taught you to expect the unexpected."
