Months 6-18

In Phase three, ERD will focus on long-term recovery which will overlap with the recovery efforts of Phase two. We are currently assisting those affected by Hurricane Katrina in the following areas:

•  Psychosocial Care– Continued psychosocial care is designed to assist people for an extended period up to two years so that they can resume normal lives after a crisis. Crisis intervention and post-traumatic counseling deal with psychological issues of disaster survivors, reducing their acute stress factors and restoring or enhancing their adaptive capacities. ERD is supporting psychosocial care for targeted communities in Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Biloxi, New Orleans, Slidell, Theriot, Bayou du Large, Lake Charles, and other affected regions. ERD will also support spiritual counseling for the clergy and care-givers.

•  Livelihood, Health and Housing Recovery– Hurricane Katrina virtually destroyed entire communities, medical facilities and businesses. While the damage may appear overwhelming, many public and private assistance has already helped to implement the planning in the long-term recovery of the Gulf Coast communities. ERD supports LEDR (Luther Episcopal Disaster Response) and ODR (ERD Office of Disaster Response in Louisiana) to establish firm working relationships with housing cooperatives, medical services and local credit unions whose expertise will enable our funds to have greater impact for those we serve.

•  Case Management– While an increasing number of services are being offered to those impacted by Katrina, one challenge for the affected population is learning about the services and accessing them where appropriate. Therefore, ERD is supporting about 11 case managers across the Gulf, placing them in the various disaster response offices, resource centers and in some cases mobile case management units. LEDR is already initiating a systematic community-by-community assessment of the 46-county disaster area in Mississippi. Similarly, the case managers of the ODR in Louisiana are conducting community-based assessments for the affected areas as well.

•  Other Interventions- With so many agencies entering the Katrina response area, ERD and the dioceses of Louisiana and Mississippi want to be mindful of the needs that may remain unanswered and populations that might get neglected.  Additional long-term assessments and responses will take time to develop, however MS diocesan priorities include Hispanic and Vietnamese immigrant ministries while Louisiana plans to reach out across racial and religious divides to African American churches, community organizations and undocumented workers. ERD is also providing support to the local offices for advocacy and research in the areas of affordable housing and business redevelopment.

Phase three will begin in the second half of 2006 into 2007.

Go on to Phase Four  >>