Episcopal Relief and Development’s program interventions in health and psychosocial care are designed to provide the affected areas with medical infrastructure as they seek to rebuild and reconstitute a viable network of clinics and hospitals to support the local population.  They also support the mental, spiritual and emotional health of those facing trauma, as well as their caretakers.

ERD and the Diocese of Louisiana continue to operate a mobile medical unit, in conjunction with St. Ana’s Episcopal Church, New Orleans.  ERD also helps support Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Thomas Clinic, a full service clinic, providing the local community with medical services in the absence of a strong medical establishment.  Medical services supported at Camp Coast Care in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi have transitioned to local county management as those areas return to increased viability. 

Crisis intervention and post-traumatic counseling centers are increasingly being set up across the targeted areas to help disaster survivors identify and respond proactively to the acute stress factors in their daily lives and to enhance their adaptive capacities through a strong counseling and support network.  ERD expects this work to continue throughout 2008.

ERD is also providing psychosocial care and training for congregations across the Gulf Coast and is developing a spiritual counseling support program for clergy, volunteers and other care givers for the Dioceses of Louisiana and Mississippi.