A year later, evacuees trying to settle down in Arkansas homes

Hurricane survivors' long-term needs and new needs continue calling for help from the Hurricane Recovery Office of Catholic Charities of Arkansas, as parish volunteer teams are stretched to their limits. New teams are in training, and all focus on helping evacuees make long-term plans.

Published: August 26, 2006

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Even a year after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and scattered its residents, Catholic Charities case managers and volunteers are assisting new people every day with settling in Arkansas or finding a way back home.

"They are still arriving," said Jamie Deere, a licensed social worker who serves as the case management coordinator for the diocesan Hurricane Recovery Office. "People don't realize that. I talked to someone recently who just got here a month ago."

Anniversary events
Click here

Even before the hurricane hit New Orleans Aug. 29, 2005, and the subsequent flooding occurred, people were traveling north to Arkansas to find refuge. Some traveled in their own cars, often staying with friends and family or bunking down in a hotel. Many poor and elderly residents from New Orleans were pulled from their flooded homes and apartments and transported by bus to various "camps" set up around Arkansas to serve as temporary shelter for evacuees.

An estimated 60,000 evacuees were living in the state in early September. On May 17, the last date Federal Emergency Management Agency numbers were provided, there were still 35,000 people (or 11,500 households) within state borders.

While many parishes offered immediate assistance with food, clothing and shelter, the Diocese of Little Rock chose to focus on the most difficult, longest and most expensive part of disaster response -- the recovery and long-term planning for the future.

At the forefront of the resettlement of evacuees in Arkansas is the Hurricane Recovery Office of Catholic Charities. The office was created in September through a grant from the Diocese of Metuchen, N.J., which paid for two office salaries. Funding for direct services for the former Gulf Coast residents came from a diocesan-wide collection held Sept. 3-4. More than $750,000 was collected and, to date, the office has allocated $366,600 to the parishes.

The three-person office brought in experts in disaster response and recovery in October and November to train 115 parish volunteers to serve as case managers. The 42 teams represented 23 counties.

Today, nine teams are now inactive or closed because there was a lack of trained volunteers or need from evacuees. On a hopeful note, three teams -- in El Dorado, Wynne and Blytheville -- are being trained this month to start handling cases.

Now there are 32 active parish teams: Batesville, Camden, Cherokee Village, Conway, Crossett, Fayetteville (St. Joseph), Forrest City, Fort Smith (3), Heber Springs, Hope, Hot Springs (2), Jonesboro, Lake Village, Little Rock (3), Magnolia, Marche, Monticello, Mountain Home, Mountain View, North Little Rock (5), Pine Bluff (St. Peter), Siloam Springs, Texarkana and West Memphis.

Parish teams were given grants of up to $10,000 to distribute to evacuees for unmet needs, such as utility bills, transportation and medicine. As people are moving back to the Gulf Coast, the teams are paying for some of their moving expenses.

Volunteers interview each family who asks for help and assess how to help them settle here or move somewhere else where they have family or friends.

A boost in the resettlement project came in April when five paid professionals were hired as case managers. These employees are stationed in Little Rock, Springdale, Mountain Home, Hot Springs and Monticello to directly work with the volunteers and answer questions.

In the past 10 months, only 45 cases have been closed because the family moved out of state or no more assistance was needed, Deere said.

Unfortunately, a majority of the 500 cases tracked by Catholic Charities still need assistance with their long-term plan. Overall, the office estimated it has served about 1,000 families with direct services or case management.

"We were very effective considering we are a small office," said Sister Joan Pytlik, DC, director of the Hurricane Recovery Office. "There were only three people in the office for most of the time, and we had all these wonderful trained volunteers. I do understand the volunteers are getting tired. It was a big shot in the arm to get five regional case managers in April. They have been able to energize some new teams and recruit some new volunteers."

Keeping the teams organized and motivated has been a big undertaking for the office. Unfortunately, when some of the teams disbanded, it left a hole in services and other teams, already overworked, had to pick up the slack, Sister Joan said.

Pulaski County has the most evacuees but is facing the biggest shortage for teams. In October, seven parishes had team members trained. Today, only Christ the King, St. Edward and St. Theresa churches are aiding survivors. The Cathedral of St. Andrew is in the process of reactivating its team.

"The numbers here (in Little Rock) are so high and the teams can't keep up," Deere said. "They are volunteers and it is hard work."

The team shortage in Little Rock has caused the office staff to rethink how to handles the cases in Pulaski County. Starting Aug. 16, each Wednesday the regional case manager and secretary will set up their office at the Laman Library in North Little Rock in the morning and the Main Library in downtown Little Rock in the afternoon to interview new clients. Previously, the intake was handled by volunteers and was often delayed two or three weeks because of their schedules.

Another shift at the office is the strict focus only on recovery efforts, Sister Joan said. The "relief phase" ended in July.

"Now we are only doing recovery," Sister Joan said. "We are only working with people who are willing make a plan for their recovery. That means getting a job or some source of income and working with the case manager to carry out that plan."

Deere stressed that Catholic Charities is working on long-term case management and clients must be willing and able to meet their goals.

"We want to get them to the next phase so hopefully they are not in crisis," she said. "At this point, we are talking about problems that are going to affect where they go from here -- work, housing, returning home ... Ultimately, these programs aren't going to last forever. ... If they don't get their plan in action, they are going to be out on their own before too long."

The Catholic Charities office is also willing to assist people to move back to Louisiana or Mississippi only if they have a plan, including addressing the shortage of housing.

"They have to come up with a strong plan for housing and employment," Deere said. "We are all for helping people go back, but we don't have to set anyone up for failure."

A lot has changed since the office was established last fall. Initially, the Federal Emergency Management Agency worked with Catholic Charities to give them updated information on federal assistance and current statistics on evacuees. Evacuees qualified for various grants and loans to pay for their living expenses.

In June, FEMA moved out of the state and the diocese was left to handle all areas of hurricane recovery for the state. Now most of the evacuees don't receive federal aid and only qualify for state assistance that would be available to anyone else with the same income.

"There is no preferential treatment for evacuees," Deere said.

With less assistance, many of the evacuees need some guidance on how to build a new life in Arkansas on their own. Middle- and upper-income evacuees had the abilities to find new jobs and housing. However, the elderly, poor and disabled couldn't or didn't want to do it themselves. Many of them have turned to Catholic Charities for help.

"It's very rare that you see someone who has made it," Deere said. "Every case is so involved now. ... They need everything --housing, rent, food, childcare, medical, disabilities, family problems. ... There are no quick fixes at this point."

For now Catholic Charities is going to keep sending its case managers and volunteers out to serve people in need. The office will remain open until at least October 2007.

Next week: Case managers and volunteers share stories on their yearlong journey.

Anniversary events

Several Catholic churches and agencies are hosting events next week to mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Catholic Charities of Arkansas is working with the state and city governments and local churches to host the "Count Our Blessings" Prayer Vigil and Celebration Aug. 29 at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Little Rock. The event will begin at 7 p.m. with a prayer service. From 8-9 p.m. participants are invited to join several events, including children's activities and live music.

Several state and community leaders have been invited to speak. Hurricane survivors, those assisting with the recovery and other interested residents are invited to attend.

St. Mary Church in McGehee will host a special Mass at 5 p.m. Aug. 29. Pastor Father Theophilus Okpara will preside.

An old-fashioned ice cream social will be held for evacuees and local residents at St. Louis Church in Camden from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 27.

"Togetherness Tuesday" will be held at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Pine Bluff Civic Center Plaza. St. Peter Church will participate in the event.