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Oct. 28, 2005
Baton Rouge & New Orleans, Louisiana
Katrina Advance Team
The Trauma Outreach Program’s Team 1 began work with Catholic Charities in Baton
Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana on Oct. 28, 2005. Upon arrival, our gracious
hosts provided us with a thorough briefing of the post Katrina/Rita activities of Catholic
Charities and Catholic Community Services. It became clear that every facet of
hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, whether or not they were evacuees, had been
affected by the displacement caused by the hurricanes. We learned about the plight of
the very large (100,000+) immigrant, community, a majority of whom fled Honduras in the
wake of Hurricane Mitch seven years ago. We were humbled by the dedicated staff of
Catholic Charities, most of whom had worked tirelessly for over two months, providing
services for thousands of survivors. Their dedication is particularly noteworthy, in that
many have lost their homes and are currently still separated from their families.
Our initial task was to orient the staff of Catholic Charities to the Trauma Outreach
Program. We provided Orientations for: Migration Services, the Social Justice
Department, Hope Haven Shelter, Children’s Services, Second Harvest, Domestic
Violence Services, Emergency Case Workers, and the Medical Director. We found the
staff very receptive. We were honored by an invitation to deliver a short presentation at a
meeting hosted by the Archbishop of the Diocese.
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans has generously provided funding for our
transportation as well as housing for our team members in a shared house in Baton
Rouge. There is simply no housing, hotels, or motels available in New Orleans or Baton
Rouge. Catholic Community Services of Baton Rouge has provided us with space in their
facility to work with staff from both Dioceses. The fabric and infrastructure of Baton
Rouge has changed due to a population increase of 140,000. It can be challenging just
maneuvering automobiles from one location to another. The magnitude of the upheaval
on individuals, families, and communities became clear from the compelling stories the
staff shared with us during the Orientations.
Our initial interventions consisted of small groups, and were focused on the array of
traumatic and acute stress symptoms that might be experienced by the staff. We also
gave them information about how they could manage their symptoms based on a Trauma
First Aide® model being developed by the Trauma Outreach Program. As staff members
came to know us, there was a comfort that emerged, as well as a growing trust. Some
individuals from the group offerings signed up for private sessions. Two of our SEPS
gave individual sessions.
The initial feedback from the staff has been very encouraging. They have been receptive
to both the small group and individual interventions. We have initiated the pre-treatment
symptom assessments, and are collecting outcome information from the individual
sessions.
The Trauma Outreach Program has established six teams to provide our services through
the middle of December, 2005 in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We have been deeply
touched by the resiliency of the people of Louisiana, and encouraged by the effectiveness
of our interventions.
TOP Team – Week 1
Daniel Bruce, Team Leader
Julia Gombos, Clinical Supervisor
Lorin Hager
Susan Mikesic
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katrina/rita
