Chapter Update

Tuesday, August 31

Katrina: Five Years Out

These past several days, almost every major media outlet, whether it’s internet, broadcast, or print, has been reporting on how New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have been doing since Hurricane Katrina hit shore on August 29, 2005, leaving 80% of New Orleans flooded. Moreover, the region has experienced even more misfortune the past three months following the BP oil spill. Over 1,800 people lost their lives during Katrina. New Orleans’ population is back up to 78% of its pre-Katrina levels.

I wanted to get a social work perspective on how the region is doing, so I contacted my colleague Carmen Weisner, MSW, LCSW, ACSW. Carmen is a native of the region and a 1974 graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Social Work. She spent thirty-four years in public service and, prior to her retirement in the fall of 2004, she was appointed by then Louisiana Governor Mike Foster to be Assistant Secretary for the Louisana Department of Social Service, Office of Community Services (the state’s public child welfare system). Following her retirement, she was hired by the Louisiana Chapter of the NASW at their executive director.

Late last week, Carmen e-mailed the following….

Thank you so much for thinking of those of us along the Gulf Coast at this time of the year. Trauma for many are revisited when certain reminders occur, and the anniversary of landfall of Hurricane Katrina and the related issues is quickly approaching a population that has recently been re-traumatized by the impact of the oil spill. Many of the families who were directly impacted by the events of 2005 (loss of home, belongings, community, friends, relatives, and culture) understand that the aftermath will follow many of us for several years. Some of the lucky ones have been able to rebuild their homes and lives. Those who were living in marginal housing that was not rebuilt have returned to the area, now facing face higher rents and fewer jobs with the downturn in the economy.

For those who visit the city of New Orleans, the major parts of the city where tourists inhabit have been rebuilt and refurbished. They are back in business and needed improvements have been made.

For parts of the city that have been restored because of the efforts of thousands of volunteers from throughout the country, we are forever indebted. We still see volunteers coming to the area to help rebuild communities in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. As you recall, several of the chapter executive directors volunteered their time when we had a meeting in New Orleans in 2007.

I am amazed at the resiliency of the people of the Gulf. We knew the road back would be long. We did not want to be defined by the storms of 2005, but in some way these events helped to solidify our unique culture and character. We continue to struggle. We are rebuilding the fabrics of some of our communities, reforming our schools, and reframing our health care delivery system. Life as we knew it in early August 2005 was forever changed. It was a wakeup call to the rest of the country that some of the ills we watched for days still exist in many of our major cities throughout this great country. As social workers we need to remain vigilant to institutional racism, the needs of the less fortunate, and being part of the solution to change when it is apparent.

The following is just a small and by no means exhausting sampling of recent reporting on the five year anniversary of Katrina:

Gulf Coast grapples with post Katrina Mental Health issues
Law and Disorder: An on-air and online investigation into questionable police shootings by the New Orleans Police Department in the wake of Katrina.
On One Block, Resilience and Despair: Jourdan Avenue's Uneven Recovery Reflects New Orleans as a Work in Progress; Finally Back at Home—but No Hot Water
We Knew the Story Was Not Done—Spike Lee discusses the making of his new documentary about the ongoing impact of Hurricane Katrina and the state of New Orleans today

Joel L. Rubin, MSW, CAE, has served as executive director of the 7,000 member Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) since October 1999. He has over twenty-five years of nonprofit management and fundraising experience including extensive work with boards of directors, committees and volunteers, and advocacy around a wide variety of social work, human service, and international political issues. Joel is a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Fellowship Leadership Program and a current adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work as well as Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work.