Introduction

STORY ONE: A Scab Being Ripped Off of an Old Wound
*This story is a composite, based on true stories.

Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, displacing over 200,000 people – predominantly African Americans. Accounts of the arrival of approximately 13,000 evacuees to Colorado include experiences of horror, exhaustion, fear, frustration and confusion. Many of the evacuees were loaded onto airplanes and from there onto trains only to find out their final destination upon arrival at the Lowry Campus, where they were greeted with a warm, “Welcome to Denver!” The stories in the days that followed from their experiences in the aftermath of Katrina were haunting. Stories of snipers attacking, homelessness, rape, separation and loss from loved ones, brutal muggings, the elderly and weak being preyed upon were recounted with fear. Images of families sitting on rooftops of homes completely flooded with no escape and bodies floating by remained etched in the minds of the evacuees.

For these survivors, the communities of faith were a source of hope and healing that became the place for them to seek out help for mental and spiritual healing, rather than turning to mainstream services or providers. Many of the Katrina evacuees when offered counseling services responded, “Give me a pastor and I’ll be all right.” Others, when presented with the option of going to the mainstream mental health providers in a room at the Lowry facility exclaimed, “I’m not going into that room; I ain’t crazy, I’m just mad!” For many of these families, stigma was attached to utilizing the formal mental health services as a sign of “hopelessness,” or that it was an admission that their situation was far beyond their control. Rather, many of these individuals, despite potentially severe mental health needs, felt it was a matter of self determination and pride to get through this and turned to and relied upon the faith-based community to meet their needs.

For many African Americans, the separation experienced during Hurricane Katrina not only caused severe current trauma, it also triggered a deep rooted historical trauma. This historical trauma required the presence of a unique culturally-specific mental health response in order to help support these families in addressing their experiences. For many communities of color the cumulative effects of systemic, historic and current neglect and hostility toward them continue to dramatically impact their mental well-being and cannot be ignored in their diagnosis, treatment or recovery. One African American leader articulated that he grew up knowing that his “ancestors existed as property, taken forcibly from their homes, separated from their family and all that was familiar.” For many victims of Hurricane Katrina, the displacement experience felt as though “a scab was being ripped off of an old wound, ” as it reminded them of the stories of their ancestors who were told that if they behaved well, they would be reunited with their family or spouse, yet never were. The current trauma of displacement and separation experienced during Katrina further triggered these old wounds.

Colorado’s faith-based community, that later came together as the “Coalition of Faith,” was poised to understand the evacuee experiences and meet their needs in a warm, familiar, safe and culturally-appropriate way. The faith-based community took on a leadership role and became a partner with the mainstream mental health system not only to mobilize the resources and help evacuees meet their basic needs by assisting them in finding homes, employment and education, but also by providing gentle and safe supports to meet their mental and spiritual needs. The faith-based communities were recognized, even “accredited,” by state leadership as being the critical support system and liaison with the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. They were not, however, reimbursed for the hundreds of thousands of dollars and human capital that they gathered during this time of crisis. Further efforts are needed to build capacity to deliver mental health services in trusted and culturally-appropriate settings, to create more formal connections between mainstream and culturally-traditional services, and to provide more formal education opportunities for mainstream providers to provide care within the cultural context of the individuals they serve.