DHH-CAN Meeting November 9, 2005

My desire to help improve the situation for deaf disaster victims is ongoing. Today I gave a Power point presentation on my Katrina relief experience in Houston with a coalition of national organizations serving deaf people, DHH-CAN (Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Action Network). DHH-CAN has representatives who live in close proximity to Washington, D.C. who represent deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind people. The member organizations of CAN include the American Association of the Deaf-Blind, the American Society for Deaf Children, the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association, the Association of Late-Deafened Adults, the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf, Deaf Seniors of America, Gallaudet University Alumni Association, Jewish Deaf Congress, the National Association of the Deaf, National Black Deaf Advocates, National Catholic Office of the Deaf, Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc., United States Deaf Sports Federation, and WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts.

At the presentation today, I explained my two week deployment in Texas helping with the relief effort with deaf evacuees from New Orleans, most all whose former homes were in the infamous Lower Ninth Ward.

In addition, Cheryl King, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office from the Federal Communications Commission also gave a presentation to the group. All agreed that more work needs to be done to better respond to deaf disaster victims and those with disabilities. I hope to submit a proposal and present at the NAD conference next July in California. How I would love to find funds to bring some of the deaf evacuees themselves to present at the conference!

The link to my Power-point is:

http://my.gallaudet.edu/bbcswebdav/users/barbara.white/Deaf%20Disaster%20Victims.ppt

Campus Presentation at Gallaudet

On October 12, the team of mental health professionals whom Gallaudet sent to the Gulf region, gave a presentation to the campus, entitled "Hurricane Aftermath: the Gallaudet Response."

Alexis and I joined two of the mental health counselors who went to Baton Rouge (Kendra Smith and Heidi Camacho) on the panel. Frank Zieziula and Carla Shird were unable to attend the presentation. In addition, Dr. Virginia Gutman, Chair of the Psychology Dept, who regularly volunteers with the local Red Cross in DC, was on the panel. The panel was moderated by Dr. Lauri Rush, Director of the University Mental Health Center, and Dr. Diane Morton, Professor in the Dept. of Counseling. Diane has been working with the Red Cross for four years trying to emphasize the need to make some modifications in their disaster response to deaf disaster victims. It was clear that we have a lot of work to do to educate Red Cross and FEMA about deaf people's needs on the national level. Kendra told of going to the shelters and the Red Cross volunteers not knowing a thing about how to identify the deaf evacuees there. The same scenario was repeated in the Houston Astrodome; interpreters who volunteered to find deaf people there had to walk through with signs to identify the deaf evacuees. It was volunteers from the deaf community who helped identify them. The campus TV Dept. videotaped the presentation.

A week at home

This past week has been one of decompressing and getting back to routine for all six of us. We had a helpful debriefing and will do a campus presentation on Tuesday, Oct. 11th. The emphasis will be on working with the various systems, the importance of volunteerism, and the absolute necessity of preparing a large number of volunteers who can be ready to deploy and work with deaf people. There has been much interest among the Gallaudet community in the work we did in the Gulf region, and I am still getting emails of thanks from the people in Texas. Last night I did a video phone call to the Woodhaven church and talked with many of the people we worked with. I was able to show them the pictures I took over the video phone, which was a delight to them. I'll never forget these folks, who have left a profound impression on me.

Back Home

I flew back home on Friday. It was so good to get back to my family and familiar surroundings (and much cooler weather!) I'm making mental notes of the things that need follow up. I will be in touch with Pastor Craig and Linda Mustain, who will start Monday as the coordinator of the relief efforts through the church. I read my mail piled up over two weeks and was so pleased to see the front page story of On the Green about the university response to the hurricane disasters in the Gulf. I agree with the campus wide email that stated the hurricane showed a "palpable racial and class divide, one that no doubt exists in many major American cities." I also noted in my professional social work newspaper (NASW) has set up a special commission to combat poverty. If anything good comes from these disasters, I hope there will be a change in national policies, as well as personal attitudes and resolve to end the racial, class, and income disparities that exist and became so transparent during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I also hope it will result in better evacuation plans for each major city. You have by now seen many news articles about the nightmarish evacuation out of Houston on Sept. 21 and 22nd, when the media was calling Rita a category 5 "monster" hurricane. If you have a copy of the Newsweek magazine for the week of Oct. 3rd, look at the huge photo of this massive traffic jam on page 28 and 29. This is the road we took out of the city on Sept. 21st.

(I hope we can keep this blog going and write updates as we follow up with the Red Cross and FEMA, TDI and Homeland Security and brief these national organizations on the gaps we saw in disaster response for deaf evacuees.)

Our last day in Houston

Our last full day was Thursday, September 29th. Alexis did some more work with the children, letting them trace themselves on huge paper rolls and then placing bandaids where they "hurt" on the paper. We are gathering resources for the therapeutic work that may be needed in the weeks to come.

Our concern as we "terminate" with our clients, who will carry on the therapeutic work that we began? Alexis and I may be doing some follow up work on Videophone with some of these folks on a voluntary basis (the church can let them use their VP).

Alexis helped a deaf woman (who is still missing a sister from New Orleans and can't locate her mother) put her identifying information on a Red Cross web page to help families find each other. So many families were separated in the chaos of the flooding, with busses taking them to different cities. Alexis was also able to reach FEMA about a change of address for a deaf man who was originally in a shelter in LA and got his checks sent to TX instead of LA.

Linda Mustain, who is the wife of the Associate Pastor, has taken over the job of coordinating services for the deaf evacuees from Katrina, and now may even have her hands full with some evacuees from Rita. We have been the Red Cross, FEMA, Salvation Army, chauffers, as well as social workers and counselors during these two weeks.

Poorna Kushalnagar, a deaf former Gallaudet graduate student who is doing doctoral studies in
developmental cognitive neuroscience at the Univ. of Houston, came with donations and shared referral sources for mental health services.

On Wednesday, all the residents received furniture, donated by the largest furniture company in Houston, Gallery Furniture. They now have living room, dining room and bedroom quality furniture, which made them all very happy, yet some still wishing they could have picked out their own furniture (everyone got the same). I drove two of the women to Walmart where they purchased household items. There was barely room in car when I picked them up!

We had to say our goodbyes in small groups because the rental car (a Nissan Sentra) would only hold four at a time. It was an emotional moment for me. I was given a necklace with a cross by one of the residents who thanked me for being there. I am truly in awe of the strength that people who have lost everything find in their faith.

I've come to be convinced that in times of national disaster, it is the work of local churches and volunteers who can play a most important role in disaster response. I am so moved by the resilience of these courageous people. I am also in awe of Pastor Craig for opening up his church to the evacuees and helping them with the myraid tasks of resettlement in their new apartments. He has truly become a bedrock of support for them. He took us to dinner and shared with us stories about his son (who was killed in the war in Afghanistan), the work the church does with nearly 100 deaf prisoners in Huntsville, TX, and how he found his calling in the church. Theresa Johnson, past president of ADARA, also joined us to say goodbye. She was a fairy godmother when we first arrived, letting us stay in her lovely home for the first part of the journey (until the evacuation on Wednesday).

NOTE: THE PICTURE BELOW IS BORROWED FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE, IT IS NOT MINE

FEMA Relief Center

As you can see from this photo, there were long lines beginning at 6:00 a.m. here in Houston at the FEMA Relief Center. Most of these folks are evacuees from Beaumont and Lake Charles, two gulf coast Texas cities devastated by Hurricane Rita. As I gather my thoughts about leaving here tomorrow, I can only hope that we will be much better prepared for the next disaster.

A Tale of Two Necklaces

Just before I left DC to come to Houston, my new friend and co-worker Lisa Jacobs gave me a necklace to bring with me on behalf of everyone at the Clerc Center. It was a black knit pouch and inside was a stone.

At the beginning of the school year, Dr. Jankowski gave a welcome back presentation to the staff and teachers of the Clerc Center. In her presentation she told the story of Stone Soup. The phrase that was repeated throughout the story was "Bring what you got and put it in the pot."
When Lisa gave me the necklace she remarked that in going to Houston I was doing my part with what I had. She reminded me, "bring what you got...throw it in the pot!" and with that I left for Houston.

As I'm getting ready to leave, I've decided to give the Stone Soup necklace to a family that has demonstrated such resiliance in the face of disaster. A gift to them from the Clerc Center and Gallaudet community.

And with me I'll bring back home a necklace that was given to me on the trip back from Austin to Houston by one of the New Orleans evacuees. A small gift but one that meant the world to me!

Terminating Blues

In this past week I've started to do some wonderful work with the children. I was conscious that in starting the work I was also having to terminate so I had to keep reminding the children that I was leaving on Friday. The children are truly amazing and it is such an honor to even know them much less be a witness and listener of their stories.

Yesterday I brought each of them books and was delighted to see that they immediately wanted to sit down and read them. I'm hoping upon my return to start a book drive to send more books out their way (of all the donations they have received...no books!!).

Thanks to everyone for their amazing words of support on this blog. You have no idea how loved and supported I feel by everyone at my Clerc Center home!!

Hello From the Houston Deaf Community

The presentation on Post Traumatic Stress was attended by both first responders, and church members. Kathy Weldon, a social worker who was one of the first responders, helped lead the discussion. People were able to vent their true feelings about the lack of help and response to deaf people staying in the Astrodome. The presentation also helped them express their feeling of grief, anger, and helplessness, as well as hope that things will get back to normal soon.I was so thankful no one we knew suffered an injury during the evacuation. The newspapers reported over 30 deaths of elderly and sick people during the long, hot evacuation in cars, many of which overheated and ran out of gas. I'm still distressed about what we went through and the enormous responsibility we undertook driving the evacuees 15 hours with fear of running out of gas. (I think the gathering helped me cope as well!)

I gave out the blog address since a lot of people didn't know we were keeping a journal "online." At the end of the meeting, a few people wanted to type in the blog, typed below in italics:

I really felt that hurricane katrina will hit at Houston and able be
destroy us so last week I watch weather news and seen many people drive on way to different to austin ,dallas, waco, san antonio and arkansas, and they still
crowd to traffic and on road but they still remain to drive to long way. if I
drive to Austin with my daughter but my mind is crowded and wait too and my car very hot. I dont want go but I feel better safe and I stay at my friend s house.
I saw people got flood at beaumout, Louisiansa and other places there . I feel
want to help and to bring them back houston so be safe !

This is Brittany, I am a deaf girl. When we left home for Austin we were on the
freeway for about 7 hours !!!! When we turned back to go home it took 5 min to
go back home! I felt really exhausted from staying on the freeway for so
long!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post Traumatic Stress Workshop

Post%20Traumatic%20Stress.ppt

Click above to see our Power point:

We prepared a presentation this evening on "Post Traumatic Stress: First Responders"

Many of the people who became helpers during the first chaotic weeks when the evacuees were brought to Houston and dropped off at the Astrodome, have not had a forum for discussing their feelings and reactions to the chaos they found themselves in. Many were the interpreters who worked tirelessly around the clock when the evacuees were re-located to the shelter at the George R. Brown (sign on chin "GBR") Center.

A special Birthday wish to my husband, Bruce, who has been a wonderful support to me while I've been here, even navigating me via Mapquest to take a different evacuation route to Austin!

Houston Children's Museum

Today Kathy Weldon, Gallaudet alumnus '77, who is a social worker in Houston, led us to the Houston Children's Museum downtown. Alexis and I felt this was a therapeutic milieu for the three young children in our group. Sure enough, they spent several hours here just being children, and enjoying the interactive exhibits there. We brought them for an "ice cream party" back at Woodhaven Church, and Alexis did play therapy with each child individually. Needless to say, there are a lot of feelings in these young hearts about the upheavals they have been through.

We have been unduly frustrated trying to get Red Cross and FEMA and even the Salvation Army on the phone. All lines are busy or we are put on hold longer than we have patience for. Some of the residents have no furniture yet. We are going to Target to get some basic items that were not in the donation piles here at the church, such as shower curtains and sink drains. We also will buy birthday gifts for two of the children who mentioned they have birthdays next week.

Message from "Mr. A."

I'm across from the church at a cafe with Internet, showing a family the computer here and helping fill out applications. Mr. A wants to say a few words to the Gallaudet community:

Hello. i m happy that Dr. Barbara White and Ms. Alexis Greeves good active going to keep business help people help for deaf that wonderful more for safety hurricane katrina. pastor chruch friend going to help them .becxz of reason come again hurricane in houston tx what have plan get van and car make sure plan night pickup everybody went to travel wow traffic full i make sick of this traffic very slow in hrs 21 arrive there in austin tx. we went at in shelter for while time 3days. but dr .barbara and ms.alexis still seee check there in shelter becxz make sure everbody okay. i like it that wonderful .and engoy went to shopping very neat .in few day other went at in std deaf school for while time there just for 1days. very nice that beauitful city. dr barbar white and ms .alexis greeves.still talk abt plan back to houston tx by yestreday finllay arrive we re safety here no mess or damger flood . and god bless dr.bardara white and ms alexis greeves and mr.pastor craig for helpful us god bless thank you and everynone.

Our "Home Base" at Woodhaven Baptist Church

Today the Houston public schools are closed, and many restaurants are as well, because many personnel and food supplies have not made their way back to Houston after the evacuation. I want to commend the Woodhaven Baptist Church and Pastor Arthur Craig and the many people in Houston, including the corp of interpreters who have been heavily involved in the welfare of the Katrina/Rita evacuees. Am posting a picture of Alexis and I with Pastor Craig. Donations to the church, which will go directly to the deaf families trying to get their lives back together, are much appreciated. You can find the link here to the Woodhaven Baptist Church. The address is
Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church
9920 Long Point
Houston, TX 77055
C/O Pastor Arthur Craig
(Please put "Katrina Relief" on the MEMO line of your check.)

A Trip to Remember

We took our chances and headed out this morning from Austin and TSD. Vicki White, bless her heart, was already up and serving the group bagels and pasty with her staff at 8:00 a.m. I went and told the group we were leaving, since I received a page from Pastor Craig that it was "our turn" to head back. The Mayor of Houston was asking evacuees to come back in "quadrants" and the church and apartments are in the Northwest Quadrant. We filled both van and car up with a full tank of gas and got everyone ready.

I held my breath each time we ran into slow traffic, then relief when the traffic picked up. We only stopped for bathroom breaks three times (well, with kids, that's not a bad record). We do have some funny stories out of all this, which are funnier to explain in ASL (Alexis is a pro at the story about honking to get my attention on the highway, so I'll let her tell you that when she returns). She thinks it is a good thing I had the 3 little kids in the back seat with me and the deaf mom and I in the front seat, so they can make as much racket as they wanted without annoying me.

When we arrived, I went into each apartment and made sure the power was back on and none of the food spoiled. What a blessing to not have flooding or damage in this part of the city, although some power was lost and the AC wasn't working very well. But the residents are back in their newly established homes, and looking forward to seeing us tomorrow. The crisis has actually brought the group closer and I feel a sense of trust in Alexis and I.

I never thought when I came down here that I would be an evacuee myself! This has certainly been a lesson in disaster management, as well as the necessity of "rolling with the punches."

We checked into a hotel and have wireless connection, so will keep you informed the next few days as we resume the work we were sent her to do. And there is much yet to be done.

Back in Houston!

Adventure over. I think. For now.

We got word that the mayor of Houston was organizing a staggering return for Houston residents. Today was our day to return so we got everyone into the van and rental car and headed back. Amazingly we were back in 4 hours!! Everyone is in their apartments and Barbara and I checked into a hotel room. Unfortunately there is a smell from the dampness-evidence of the hurricane rains hitting the hotel (we figured this must be true for all the rooms since we've aleady changed rooms after smelling the dampness in our first room).

It's 104 degrees here...hard to believe that October is around the corner!

Barbara's posting, Saturday

As I write this Saturday evening from the home of Peyton Moore (who used to be the Occupational Therapist at Kendall School until she relocated to Austin with her partner, Denise, a year ago.) It has been a wonderful evening visiting them and their 4 children, and feeling a sense of "home", since we have felt like nomads for a week. But it is nothing like what the evacuees are feeling. I sense their loss and sadness today. When we learned their shelter was closing, we quickly went to help them pack and moved them to TSD in the boys high school dorm. The rooms are empty only until tomorrow, when students start returning from their weekends, so we are working with Pastor Mike Ringer of the Baptist Deaf Church here in Houston (not far from the school) to make a decision where to house the 11 members tomorrow. The church does not have cots, and we may have to move them to a Red Cross shelter AGAIN. We have become close to this group and the children touch my heart. A social work maxim, "start where the client is" is so true. You can't do any "therapy" until the basic needs are met. For these folks, it is a constant struggle to get basic needs met. They were so greatful for the dinner tonight at TSD, a big improvement from the shelter food. We hope to enroll one of the deaf sons at TSD Monday morning, and then be on our way, but we have to wait for the emergency reports and make sure there will be enough fuel and supplies to get back. However, another friend said her husband left today and made it in normal time. I hope to get near a computer again soon, but thank Bruce for taking my place and updating this blog from all the messages I've sent him (and a few VP calls). Thank goodness for both !

After the storm -- Saturday afternoon, 9/24

(This is Bruce posting for Barbara.)

Everyone is fine, and girding for the latest change of plans.

Alexis and Barbara learned late this morning that the shelter where the evacuees stayed last night was due to close today after volunteers served a lunch of soup. After receiving permission from Vicki White, Director of Residential Services, to house them at one of the dorms at TSD due to this latest crisis, Barbara and Alexis helped them pack their few belongings and moved them yet again. The hope is that they can enjoy themselves at a deaf club gathering this evening, and perhaps even have a night out without the children if volunteer babysitters can be found. Returning to Houston at this point is out of the question, as official alerts warn that there is insufficient food and fuel along the highways. Pastor Craig is checking to see if there is any damage to the apartments in Houston, and reports that electricity is still out in many places in the city, creating traffic jams. Perhaps they will be able to return to Houston in a few days.

In the meantime, they are receiving as much hospitality and support as possible. In one of her messages this morning, Barbara (who is probably wearing out her thumbs from constant use of her pager) expressed thanks to everyone who has been pitching in to help and welcome them. She noted that this experience was another demonstration of the truth behind the title of Jerry Schein's classic book, "at home among strangers."

NOTE: THE PICTURE OF A RED CROSS VOLUNTEER IN A SHELTER BELOW IS BORROWED FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE.

First full day in Austin

This morning Barbara and I went over to the shelter to see everyone. We were utterly dismayed to find out that the beds we were told were arriving yesterday afternoon never came. We sent out emails to as many people as we could in the area trying to see if people could bring their own as loaners (we had offered to buy some but were told that they are all sold out all over the city). Someone came by in the afternoon with a mattress and box spring which we are hoping are going to work as two separate beds. When we left we were hoping that more people would come afterwards to bring more air mattresses. We won't know until tomorrow.

There were other frustrations that I won't share at this point but needless to say we've had a stressful day. One highlight for me was going to the mall (we were picking up some of the people from our group who wanted to go out for the day) and upon finding one of the evacuees who we couldn't find for a long time, I paid $5 to sit in one of those chair massagers and closed my eyes and left Texas for 15 minutes.

We continue to watch the news and are thankful to see that Rita has been downgraded and Houston is no longer in its direct path. However, like all of you we are keeping our eye on the news and are hoping that the devastation is kept to a minimum.

One touching story we heard today from one of the couples in the group was that they had been separated during Katrina and "Carolyn" was brought to Houston. Oprah made a visit to the Astrodome in Houston where she came across Carolyn who told Oprah she was deaf. When this segment aired Carolyn's boyfriend saw her on TV and made contact with people in Houston who were able to help him get there to be reunited with his girlfriend.

A quick highlight of my day was seeing an old college friend of mine Danny Lacey and his wife Debbie White (formerly a PIP teacher at the Clerc Center). What a joy to see these old friends and meet their son, Ashton.

Tomorrow we're hoping to see Peyton Moore (formerly an OT at the Clerc Center) and her partner Denise and meet their new son Mateo.

Thanks to our friends here in Austin for taking such good care of us!!

Here in Austin!!

So here we are in downtown Austin after a harrowing 16 hour drive from Houston. Needless to say that the traffic was bad (hmmm..."bad" just doesn't seem like a heavy enough word to describe it) and at 3 still stuck in Houston-exiting traffic I thought I was going to lose my mind but Barbara and I kept each other company with texting (not too hard to do when you're only travelling 3mph) and listening to the radio I felt I was becoming a member of a club I didn't sign up to join (ask me anything about being on the "clean side" or "dirty side" of a hurricane...I can probably also tell you every gas station in a 50 mile radius of Houston that has run out of gas.)

We got to Austin and got our New Orleans evacuees situated at a shelter. We were aiming for the Delco center but upon our approach heard that Delco was full so we were redirected to LBJ High School where we had a very warm welcome from Jo Bienvenu and interpreters from CSD in Austin. I started to tear up and had to really keep myself together...a mixture of sheer exhaustion, relief that we had arrived and just heart-warming joy to see us so well received by the kind people here.

Thanks for all your concern and now we just hope that others have cleared out of the way of this storm's path and that the next few days will be safe for everyone.

En route to Austin

(This is Bruce White filling in for Barbara White temporarily.)

At about 8:30 Wednesday night Barbara and Alexis and their passengers left the Woodhaven Baptist Church in Houston in a rental car and van and headed west on Route 10. It took an hour to go the first 10 miles, and they drove all through the night. (The trip from Houston to Austin is normally about a three-hour drive.) They worked their way north to Route 290 and headed west again and after a stop this morning in Brenham they're now between Giddings and Austin proceeding at a slow pace. The plan is to arrive at the Delco Activity Center, just east of Austin, where the deaf evacuees can be together and receive the assistance and services prepared for them. Everyone is safe and coping as well as they can with this ordeal. Barbara and Alexis will then proceed to the Texas School for the Deaf to get some rest. My guess is that they will resume posting by this evening from the TSD campus.

Heading to Austin

Rita is now Category 5 and we are planning our evacuation with Katrina evacuees to Austin to a shelter at the Delco Center that is taking in Katrina evacuees. We're hoping to leave in a few hours. Don't know if we'll have internet access but will hopefully find a way of letting everyone know we're safe!

Another evacuation?

Due to the threats of Hurricane Rita which is currently a Category 4 storm, we are currently developing our own evacuation plan to leave Houston. Will keep you posted!

ps. this is crazy.

George R. Brown Convention Center

Here is a link to the GRB where the deaf evacuees were housed after the Astrodome: http://www.houstonconventionctr.com/grb_hurricane_relief.html

You can get a sense of the different resources made available to them while they were there. A much more positive experienece than the Astrodome and of course by all accounts the Superdome in New Orleans was a living nightmare.

Determining needs of deaf evacuees

Today we visited three families, who have been located to apartments about two miles from the Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church. Each family is unique with unique needs, but the commonality they share is strength and resilience. They have been through terrible losses. I was deeply moved by a woman whose ten year old child is developmentally delayed and her only wish if for a new wheelchair, physical therapy and OT for her. Each individual we've met are appreciative of any help coming their way but are anxious to get on their own feet soon. I am leaving now to go with Pastor Craig to the Salvation Army and buy more items; several of the apartments still have no furniture, and some do not have the right size clothes. One man gave me a pair of shoes that were given to him since they were a woman's shoe size. So you see, right now we are following Maslow's heirarchy of needs and our focus at the moment is at the bottom of the pyramid. My husband reminded me this morning of Plato's adage "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

September 19th - First day in Houston

I have been in Houston 24 hours and have already been moved by the tremendous outpouring of support for deaf evacuees, and the very adept organization of the deaf community and the service organizations, particularly Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church and Pastor Arthur Craig. Pastor Craig has given us full use of the church facilities and resources, allowing us to use an office, the computer and other equipment.

We have spent all day today with one evacuee, who was rescued from the floodwaters in New Orleans, standing on a roof and waving and yelling to the hellicopters. She finally was recued by someone who came by in a boat and found her way to the busses leaving the city. She is an inspiration to me and her resilience in the face of so much loss is a tribute to the human spirit and sense of hope. I feel humbled by the ability to help her today, which involved helping her pack all the donated things she was able to gather at the George R. Brown Center (where the deaf evacuees were moved from the Astrodome on the third day to get better services), giving her emotional support as we drove her to the airport. She has never been in an airport before or been on a plane, so we were able to wait with her at the gate, get an attendant for her to escort her to the plane, and send her off where she will be reunited with her daughter in Baton Rouge (they got separated in the chaos of the flooding in New Orleans.) The airline personnel are very flexible in that they do not mandate a photo ID from these folks, because many lost all their identification.

We are on our way now to the apartment complex not far from the church where we will set up appointments and assess needs for the remaining time here. I'm glad Gallaudet loaned me this laptop (thanks Jeff Murray !) Thanks for all your emails and offer of help. The best help now is to make a cash donation to the Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church (the web site and mailing address is posted on this blog.) They do need TTYs too but phones are not installed in the apartment yet (thanks Diana Markel for the TTY which I brought with me).

Houston Chronicle article

Here is a link to an article that ran on the front page of the Houston Chronicle on Sept. 11th that gives an accurate description of the experiences of the evacuees:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3348415

Listing of deaf evacuees

Here is a website that Woodhaven Baptist Deaf church has set up to help identify the evacuees in case anyone is still trying to locate family members or friends:

http://www.woodhavendeaf.org/KATRINA-DEAF.htm

Arrived safe and sound and put to work

I arrived on Saturday afternoon and after a brief "check-in" at the "hotel" (we're staying with our kind and generous host Theresa Johnson), we immediately set off for the George R. Brown Convention Center to help the last of the deaf evacuees leave the center and move into an apartment.

Apparently the evacuees were all staying at the Astrodome here in Houston when they first arrived in early Sept. A group of people comprising mostly of interpreters in the Houston area identified the deaf individuals amongst the throngs of others and advocated to have them moved to the G.R. Brown Convention Center where resources were pooled together.

Over the course of the following week the collective group of individuals in or working in the deaf community fought hard to have the unique needs of the deaf recognized. From what I'm hearing on all accounts it was a frustrating but eventually fruitful struggle. The deaf evacuees were all moved into unfurnished apartments where they are currently situated as I write.

Back to Saturday, we arrived at the Convention Center but the family had already been moved. Despite not being much help there, it was still useful to me to see the Convention Center to get an idea of where these people had been living. It was just what you see in the media...a big open space with huge cots or inflatable mattresses all lined up. There were curtained off areas for various medical needs and places for children to play. It looked quite organized and well-run. I was assured that this was not at all the case at the Astrodome where it was dark, hot and trash everywhere.

As I write Barbara White and I are at the Woodhaven Baptist Deaf Church which is the "headquarters" for the mobilization efforts. I have to commend the people in the deaf community of Houston who have taken on a lot of hard work and long days followed by long nights to ensure that the deaf evacuees were identified and had their immediate needs met.

More to come as we identify the next set of needs and start focusing on the mental health and well-being of the people here.

Leaving tomorrow!

I was just given word that Gallaudet University, in their effort to support the relief work as a result of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina is sending licensed counselors and social workers to do counseling with deaf and hard of hearing evacuees. Several counselors have already left to go to Baton Rouge to provide support and counseling to the families and individuals who are being housed at the Louisiana School for the Deaf.

Barbara White and I will be going to Houston, Texas to where a number of deaf individuals have been evacuated. Once we get there we'll be learning what we can do to help.

It's all quite humbling and a bit harried (I'm not a last minute kind of person) but in times of emergency I guess one does what has to be done!!

I am hoping there will be opportunities to get on the internet and update this blog. Keep an eye out!!