Agencies/Resources for Assisting Older Katrina Survivors

The vulnerability of the oldest old: A moving and horrifying letter from social workers in New Orleans:
The anecdotal word that is coming out of New Orleans with regard to the fate of the residents of some of the nursing homes in the affected areas is horrifying. To date, only brief notations are being offered in the public media. Yet, I am afraid that there will be many stories to be told. Disaster plans are generally required of long term care institutions. For Hurricanes, they often involve ordering busses to take the ambulatory residents and a fleet of medical transportation or ambulances for the rest to get away from the danger. For larger facilities, this can be quite a convoy, a journey taken along with thousands of other persons running before a major storm. As a general rule then, when the threat is over, they turn around with the same hundred thousand of their closest friends and drive back to the city assuming the storm was not too severe or their facility is spared. Unfortunately, that scenario was flawed last week in at least two places. First, while a number of facilities do seem to have evacuated and at least some of them are doubling up with nursing care facilities in Baton Rouge, it would also seem that many never left. It will remain the task of historians and politicians to fight over why. Of course the second problem is that it will be a long time before anyone can return, so the temporary housing and doubling up of residents will become more permanent. It is not clear who, if anyone has a disaster plan in place to pick up the pieces for the residents who have survived. It is clear that it does not matter how many disaster plans are on paper, someone has to execute them. This is not a time for blame, but rather prayer, with a resolve to find ways of helping the living, and in preventing this from ever happening again.

Jim Ellor, Baylor University

Here is some of the anecdotal evidence from:
Ron Marks, Dean of the Tulane University School of Social Work: Millions of stories are yet to be told. Today, I learned of two of my students who stayed behind. After the winds calmed, after the levee breached, after the city filled with water, they found a boat and began to look for ways to help. They paddled around the fairgrounds, where Jazz Fest is held, to Esplanade Avenue, a grand boulevard near the French Quarter. They came upon a nursing home where none of the residents had been evacuated and none had had food or water for three days. For the next two days, they broke into homes to salvage water and food destined for spoilage and took it to the starving residents. In the next nursing home they discovered all the residents drowned. From a Baylor student, whose mother is a nurse in a New Orleans Nursing Home: One of the St. Bernard Parish officials had been in phone contact with his mother who was a resident of a nursing home there. She called him every day and he told her someone was on the way to help them evacuate, but she did not make it Friday. She drowned because help was too late arriving. I don't know how many others are/were in similar situations. My mother also told me (with tears in her eyes) that every last employee of one Orleans Nursing Home left the facility while the patients were still in there. I don't have details as to how many of them have survived, but news such as this is appalling.

How to help:

Houston area evacuees:
According to faculty volunteers from the University of Houston SSW, it is anticipated that 40,000-60,000 adults age 60 and above will stay in the Houston area. Care for Elders is a consortium of Houston agencies working together and their fiscal partner is Sheltering Arms Senior Services. They have conducted a triage of elders at the big shelters to move them to smaller ones deep. They recommend contributing to www.careforelders.org. Checks would go to Sheltering Arms Senior Services 3838 Aberdeen 77025, and designate Care for Elders Katrina evacuees in the memo.

Agencies/resources in the Gulf Coast states:
This website summarizes ways to assist agencies serving all age groups in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. http://uanews.ua.edu/anews2005/sep05/reliefefforts.htm

The LA Katrina Senior Relief Fund has been established to benefit elders in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Checks should be made out to LA Katrina Senior Relief Fund and mailed to LA Katrina Senior Relief Fund. P.O. Box 66038, Baton Rouge, LA 70896-6038. The Capital Area Agency on Aging has agreed to serve as the flow through non-profit organization to collect and disburse these funds under the direction of the Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs (GOEA.)

The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aged (AAHSA) is working with care facilities. www.//aahsa.org.

Mark and Ellen Warner, Ageless Designs keep up to date listings of agencies that need help right now (hhtp://alznews.org). email ageless@aol.com; 1-866-745-0210.

Resources to assist older survivors specifically in Alabama:
The Area Agency on Aging/South Alabama Regional Planning Commission is working closely with the Red Cross and FEMA. 251-433-6541 EXT 450, Ashley Tolbert <tolbe016@bama.ua.edu> P.O. Box 1665 Mobile, AL 36633

The community is mostly made of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laos. Hundreds of people, such as shrimpers and fishermen, have lost their source of income.
Baldwin County Council on Aging, 22251 Palmer Street, Robertsdale, AL Phone: (251) 937-0358 Eastern Shore and Bay Minette; (251) 972-8506
Dumas Wesley Center,126 Mobile Street, Mobile, Al 36607 hone: 251-479-0649
Senior Citizens Services, 1717 Dauphin Street, Mobile, AL 36604 (251)478-3311 or (251)470-5233
Bayou Sara Baptist Church Benevolence, P.O. Box 278, Saraland, AL 36571 Phone: (251)675-1770
Hardest hit in Alabama is Bayou La Batre Community Center and Senior Center,
Bayou La Batre, AL 36509 Phone: (251) 824-2171
The Nourishing Place is a non profit that has served the less fortunate for years:
Dr. (Rev.) Jane Stanley, The Nourishing Place, P.O. Box 7785, Gulfport, MS 39506.
During the hurricane, she stayed and sheltered many in her home, including many 80 year olds. She is still feeding and providing for the community from her flooded home through use of a generator and outdoor make-shift kitchen. Funds to her are 100% used to help the victims on the coast. They are providing vouchers for food, clothing, mattresses and bedding at this time.

Supplies needed for adults with Alzheimer’s:
There is a need for products, such as toiletries and incontinence supplies. Donations may be sent to:
Yolanda Diaz, Holy Cross MCC, Attn: Alzheimer’s Relief, 461 Massachusetts Ave., Pensacola, FL 32505.
or to:
Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area, 3772 North Blvd. Ste. B, Baton Rouge, LA 70806. smcarroll@alzbr.org

Posted on September 19, 2005