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Save the Children Gives Hurricane Katrina Victims Much-Needed Help
Westport, CT (September 9, 2005) --
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Hurricane Katrina has displaced thousands of children and their families who will be in need of assistance for months to come. |
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, Save the Children is assisting children and their families forced from their homes in the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast.
"Our special focus is on displaced children," said Save the Children President and CEO Charles MacCormack. "We are establishing programs to bring some normalcy into their lives. This includes trauma support and counseling, educational activities, and creating safe areas for children to gather and play.”
Save the Children has a team of experts on the ground in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with another team headed for Jackson, Mississippi early next week. We are working in the schools and shelters with children who were uprooted, providing specially tailored activities to help children heal emotionally, and distributing toys and games that are appropriate for children of different ages.
Save the Children is also working with state education officials to ensure teachers have training, curricula and other resources to help thousands of displaced children adjust to the upheaval they have experienced.
Save the Children is building upon decades of experience helping children in need in the United States and around the world.
“We know from our work with tsunami victims in Asia – and in dozens of other disaster zones – how to help communities give children back the sense of routine and stability they have lost,” said MacCormack. “In addition, we have a long history of helping children in the United States to overcome severe poverty through literacy programs during in-school and out-of-school time. Children who have lost their homes, family members, pets, schools and friends because of Katrina need this kind of help.”
Donate to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes Recovery Fund for Children
For 10 tips to help children cope with Hurricane Katrina, click here.
Parents and educators, download the toolkit, Expecting the Unexpected: Building Partnerships and Plans to Help Children Cope with Crises (2002). The guide draws from the best national resources, programs and practices to meet the safety and security needs of children in rural, impoverished communities. It identifies practical models for bringing parents and community agencies together to plan for and recover from disasters.
