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What's Inside:
NMHA Responds to Hurricane Ravaged Gulf Coast

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Research Notes

NMHA and its 340 local and state affiliate network continue to mount a coordinated mental health response to the thousands of victims of recent hurricanes, which devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, caused major damage in southern Florida, killed more than 1,000 people, and displaced an estimated 1.3 million people from their homes and communities.

Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, the national office formed a Disaster Response Team that met every day to coordinate response efforts with MHAs working on the front lines. As part of the effort, the team has so far held two conference calls with MHAs to organize our ongoing efforts.

MHAs from states directly affected by the disasters and advocates from across the country are working daily to support evacuees, and assist displaced consumers children and families. MHAs are out in the field meeting with state health agencies and volunteer organizations to better orchestrate response efforts and services. They are also working with the media to broadcast mental health tips and information on available resources.

NMHA’s Federal Affairs staff is working tirelessly to reach out to congressional leaders and key committees, federal agencies and legislators in affected areas to call their attention to the short- and long-term mental health and housing issues so many communities now face. Most recently, NMHA wrote a letter to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Director Charles Curie to address the agency’s challenges in helping communities and expanding mental health services.

The American Red Cross in October invited NMHA to join a team of other leaders in the disaster response effort to tour hard-hit Mississippi to view the conditions there. Oscar Morgan, NMHA’s senior vice president of Policy and Services, joined organizations such as the oil company BP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to see the work being done and discuss potential partnerships with the Red Cross.

Fact sheets designed to address the hardships facing hurricane victims are posted on NMHA’s Web site at www.nmha.org/katrina and have been distributed in communities across the country and published by media outlets.

Watch NMHA’s Web site at www.nmha.org for updates on the response effort.