Sandy Mental Health Group 'Planting Seeds for Self Sufficiency'

The mood has changed.

A log from NJ Hope and Healing shows that people impacted by Hurricane Sandy have gone from feeling shocked, sad and tired with a loss of appetite to angry, hopeless and unable to make decisions.

“People are having a natural reaction to abnormal circumstances,” said Carol Benevy, Project Lead for NJ Hope and Healing.

NJ Hope and Healing is a project sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Disaster and Terrorism Branch, through a FEMA grant. In partnership with Barnabas Health Institute for Prevention, NJ Hope and Healing offers support to communities in the aftermath of Sandy.

“We coordinate statewide efforts to help individuals and communities manage the emotional impact of the Superstorm Sandy,” said Wendy Chin, At Risk Coordinator with the Disaster and Terrorism Branch.

Disaster Mental Health Teams are providing support in storm-impacted communities in 10 counties, she said. Through a special certification system, more than 700 volunteers throughout the state have been trained to provide immediate emotional support after a disaster.

Take Team Leader Robin Graham, who recently came to the aid of a survivor while canvassing door-to-door in Brick.

That day, there was a small house among a neighborhood of "McMansions." People were cleaning up throughout the area when she knocked on the door of the small house and an elderly woman, a Holocaust survivor, came to the door. The woman lives alone and had been sleeping on a moldy mattress on the floor.

“She needed a bed and resources to rebuild,” Graham said.

When NJ Hope and Healing got a bed for her, the woman plopped on it ecstatically, she said.

“People have lived through unspeakable horrors,” she said. “(Canvassing) is really necessary. They’re not going to come out to us. We have to find them. All they need is someone who cares.”

The Lakewood office location houses a command center with two crisis counselors at computers, pinpointing communities in need and coordinating efforts.

A large map of the Jersey Shore appears on a wall with bullet points on areas NJ Hope and Healing is in. On another wall is a calendar of events NJ Hope and Healing will have a presence at. Then there’s a list of crisis counselors and their availability.

In yet another room there are a dozen maps of different communities they have yet to cover.

NJ Hope and Healing hit the ground just three weeks after Sandy with 30 counselors in the field. It began with an Immediate Services Program (ISP), which is only supposed to last 60 days. More than six months later, the organization is still in the ISP phase.

“The fact we’re still in ISP speaks to the acuity of the need,” Benevy said.

During the ISP period, counselors identify hurting communities and needs. A large part of that is canvassing, crisis counselors going door to door in neighborhoods largely impacted by the storm. NJ Hope and Healing makes their presence known, listens, assists with needs and helps connect Sandy victims to resources.

To date, more than 150,000 residents have received counseling and outreach services. The Barnabas Health Institute for Prevention group alone has had more than 14,000 face-to-face contacts from Nov. 24 through April 23.

The counselors also collect anonymous data, unless an individual wishes to be identified. An Individual/Family Crisis Counseling Services Encounter Log is filled out upon face-to-face encounters. The form breaks down demographics, location of service, risk categories, event reactions, the focus of the encounter materials provided and referrals.

That data trickles up to the federal government, ultimately affecting funding, which is expected to dwindle as time goes on, Benevy said.

Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that the state has received an $11.5 million grant from FEMA, allowing the Department of Human Services to expand the NJ Hope and Healing program. The state originally received $4 million from FEMA to launch the Hope and Healing Program.

“Disasters like Sandy damage more than just property – for many the sense of loss, helplessness and hopelessness is unshakeable,” said DHS Commissioner Jennifer Velez. “Restoring survivors’ emotional and psychological balance is a fundamental factor in New Jersey’s rebuilding process.”

Through this grant, NJ Hope and Healing partners will continue to provide community outreach, emotional support, crisis counseling and referral services.

The next phase, the Regular Services Program (RSP), is expected to begin Saturday, June 1. NJ Hope and Healing will continue canvassing but will be working to reconnect people to their communities. They’ll be setting up community support groups and Classroom Based Intervention groups that will run in schools.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” Benevy said, adding that the RSP typically lasts nine months but she anticipates extensions. “We do neighbor to neighbor help. Ultimately, we’re looking for peer led groups. It’s about people being able to do for themselves again.”

“We’re planting seeds for self sufficiency,” Graham said.

The work of NJ Hope and Healing has changed the way Benevy sees the world, she said.

She remembers the woman in a grocery store who was just standing in an aisle unable to make a decision. Or the man at one of the FEMA centers who walked out on his application because he couldn’t handle listing every single item that he lost.

Benevy followed him into the parking lot to offer encouragement and support.

“Day in and day out you’re listening to misery,” she said.

There are also instances of survivor’s guilt, she said, recalling a woman whose house was not damaged in the storm but the surrounding homes were. The woman sat in her home as she heard debris removal trucks drive up and down the street “crunching their lives.”

“Your house didn’t have to go into the bay for it to hit home,” she said.

The responses they’re seeing are normal. Historically, there are minimal increases in mental problems and drug addiction following a natural disaster, Benevy said.

According to a fact sheet from the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, new onset of PTSD and depression are common after disasters but alcohol dependence is not.

“To see your house go into the bay, who wouldn’t be shocked? Who wouldn’t be distressed?” Graham said.

To be feeling shocked, frustrated and hopeless is perfectly normal, Benevy said. But the vast majority is resilient despite those feelings.

“We do see human resiliency. It’ll be a tough time in their lives but the reality is we’re going to be ok,” Benevy said.

Part of NJ Hope and Healings job has been spent trying to overcome the stigma of counseling, Benevy said.

“To have counseling doesn’t mean you’re mentally ill,” she said. “There will never be a more important job to do than this job right now.”

To contact NJ Hope and Healing’s toll free helpline, call 877-294-4357. Also, visit www.disastermentalhealthnj.com for more information and resources.