SAMHSA KATRINA ASSISTANCE PROJECT Spring 2006

Q: What is SAMHSA? A: SAMHSA is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). SAMHSA’s vision is to provide a life in the community for everyone by building resilience and facilitating recovery for people with or at risk for substance abuse and mental illness. To learn more about SAMHSA, go to: http://www.samhsa.gov. Q: What is this project about? A: The SAMHSA Katrina Assistance Project is a Federal undertaking in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. The purpose of the project is to develop and deploy Katrina Assistance Teams (KATs) to the Gulf Coast to help meet the mental health and substance abuse service needs of persons displaced or affected by the Hurricane and its aftermath. Q: What is Westover Consultants? A: Westover Consultants, Inc. is SAMHSA’s contractor in charge of managing the SAMHSA Katrina Assistance Project and deploying teams of mental health professionals to the hurricane-impacted region. The company is a multidisciplinary, multicultural professional services firm headquartered in Bethesda, MD. For information and history of events that have transpired during the hurricanes and levee damages in New Orleans, go to http://www.timespicayune.com/ During my deployement (from 3/27/06 thru 4/9/06) I had the opportunity to partake in mental health meetings, school social workers meeting, parent/teachers conferences, co-facilitated pscyho-educational groups for a middle school, addressed coping and recovery issues, assisted in linking families to wraparound services, provided recreational activities to children of first responders who are temporarily housed in trailer homes, and fully appreciated and listened to the New Orleanians. It is with utmost respect to the people of New Orleans and preservation of their dignity that I share this album with you. They will "Re-cover, Re-build and Re-New Orleans". Don't give up on the Big Easy.