Page 139 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

108 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

who are navigating disaster aid systems. In fact, understanding the unmet
needs table process can inform understanding of disaster recovery aid
systems in general, as much of their criteria overlaps with American Red
Cross, FEMA, and other sources of cash assistance. A shift in aid systems
in the 9/11 recovery effort allowed some disaster victims to receive cash
assistance as a “gift” rather than “need-based” aid, especially through the
Victims Compensation program. This colored the environment of the NYC
9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable and disaster recovery systems responding
to disasters since 9/11. This, too, has led to debate among disaster profes-
sionals regarding equity and accountability in disaster recovery cash assis-
tance. It is important to remember this concern as we focus this chapter
on the role of faith communities and mental health professionals in devel-
opment of the NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable as it navigated several
eras of 9/11 recovery.

Overview

The NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable was a long-term recovery com-
mittee that existed from April 2002 to October 2008. In retrospect, the
9/11 Roundtable was one of the longest running, financially viable unmet
needs tables, with the largest volume of cash assistance distributed over
its lifetime compared to other tables in other disasters. While the life span
of unmet needs tables can be an average of three to seven years, allowing
the 9/11 Roundtable to have an average lifespan, the scope of the client
populations served through this effort and the development of intensive
administration systems allowed for the distribution of more dollars to
individuals. The NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable was able to inform
the community at large of its work and, in doing so, made the case for
continued assistance to 9/11 victims. Its administrative tools gathered
aggregate data on the evolving needs of the communities being served
and provided donor and caseworker accountability that built trust and
appealed to new donors who wanted to help in the most effective way pos-
sible. While many agencies distributed millions of dollars to 9/11 victims,
the 9/11 Roundtable stayed true to the unmet needs table tradition and
painstakingly reviewed the case of individuals on a weekly basis for close
to seven years. This ensured that aid was distributed based on need, not as
a gift, to the most vulnerable 9/11 victims in support of their recovery.
Administrative tools developed by the 9/11 Roundtable effort included
training for agency participants so that grassroots agencies and sophisti-