Page 150 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

Working as an Ally to Underserved Communities 119

informed the 9/11 Roundtable donor agencies of a client’s case status
with the American Red Cross Additional Assistance program. Ideally,
large agencies like American Red Cross that received the bulk of major
donations would have adjusted and expanded their limited eligibility
requirements based on the new data captured by the 9/11 Roundtable’s
documentation of pockets of underserved populations. Pressure and
concern over potential media backlash continued, and despite the best
intentions of staff in the core agencies, the 9/11 Roundtable remained
the only viable source of assistance for people who clearly were 9/11
disaster victims but who did not fit the categories for aid developed
by the American Red Cross and other agencies in the first weeks and
months of 9/11 disaster relief. The American Red Cross became increas-
ingly collaborative, however, and supported the 9/11 Roundtable efforts
through grants for administrative salaries and later cash to individuals.
Yet, the categories defining which 9/11 victims were eligible for aid did
not change significantly over time.
Recognizing the impact of vicarious trauma and other impacts of
working as a 9/11 case worker, NYDIS also used the 9/11 Roundtable as
a source to fund career development and mental health support for case
workers who had worked from 2001 to 2004 with 9/11 case loads as they
were facing layoffs with the closing of 9/11 programs. This assistance was
made available for a limited period of time and was distributed, as with
all assistance, on a case-by-case basis. Faith communities continued to
identify and attend to growing areas of long-term need that relief pro-
grams designed in the acute phase of a disaster were not geared to meet.
For example, the Roundtable began seeing many cases of individuals who
served as Ground Zero recovery workers who are now ill and being treated
at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The NYDIS staff administering the 9/11
Roundtable established a collaborative relationship with the staff of the
Mount Sinai Medical Screening and Treatment program, both referring
clients to the program and offering assistance to recovery workers with
9/11-related illnesses who were unable to meet basic expenses. A Mount
Sinai caseworker began regularly presenting cases to the 9/11 Roundtable.
NYDIS also suggested to Mount Sinai that their program’s mental health
services be coordinated with the hospital’s chaplains, a possibility that had
been overlooked.
By December 2004, the landscape of 9/11 recovery had changed. The com-
munity at large was talking about “moving on” and, while many believed it
was too early to close 9/11 recovery programs, pressure of public expecta-
tion led to the closing of many programs. The 9/11 Roundtable faced a crisis