Page 155 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

124 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

2002, the NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable became the a sole source
of financial assistance for basic needs—food and shelter—for thousands
of New Yorkers at a time when mental health and spiritual care provid-
ers were attempting to address depression and trauma among the same
populations. In April 2002, the 1-800-LIFENET crisis telephone number
for New York City reported that over 40% of callers were reporting eco-
nomic stress as their primary concern and their perceived cause of their
depression. To address this pressing and overwhelming need, the faith
communities in New York City found a central purpose and vehicle for
coordination. The NYC 9/11 Unmet Needs Roundtable emerged not only
as a tool to distribute assistance to vulnerable disaster victims but also as
a tool for coordination and communication between agencies, faith com-
munities, and the general public.
Accessing or not accessing these aid systems can impact the recovery
and wellness of the disaster victim in care. Spiritual care and mental health
practitioners have a role to play in advocating for and assisting clients in
accessing the resources of these long-term recovery committees. For this
reason, understanding the nuances of how a situation may be perceived as
disaster or nondisaster-related is critical to the professional care given by
clergy, clinical social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and chaplains
working in the disaster recovery field. The feeling of being invalidated as
a victim or survivor of the disaster has implications for mental health and
spiritual care, while at the same time mental health and spiritual care giv-
ers must take an active role in advocating for their client, or the client base
as a whole, to have access to disaster recovery resources.