Page 159 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

128 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

understand how the members of these small communities of faith had
arrived at the idea that they could open their doors and make a difference.
After meeting them, however, it was completely clear that the size of the
disaster didn’t matter; the idea that people were in dire need meant that
the churches had to respond and figure out how to make the responses
work. A parishioner volunteering at the first chapel-based shelter we vis-
ited summed it up this way: “For me as a part of our church, the way I see
it. … there’s no job too big, no job too small. So I come here every day and
do what I can.”
On September 21, 2005, the numerous volunteers who descended on the
Baton Rouge area included a two-person team of volunteer psychiatrists
from New York City. They had been deployed through a not-for-profit
organization of volunteer psychiatrists at the request of the community’s
public mental health authorities who had found out about the organiza-
tion and stated they needed volunteer psychiatrists.
After meeting with the local public health authorities, and registering
their credentials, they were told that several chapel-based shelters had
requested mental health services, “in particular, psychiatrists.” No infor-
mation was available about what sorts of services were needed. The psy-
chiatrists were asked to check in with the leadership of the chapel, ask
what was needed, provide triage and services, and report back. None of
the local mental health authorities had visited these chapels and so little
was known about the specific nature of their operations and needs. The
following is excerpted from the journal of one of the psychiatrists:

The first chapel was a forty-five minute drive away. Once we arrived, we
stood outside looking in. Just figuring out how to go in and introduce ourselves
was a challenge.
The process of entering a hospital or psychiatric clinic or office differs funda-
mentally from the process of entering a chapel. Ordinarily, a psychiatrist doesn’t
think much about the process of entering a hospital or a clinic. However, com-
ing into a chapel in order to provide psychiatric services requires some thought.
It is a house of worship and, therefore, it is important to be mindful as one
enters to make an effort to go slowly, to acknowledge people, and to be alert for
ways to show respect for the space and for the people who may be inside. The
process of having mindfully entered the chapel formed the rest of our efforts for
the day, and probably helped us more than we realize.
Once we got inside, there was a lobby area with 10 people, all sad-looking,
sitting in fold-up chairs, not talking. There were three little girls, probably aged
six to eight, running around playing in the lobby. An elderly woman seated
at a table appeared to be a receptionist, and was also watching the three girls.
She brought us to the person identified as being in charge of the shelter. She