IDTF

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IDTF

• Building on Faith

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The Gulf Coast
August 28, 2005
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August 28, 2005
Thousands waited on Katrina in area shelters
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Late afternoon August 29, 2005 Katrina has moved
north
Leaving the greatest national
disaster in American History
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More than 70,000 homes were damaged or destroyed,
including more than 60 of the rental units in
the region
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But hope was on the way
Homes and lives were left in ruins
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Soon afterwards, government agencies, faith
groups, aid agencies, and volunteers began
arriving by the thousands.
The Interfaith Disaster Task Force re-constituted
itself and began to help organize the recovery.
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With local non-profit and faith-based
organizations and many other organizations
arriving on the Coast after Katina, IDTF
personnel worked untiringly to ensure that
collaborations were formed and that these groups
provided complementary services rather than
duplicating or supplanting one another. Carol
Buchanan Jones, PhD, NCC, LPC Director, Project
Relief/Mississippi Counseling Association Director
, Psychology and Counseling William Carey
University, Coast
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IDTFs first effort was to convene the Katrina
Recovery Summit in January 2006
Over 300 representatives from aid groups,
faith-based organizations, and government
entities met to discuss coast-wide strategies
Katrina Recovery Summit for Case Management
Funding, April, 2008
1) case management
2007 2008 Mental Health Summits
2) construction management
Creation of the Primary/Mental Health
Collaborative
3) volunteer management
4) mental/spiritual care
5) the development of materials warehouses.
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September 03 2005 life goes on
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Our partnership with the IDTF Warehouse has
allowed our clients to get free or low cost
building materials, furniture and appliances.  In
return, if the Red Cross has resources, we can
make them available to other community members
through the Warehouse.  By working together, we
make it easier for people to get back in their
homes. Joshua J. Joachim Community Recovery
Supervisor Hurricane Recovery Program E American
Red Cross Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter
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The IDTF Warehouse at work
When I first started working, I worked at Camp
Biloxi.  Everything was chaotic.  Our storage
facility was a tarp in the parking lot.  When we
were able to store items at the Warehouse, it
really expanded our capacity to help families
recover.  John Biggs Director at Camp Victor
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The challenges of recovery and rebuilding will
continue for several years to come. Issues
surrounding health care and mental health are
just a few of these unmet needs. IDTF will be
there bringing recovery organizations together
until recovery is complete.
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.  I believe that the work and networking of
MSIDTF, through Robertas leadership is one of
the most important reasons that the Mississippi
Gulf Coast is doing as well as it is today
Rabbi Myrna Matsa, D. Min. Rabbinic Pastoral
Counselor     Hurricane Katrina Relief New York
Board of Rabbis in Partnership with      United
Jewish Communities
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The hundreds of organizations that have been and
that are today associated with the IDTF and the
thousands of people who have been helped by these
organizations attest to the community-sustaining
value of IDTF's vision and leadership. We are
now three years beyond Katrina, and able to see
that recovery is still many years away. Thus,
the IDTF is as important today as ever. Melinda
Harthcock former coordinator of the Disaster
Family Services Center of the MS Department of
Health, District IX the past executive director
of the Steps Coalition and acting IDTF Board
Member