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Hurricane Gustav Response
September 10, 2008

gustav_response1We would like to take this opportunity to inform you of the good work of Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New Orleans during Hurricane Gustav.

As a result of our experience with Hurricane Katrina, we are in a unique position to rapidly respond to the most critical needs. We are not only able to help the poor and vulnerable during personal crises, but are also prepared to help entire communities through disaster situations.

While New Orleans itself was spared the brunt of Hurricane Gustav, other civil parishes in the Archdiocese of New Orleans like Plaquemines, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Bernard and lower Jefferson received significant wind damage and some flooding.

Catholic Charities and our partners have been on the ground since Gustav’s landfall, providing help and relief to those in need.

  • In the nine days since Gustav, we have provided more than 750,000 pounds of food and 500,000 meals through Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, an agency we sponsor. We expect to average 100,000 pounds of food per day as our region continues to recover.
     
  • We successfully evacuated and returned our residents with special needs, like the medically fragile children of Padua Pediatrics and the mentally ill of Ciara House.
     
  • Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes and Catholic Charities volunteers ministered to New Orleanians returning to the bus and train station, as well as nursing homes (pictured).
     
  • We have reopened 9 Community Centers, and are providing mental health/crisis counseling and case management to those most affected by Gustav.
     
  • Our Domestic Violence Services, though temporarily displaced, never stopped providing services to survivors of family violence.

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  • We opened extra space at Hope Haven Center to serve as a Red Cross Shelter for residents of Plaquemines Parish impacted by levee breeches.
     
  • Our Hispanic Apostolate Community Services worked tirelessly during the evacuation to get the word out to the Hispanic community in Southeast Louisiana. Now, they are working with other relief agencies to translate essential post-storm information.
     
  • The Deaf Action Center provided sign language translations to the community during the City of New Orleans’ emergency news conferences.
     
  • We have sent several employees to work as liaisons in other dioceses in Louisiana that suffered more devastating damage to homes and infrastructure, including the Dioceses of Houma-Thibodaux and Baton Rouge.