One of our Special Works programs, Disaster Relief, was particularly effective this year. I would like to highlight and detail St. Vincent de Paul’s hurricane relief efforts in the greater Dallas area, which began in September 2005, the final month of last fiscal year, and which will continue until October 2007 if not longer read more ...

When Katie Graves, 15, witnessed the local devastation of Hurricane Charley in 2004 and the nation's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she decided she wanted to help. Now she's training to assist disaster victims read more ...

This Christmas season, one of our Katrina Aid Today case managers had a vision for our clients: a project called “Memphis Still Cares.” First, she sent out letters with return envelopes to every one of them, asking what they would like for Christmas. Then she set up a Christmas tree with paper ornaments in the shape of hurricanes at a church in Germantown, Tennessee. The display included pictures from Katrina, a map of the Gulf Coast, and pamphlets encouraging parishioners to adopt a Katrina evacuee. These pamphlets contained information such as clothing size, a wish list, and a personalized letter from a Katrina evacuee. In just three weeks, Memphis Still Cares collected gifts for 130 Katrina evacuees and delivered them in beautiful gift bags to the clients’ homes.

Submitted by Lauren Scott Thibault, Case Management Supervisor, Katrina Aid Today, Memphis Diocesan Council, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul

 

These are the materials included in Galveston-Houston’s Disaster Preparedness Workshop.  read more ...