Summit#3-SummaryByDrBrendaPhillips

Sustainable Disaster Recovery

Comments, Louisiana Interchurch Summit on Recovery

February 8, 2007

Brenda D. Phillips, Ph.D.

Opening

Thank you for the invitation to be part of the recovery process here in Louisiana. I have been here many times since Katrina and Rita, as a volunteer, a friend, a researcher and a speaker. I understand the massive challenges that you face and am so warmed by the fact that you are still here.

But then as an experienced researcher, I knew that you would be here. I’ve seen your larger faith-based organizations and agencies in action across the United States during my research of the past 25 years. I know the contributions that you make and I believe that you will prevail here in Louisiana. I don’t have the answers but I brought ideas and perspectives, hopefully some food for thought….and I know how important food is culturally in Louisiana!

In my home church, we just passed the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. A few weeks ago, the student intern for our church said “but these are not ordinary times.” How true that is not only for Louisiana, but for all relief and recovery organizations working on Katrina. In the aftermath, as my research teams conducted research, we kept hearing the same phrase: “you know, this one is different.”

The January 2007 Brookings Institution “Katrina Index” (available at http://www.gnocdc.org/ ) report shows us important benchmarks for recovery as of January 2007. For most disasters, we would have already passed these benchmarks a long time ago…but then, these are not ordinary times.

Public Transportation in Orleans Parish is 49% operational, considered to be “at a standstill”.
It appears that FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes peaked last summer, and have been in steady decline ever since.
Food, so important to the culture of Louisiana, remains a challenge: only 46% of retail food establishments have re-opened in the New Orleans metro area.
New housing permits hit pre-Katrina levels for the first time but of course this is due to hurricane rebuilding not to actual new housing starts.
The New Orleans airport is about two-thirds operational, with 296,000 departures and arrivals in November and December, close to the 443,809 of June 2005.
In Orleans Parish, 52% of the hospitals have reopened, but there are no open hospitals in St. Bernard Parish.
Only 8% of the child care centers are open in St. Bernard Parish and only 30% in Orleans.
The population is about half back in New Orleans and about a third back in St. Bernard, but it is a different population, with the richest and the poorest in different circumstances.
And yes, there are other areas hurting besides Orleans and St. Bernard parishes.

It’s a long road home, then. The longest one that any of us have seen, the one that we feared, the one we didn’t really want to face. But I believe that you, your organizations, your faiths will sustain us through the process of recovery.

Yes, I used that tricky word “sustain”. It’s a popular concept these days, the notion of “sustainability” in recovery. But the problem with concepts is that they can be ambiguous, hard to define…..and we don’t always share the same definition or perspective on sustainability—we are not sure how to measure progress toward something so murky.

So, I deliberately used the statistics from the Brookings Institutions today to open up a broader range of recovery options, ones that can restore and sustain a community, and possibly ones that we have never considered part of the “work” of the faith-based community, for example, child care (except for the Brethren!), public transportation, economic development and more.

So what I want to do today is to explore that range of what “sustainability” means for us, to open up some dialogue, perhaps offer new ideas. Keynote speakers are supposed to do that, sometimes even to be provocative—so perhaps I will too! So, as we talk today, think of sustainability as this result: that your work here was not in vain. When you leave or move on to other projects:

The house that you built will still be here in 50 years.
The family that you helped was not torn apart.
The boat that your organization replaced is still bringing in seafood.
The child care that you provided meant someone grew up with a higher quality of life, less afraid, and nurtured by your love.

Let’s begin by understanding what sustainability means by looking at the concept historically.

The Origins of Sustainability

The idea of sustainability first arose at the turn of the century in utilitarian-conservation movements (Schnaiberg and Gould 1994) and resurfaced with environmental biologist Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring. Carson predicted an environmental, socially created disaster: continued pesticide use would contaminate planetary species, and render a silent spring absent of bird song. Beyond the environmental value of birds and the aesthetic qualities they bring to our lives, birds are bio-indicators that we may be threatening human life. In the 1970s, we witnessed pesticide effects that produced genetically deformed birds and nearly extinguished the peregrine falcon. Only in the late 1990s have these regal falcons rebounded from the brink of extinction. Are humans to follow? [This question compels us to think of the coastal marshlands of Louisiana, if we had been good stewards of these resources would the storm surge have been reduced? And what of the people of those bayous? Their culture, history, faith?]

In 1980, the International Conservation Movement pulled together a world strategy, linking a variety of conservation organizations[not unlike an Interfaith model!]. In 1987, the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development published their report Our Common Future, encouraging an understanding that “human survival and well-being could depend on success in elevating sustainable development to a global ethic” (Engel, 1993: 1). A U.N. Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm the following year, strengthened a global sustainability ethic oriented toward community well-being.

In 1992, many countries met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for what came to be called the world’s first eco-summit, their goal: to enable sustainable efforts that would mutually enhance the environment and the economy [note the linkages here, it is the start of a holistic approach]. As Engel has noted, “the single most important coalition required for sustainable development to become a reality: the coalition between advocates of ecological integrity and advocates of social and economic justice” (1993: 20). Simply, we must manage development [or recovery] so that local communities can prepare for and respond to future environmental hazards, including natural disasters. Further, we cannot perpetuate systems that produce inequitable access to resources nor conditions that undermine local capacity. [I wonder, what is happening to the fishing communities who provide us with those good shrimp po’boys? To the local restaurants, still to reopen, that exemplify the culture, history and spirit of this region?]

Communities and societies tend to treat social groups differently, based on characteristics such as race, gender, property, and physical ability. Groups treated differently have varying kinds of access to hazard mitigation resources. One’s position within a socially stratified society influences how one can prepare for and respond to environmental hazards. As international disaster humanitarian Fred Cuny said years ago, “the most basic issues in disasters are their impact on the poor and the links between poverty and vulnerability to a disaster…we must address the question of how to reduce poverty and place disaster response in the context of development if we hope to reduce suffering and to make a true contribution to recovery” (Cuny, 1983: 4). [Who is back? I see the insured and the rich returning….and see the poor living in overcrowded even dangerous circumstances to feed their families, to fuel the tourist and restaurant industry.] in short, in my mind, they are still on the roof.

Their possibility of engaging in sustainable actions is affected by access to resources. For example, the higher your income, the better you are able to purchase flood or earthquake insurance so that you can secure your family’s well-being. Beyond the local, community level, global inequity reduces efforts toward sustainability. Nations with fewer financial resources, for example, may lack capacities to create and maintain efforts like dams and floodplain management. Researchers know that less powerful groups bear higher impacts from hazardous materials, massive disasters, and industrial wastes, including rising rates of cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, and other health maladies. [Who will step up here in Louisiana to help with mitigation to reduce the risk? Is it enough to say “sure, we’ll elevate that house, but is there more to it?]. What is the role of an Interfaith in providing, insuring a sustainable future for the poor, elderly and disabled in this environment and economy?

To summarize, [an historic conceptualization of] sustainability means:

Integrating environmental conservation with development;
Satisfying basic human needs;
Achieving equity and social justice;
Providing for social self-determination and cultural diversity;
And maintaining ecological integrity (Engel, 1993).

These are global values – to sustain our planet. They can work locally here in a Louisiana recovery context. But there are risks. Let’s look at the global picture. Omari (1993) writes that Tanzanian cultural values (prior to nationhood) united people, development, and natural resources through viewing the land as communal property, a Native American value that I have seen across the Louisiana bayous. (Omo-Fadaka, 1993), a perspective that promoted a “balanced, sustainable development.” People and nature interacted to maintain the land as a natural, communal resource. Then, westerners imported perspectives derived from capitalism, Christianity and Islam. A new, money economy changed views of the environment from communal property to commercial resource: the environment existed for purposes of profit. Consequently, Africa now faces an “environmental bankruptcy.” [As we work here in Louisiana, whose values dominate the recovery perspective? How do our values as outsiders influence the dialogue, the process of rebuilding?] In what ways are we influencing the lives, culture and place attachments of Native Americans, public housing in St. Bernard parish, and in the Ninth ward?

Resource depletion, such as deforestation, threatens the existence of entire cultures. Undermining the environment limits resources available for preparedness, response and recovery. The West African country of Mali, for example, saw commercial deforestation pollute the Niger River, reducing fishing to critical levels (Omari, 1993). As such food sources dwindle, people abandon familiar areas, migrating to unfamiliar areas where they experience more vulnerable conditions. [It is interesting that Plaquemines Parish, so hard hit, has experienced a greater population return than Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. In what circumstances [i.e., quality of life] are people living to work for our oil, our seafood? And what of those who could not return, where have they gone…is our mission to find them and assist them wherever they are, to adjust to new circumstances in Jackson, Houston, Nashville, New York?]. What is the role of your Interfaith in both of these scenarios?

To summarize, demographic shifts toward denser population in vulnerable areas subvert ecological preservation and magnify disaster impact. Inequitable social systems reduce the abilities of economically marginalized groups (living in low-income areas near floodplains) to resist the effects of environmental hazards. Imposing non-local values on a given culture decreases survivability.

Faith, Floodplains and Sustainability

People live, work and deal with environmental hazards. Understanding social structure can help us identify resources for sustainable action. One of the most powerful social institutions within a given social structure is religion. Muslims are expected to take on the role of vice-regent, one who cares for the earth on behalf of a greater power. Islamic law and the holy Quran condemn abuse of the natural world (Palmer, 1993). God’s creation must be preserved, a belief dating back to the Prophet Muhammed who said “all creatures are God’s dependents and the best among them is the one who is most useful to God’s dependents” (Deen, 1993: 192). Buddhists believe that all life is interconnected and emphasize the rule of “sila”, to develop oneself in order to live in harmony with self, society, and nature (Palmer, 1993; Sivaraksa, 19933). Judaism joins the welfare of the natural world with the welfare of the people and commends people toward responsible environmental stewardship (Clark, 1993). Hindus maintain vegetarian standards out of beliefs that causing animal suffering will initiate human suffering: We are all interconnected parts of life on this planet (Dwivedi, 1993; Palmer, 1993). [It is clear that faith compels us to sustain the people and the places on this planet. Indeed, it is part of our work as good stewards.]. What is the role of religious organizations in sustaining the people and places? I am sure that the work seems overwhelming, and so broad…but more on that big burden later.

Going about the Work of Sustainability in a Disaster Recovery Context

The notion of interconnectedness is key to grasping how “sustainability” has been applied to disasters.

Disaster researcher Dennis Mileti [following in the footsteps of his mentor Gilbert White, who originally married sustainability to hazards management] and his colleagues (1993) have identified practical environmental hazard response measures that strengthen sustainability. These measures are linked to the four familiar phases of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Yet what I see is that few faith-based organizations work in areas other than response and recovery. What might happen if we direct new energies to the other phases? For example, what if we focused on mitigation beyond the traditional elevations and worked on levee issues? On providing insurance to poor, elderly homeowners? Or if we dedicated ourselves to preparedness initiatives? The National Organization on Disability has a new program called Congregation Who Care, Prepare…what if we implemented it here and everywhere across our faiths? We’ll talk more about this in a moment.

During the 1990s, Mileti convened over 100 researchers and practitioners to conduct what became known as the “Second Assessment” of disaster research. After many years of labor to review “what we have learned” from 20 years of studies, Mileti distilled our lengthy papers into a book called Disasters by Design. You can download a summary of it free at the National Academies web site (www.nas.edu). That book defined principles for sustainable mitigation that can serve us well as we examine a sustainable recovery along the Gulf Coast. Those principles can be found at www.colorado.edu/hazards/publications/informer/infrmr3/informer3c.htm. They are:

1. Maintain and, if possible, enhance its residents’ quality of life. [a handout was provided here and has been inserted at the end of this paper].

What is a quality of life to you? To me? To residents of the Ninth Ward? Of a Vietnamese-American shrimping community? In Gentilly, Holly Grove, or Buras? For those who survived the wrath of Katrina in the beautiful homes along St. Charles in New Orleans? What is clear from the second assessment, and from listening to experts like you over the years is that local context makes a difference. To truly understand what is important, what is key to a local quality of life, means listening to local people. We have to understand that a new roof might not be the most important thing even though it is leaking. It might be getting a school back open. It could be establishing child care so that people can return to work. Perhaps it is addressing domestic violence, or the crime rate. It could be insuring that teenagers always have something to do in the summer. Perhaps it is a focus on health care facilities or insuring that local places of worship survive Katrina physically as well as spiritually. Is the traditional work of physical rebuilding all there is? Not if we emphasize a sustainable recovery.

2. Enhance local and economic vitality.

In the aftermath of Katrina, thousands of businesses were devastated. I’m sure that you have seen the same pattern in NOLA that I have seen: the tourist economy is up and running. You can drive from the airport to the French Quarter and not see a single problem from Katrina…unless you look intensely into the neighborhoods and manage to spot a FEMA trailer. But the businesses that have returned share a common problem: housing for their workers, who are living doubled and tripled up, often away from their families, working long and late hours, and walking home on increasingly frightening streets. Maybe worker housing and safe streets connect economic vitality to quality of life issues. The Gulf Coast also compels us to recognize its historic and cultural character that is reflected so fully in its economic enterprises—the food, entertainment, tourism, sports and recreational opportunities. Do we need to be thinking about rebuilding economic enterprises? Develop teenager programs? Convene a Summit for a Peaceful and Violent-Free New Orleans? To providing micro-loans for home-based businesses? About opening up child care centers (like the MEDA initiative, so warmly welcomed by the Domestic Violence Coalition in New Orleans).

3. Promote social and intergenerational equity.

We must really think this one through. The goal is to insure that we do not pass inequities on to the next generation and address the existing inequities so that they are not preserved. This means actively thinking through and tackling the entrenched inequities that keep people down, and prolong their recovery—or prevent it from happening. At a recent conference, I heard a concern from disability organizations that elevated homes are being built along the Gulf Coast. Though this is a good mitigation strategy, it has meant that some elderly and persons with disabilities cannot go home. How should we be thinking about the needs of those displaced by efforts to make them safe? To insure their continued mobility and participation in society? To keep them from the group homes that, from their perspective, undermine and tear away from all they have worked to become: an independent person just like you and me? What solutions can you come up with here? Motorized lifts? More extensive ramps? Independent Living Center partnerships?

When I think of this equity principle, a moment from my weekly church service always comes to me. We have a tradition at the Stillwater First Presbyterian Church, of “Gathering the Community” at the beginning of every worship service. Over the years, I have noticed something here, something that I see at worship services in other denominations. In order to pass the peace of Christ to those historically marginalized by hardness-of-hearing or mobility limitations, you have to go to them. “They” sit in pews attached to headphones or in the “wheelchair” section. Yet most people have a tendency to greet people in the next pew. People are like that in their neighborhoods too, they tend to “neighbor” with the people on their street. Neighbors tend to be a lot like us. If we really want to promote social and intergenerational equity, we have to get out of our pew. It’s kind of like thinking outside of the box. If we want to connect the first two principles to this one, perhaps it means investing in or rebuilding locations that provide senior services, home-based or Internet businesses, sponsoring workshops where persons with cognitive disabilities can work, rebuilding Independent Living Centers, dedicating resources to rebuild the domestic violence shelters (all of them were lost in three parishes) or something as simple as wheelchair ramps. Maybe a quality of life means that we put those most marginalized at the forefront for economic revitalization and insure their ability to engage in self-determination so they can take care of themselves and rejoin productive society.

Quality of life in a disaster recovery context means:

Not going back to an abuser because you lost your house.
Not moving away from social networks.
Not being ripped from the land of your ancestors.
Not abandoning work you love for less pay in worse conditions.
Being able to evacuate.
Having the resources to mitigate.
Enjoying an ability to prepare.
Being able to survive on your own for 72 hours.
Having a functional family reunification plan.
Being able to afford, or to receive, an emergency kit or buddy system that actually works when you need it most.

4. Maintain and, if possible, enhance the quality of the environment.

Australian researcher John Handmer wrote (1992): “both disaster reduction and sustainability require attention to and respect for the natural environment; both emphasise the vulnerability of human communities; and both require a broad range of strategies from public education to sophisticated modern technology. Natural disasters can be precipitated by or exacerbated by a degraded natural environment, or by very poor and vulnerable communities…such communities are seriously affected even by very minor changes in the natural environment and are not sustainable.”

Recall that this talk began with the origins of sustainability situated in the conservation and environmental movements of the twentieth-century. Environmental preservation served as the inspiration for sustainability, that we need to insure that our planet survives. Each community serves as a systemic component of our planet and insuring even micro-level well-being helps the larger system. Here in Louisiana, with its rich avian and aquatic life alone, we can see the richness and diversity of the environment. We have also seen the decimation of the marshes; indeed, what will become of the Native American communities who live in, near the marshes? Who feel the pain of the environmental damage and hunger to make it right? Think of the beach erosion we have seen along many of the U.S. shorelines, the protective sand dunes that have been lost—are we not on the verge of such storm surge damage along our beautiful coastlines elsewhere? How can we think outside of the pew on this one? Could you print informational brochures? Serve on environmental boards? Purchase key pieces of environmentally sensitive land or launch fund-raisers for organizations that do such work? Bring in mission teams to clean up a damaged area? Fund a Native American community to develop new aqua-cultures? Develop a “foster critter” program and have your parishioners sponsor “Aid to Alligators”? Sound silly? But kids will love it and we have to inspire them as well, because they are the future. Katrina should be the wake-up call to conduct extensive environmental conservation nation-wide. But perhaps working locally on environmental issues in Louisiana can help us and others to think more globally.

4. Incorporate disaster resilience and mitigation into its decisions and actions.

We have a tendency to focus on recovery, often to the exclusion of other phases. James Lee Witt, FEMA director under Clinton, pointed out that mitigation was where the long-term payoff was located. Yet, how many faith-based organizations are working on mitigation other, perhaps than standard elevations?

In the 20+ years that I have been studying disasters, few organizations go beyond basic rebuilding to think about mitigation and resilience. Though elevations in flooded areas have become common, I see few organizations championing the notion of mitigation as a key part of its driving philosophy. If we think about it, a focus on mitigation could ultimately put us all out of the disaster business. The goal of mitigation is to make the built environment more resistant to hazards. Building codes often serve as a mitigation effort—but are your voices present when city councils discuss new codes after disaster? Few organizations understand the importance of codes better than you, and few city councils have experience with disasters---they could benefit from your advocacy. Don’t just inherit the process, influence it. In some areas, buyouts have worked well. Entire communities have relocated, though not often together as one. We think that, perhaps, this potential loss of connectedness through community attachments is one reason why some low-income, elderly and minority communities may have resisted relocations. Perhaps your voices could be helpful to communities working through the painful decisions of relocation, or in assisting them to physically, socially and spiritually relocate, or to stay in place through risk reduction meaures? Another common way to mitigate risk is to procure hazard insurance. But it’s often unaffordable for those who need it most or they opt for less coverage than what they really need—and then struggle to rebuild. Could you address insurance issues for the poor as a way to foster disaster resilience?

How about joining with other, non-disaster organizations? The National Organization on Disability has a new initiative called “Congregations Who Care Prepare” and you can join them. Information can be found at www.nod.org.

5. Use a consensus-building, participatory process when making decisions.

Every major work that I have read on the recovery process urges us to involve the stakeholders. With the diaspora from Katrina, that involvement is more challenging than ever. People seem to feel alienated from the decision-making process, and sense that their lives here are slipping away from them. How might your organizations help connect people to the issues, to the decision-making process? Could you sponsor retreats? Reunions? Online forums? Recovery “Fairs”? Travel support? Perhaps address communication gaps between decision-makers and families? Could you advocate strongly for involving the citizens in the decision-making process? Perhaps serve as mediators? And it wouldn’t hurt to get your prayer chains going on this one too!

A few years ago the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado, when Mileti served as its director, convened a group of scholars and practitioners to develop a user-friendly workbook on disaster recovery. That book, Holistic Disaster Recovery (2001), is available free at the NHC’s website (www.colorado.edu/hazards). A new volume of that work has been updated for Katrina and is available for purchase through the same website. There are numerous ideas in this work to build the participatory process, perhaps these might work for you:

Public Meetings
Issue Presentations
Panel Discussions
Workshops
Field Trips
Live, Call-in Radio
Charette

Let’s not forget the new, out of the pew ideas:

Podcasts with video, including sign language interpretation.
Live chats on the Internet.
Moderated e-mail discussion lists.
Providing child care.
Meeting with people where they are: community centers, senior centers, laundry rooms, ethnic food restaurants, minority-owned businesses.
Working through advocacy organizations: La Raza Unida, the Domestic Violence Coalition, Aging Agencies, Meals on Wheels, homeless providers [because yes, the homeless too lost their place and fell even further back in the long line for housing].

A sustainable recovery is an interconnected, holistic effort that addresses all components: housing, schools, economic opportunities, health care, child care, public transportation, and the environment (see page 1-9 in the Holistic Disaster Recovery book for ideas). To sustain Louisiana, we have to look at and link all of that and that is what is so hard and why this one is different.

The Dialogue

Returning to Mileti et al (1993), we find a number of questions, as well as dilemmas, that can be posed during our conversation with communities, homeowners and others:

What kinds of life/lifestyle do people want and need?
What risks are people willing to take in their interactions with the environment?
What is the line between acceptable and unacceptable risk?
Under what circumstances should prevention be chosen versus permissible risk?
In what manner should people live now so that future generations are not penalized?
How many future generations should be taken into account?
What is essential for a quality life?
What should be sustained and for whom?
Who, or what, will manage continued sustainability and in whose interest will it be managed?

The answers are complicated by stratification, by the horrendous poverty that I know you see and work with daily, and by racism, sexism, classism, ethnocentrism, and by forgetting the needs of the elderly, persons with disability, single parents. Our class and cultural perspectives also influence how we look at the problem, and inform what type of housing, transportation, or financial assistance we see as desirable--or even whether someone should “return” to their home. We all bring views of what is “appropriate” to the process of disaster recovery, the question is how we negotiate the dialogue to insure that all views are elicited and honored, all voices heard, and that realistic, safe results occur. It is clear from the writings on the recovery process, that the way in which we overcome these barriers of race, class, age, disability---to empower the real stakeholders, will make a difference. I am sure that many of you understand and originate from social justice traditions and that is good, because it is at the heart of recovery. The focus in the dialogue with locals must emanate from a commitment to hear the voices of those who are not usually heard from and whose voices have been even more muted in this disaster.

OK, that’s a lot to nibble on. I’m glad you are still here. Let’s talk about the burden of recovery for you and your organization.

Biting off more than you can chew

My pastor, Reverend Gordon Edwards of the Stillwater First Presbyterian Church, is fond of asking us a key question at Deacons’ meetings. It stems from I Corinthians 12, we are all members of the same body with a variety of gifts—but of the same Spirit. Rev. Edwards asks us, if we are the Body of Christ, which part of the body are we? I like this question because it reminds me that a sustainable, holistic recovery is a big job and it can be overwhelming. But we are part of a body of organizations and people with experience, dedication and commitment—you would not be here if you were not that type of person. Perhaps the challenge is to rethink recovery and to determine which organization, with its wealth of talents and resources, might contribute differently to the process, because “this one is different.”

When I think of the hands of Christ in a disaster recovery context, I always think of the Mennonites hammering on the roof. When I think of the heart, I remember UMCOR and their efforts to organize case management services. When I think of the lungs, I am reminded of Catholic Charities, often breathing new life into recovery by funding local projects. And after Katrina, I met Muslim organizations searching for sisters and brothers isolated in overwhelmed shelters, walking as the feet of the Prophet Muhammed.

But I want to ask you Rev. Edwards’ question anew: to build a sustainable community, to enhance quality of life, to foster economic vitality, to promote social and intergenerational equity, to preserve the environment, to mitigate and promote disaster resilience, and to empower the stakeholders…..what part of the body of Christ will you be? Can you envision yourself in a new way? Will you be the voice for persons with disabilities? Will you see the workers in the French Quarter longing to be with their families? Will you hear the cries of the victims of domestic violence behind closed doors? Will your skin feel the breeze coming off the coastal marshes and sense its near-extinction? Will you open your heart to the displaced and help them through their pain? Can you open yourself to new possibilities? Because “this one is different” and these are not “ordinary times.” I know you can do it.

You don’t have to be all of the body, you can pick. As it says in I Peter 4:10: like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, we should serve each other with our gifts. Historically, your gifts have been in the response and recovery phases. But we must not let another Katrina happen again and I believe that is what we are being asked to consider. The answer is in a sustainable, holistic recovery. Katrina calls on us to move outside the pew – to address the full range of phases that are so important to protecting this beautiful State. To think through all of the dimensions of a complete recovery: transportation, housing, jobs, transportation, health care, education. To never just rebuild a house without working through all the principles of a sustainable recovery. To consider that the work may not be here in Louisiana alone, but where the survivors have relocated, either temporarily or permanently. Is there a community that can be built in Texas for Katrina evacuees? Would those scattered to Utah, New York and Maine benefit from counseling, micro-economic loans, rental support, or even help with making that final wrenching decision to live and work away from the comfortable, the familiar. I know that is not what many want, but with Katrina, it is and will continue to happen.

To return to the message of the student intern from my church, “these are not ordinary times.” These are extraordinary times, that call for extraordinary, “out of the pew” responses. What I am sure of, though, is that each of us is given a talent to respond to the needs here in Louisiana. Remember 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Peter 4:10, we are called upon to serve each other with whatever gift we have.

Perhaps today, at this retreat, the gift you need to share though is one that restores each other. I am pleased to see the stress relief and massage on your program. Too often, caretakers and stewards do not take care of themselves. In the aftermath of normal disasters, it is not unusual to see employee turnover of up to 30% in the first year. So you must not feel or think that you are being spoiled or selfish with these programs, indeed, they are necessary for your own health and well-being. Case managers burn out fast.

And take care of your new organization. Tend it like a garden. Help it grow, help each other through growing pains. Keep it responsive, follow your four core values, they are good ones.

Why Are We Here?

For The People of Louisiana. Ultimately, it is the voices of the people of this great state that we must listen to, incorporate into our recovery efforts and work to sustain. This is their land, their culture, their history, their place. We are but the hands, the eyes, the ears, the feet, the heart of the Body that keeps them safe and insures their survivability.

As Tom Piazza wrote in Why New Orleans Matters:

Walking through the Tulane University campus, way uptown, you can see the old gymnasium where King Oliver’s Creole Jazz band, with a young Louis Armstrong on cornet, played for dances. If you are adventuresome, and you know where to go, you can find the houses of Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden and Papa Jack Laine and the rest of the earliest generation of jazz musicians.…..these elements of New Orleans possess an astonishing vitality that has spoken to people around the world and shaped much of the best of what we thin of still as American culture. Jazz music, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, Creole cooking, Mardi Gras, the architecture of the French Quarter, the literary traditions of Williams and Faulkner and Percy and Kate Chopin, the Mardi Gras Indians, whose chanted songs stretch back into the nineteenth century and whose rhythms help form the basis of American popular music….It is not something that you find only in a tourist guide; it is a reality lived by its inhabitants every day, and as often as possible by those who love visiting.

In short, Louisiana is a unique culture and it is our culture, American culture that we seek to sustain. In helping the recovery in Louisiana, we are restoring the wellness of our national soul.

To quote the Maori of New Zealand when asked “what’s most important, what is your priority?” they reply. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It’s the people, it’s the people, it’s the people.

Last week during worship at my church, I found an insert in the bulletin. On the front it announced a new Sunday School program, called “Katrina: Flood Lines and Fault Lines”. It is timed to coincide with the planning of our second mission trip to Louisiana. Stillwater First Presbyterian Church will be in New Orleans this summer, and we welcome your advice on how we should be about our work here—because you are the experts, not the outsiders. On the back of the insert, were the words to a hymn that you probably know. The words of the hymn seem most appropriate as an ending to this talk today, they ask for us to walk in a direction that we may not have gone before, “will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?” This is “The Summons” [which miraculously is the exact message of the painting on the wall behind me] and it calls us to reshape the world. I have faith in you, I’ve seen you in action before. Thank you for your service to this world, to Louisiana.

Handout 1

A 10 Step Process for Local Holistic Recovery (http://www.coloardo.edu/hazards/publications/informer/infrmr3/informer3g.htm

1. Get Organized.

2. Involve the Public.

3. Coordinate with other agencies, departments and groups.

4. Identify post-disaster problems.

5. Evaluate the problems and identify opportunities.

6. Set goals.

7. Develop strategies for implementation.

8. Plan for action.

9. Get agreement on the plan for action.

10. Implement, evaluate, revise.

Principles for Sustainability (same source)

1. Maintain and enhance quality of life.

2. Enhance economic vitality.

3. Ensure social and intergenerational equity.

4. Enhance environmental quality.

5. Incorporate disaster resilience/mitigation.

6. Use a participatory process.

Questions to be answered (Mileti et al. 1995; Phillips and Neal 1996)

What kinds of life/lifestyle do people want and need?
What risks are people willing to take?
What is the line between acceptable and unacceptable risk?
Under what circumstances should prevention be chosen versus permissible risk?
At what point should growth be limited?
In what manner should people live now so that future generations are not penalized?
How many future generations should be taken into account?
What is essential for a quality life?
What should be sustained and for whom?
Who, or what, will manage continued sustainability and in whose interest will it be managed?
How does classism, racism, sexism, ageism, ethnocentrism, able-ism affect recovery?
What is appropriate economic development?
Who will take responsibility for the environment, in whose interests and how?
How will the people be engaged and empowered in their own recovery and decisions about their future?

Resources:

Holistic Disaster Recovery, free downloadable book published in 2001 is available at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/publications/holistic/holistic2006.html. An updated version including Katrina information, is available for purchase through this site.

Gender and Disaster Network http://www.gdnonline.org/

Working with Women at Risk workbook, very useful for the participatory process.
Idea lists for humanitarian situations
Academic articles
Reports from NGO’s and other non-profit organizations
Network to join!

National Organization on Disability, http://www.nod.org

New Program: Congregations Who Care, Prepare! www.nod.org/congregationsprepare
Booklet on emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities.
Downloadable brochures for sensory, cognitive, and mobility disabilities and for pets and service animals.

Books to read:

Disasters by Design by Dennis Mileti, available for purchase at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5782.html
Cooperating with Nature by Ray Burby available for purchase at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/5785.html

References available upon request.

Excerpted from Phillips, Brenda D. 2000. “Environmental Hazards, Sustainability, and Social Justice: Making a Difference.: Pp. 205-209 in Analyzing Social Problems: essays and exercises, second edition. Edited by Dana Dunn and David V. Waller. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Halll.

Ibid.

Adapted from Phillips, Brenda D. 2000. “Environmental Hazards, Sustainability, and Social Justice: Making a Difference.: Pp. 205-209 in Analyzing Social Problems: essays and exercises, second edition.