Why Disaster Resilience Should Include Healing

Frontline communities carry disaster on their bodies and in their minds. Fires, storms, earthquakes, pandemics, and human-caused disasters do not cease when the news cycle shifts. Physical loss shows up in devastated infrastructure. Emotional loss shows up in exhausted and grieving neighborhoods. Communities also deal with the loss of their friends, family members, and neighbors. As disaster recovery and resilience respond to and triage urgent needs first, we must also treat trauma as a core component of recovery and resilience.

The Toll of Disasters

The fires in Maui and Los Angeles left families to find a path forward as they sifted through toxic debris, many of whom had unstable housing. In the aftermath, as elders mourned their decades-long histories, children had new fears take root. And many victims, particularly of the Los Angeles fires, the added stress of being immigrants in an unstable administration, keeps them from seeking help or using public services, including evacuation shelters.

Storms across the Atlantic coast tell the same story. Hurricanes tear up homes and jobs. They also tear up routines that protect mental health. Morocco’s earthquake shattered villages and kin networks. Libya’s floods turned a city into a graveyard. Survivors asked the same question. How can we prepare for the next event when we have not healed from the last one?

Unfortunately, disasters are only increasing in scope and severity, highlighting the pressing need for holistic support for our communities.

We Need Whole-Person Recovery

By focusing on body, mind, housing, and healing, we can find deeper, long-term, whole-person recovery and resilience. Our partners in disaster relief and resilience, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), don’t just meet the urgent needs of communities in the first days or weeks after disaster. They also bring trauma-informed care to the front line.

Mental health services serve as protective gear for neighborhoods in the early days after a disaster, helping to sustain healing for the future and preparing people for the challenges ahead. A multi-faceted approach to disaster resilience empowers individuals and communities. Counseling helps individuals sleep and plan. Case managers lower stress by solving practical problems. Financial support rebuilds control. Community health and faith leaders bring care in trusted spaces. They speak the language and honor culture and faith at a time when individuals need to preserve as much of both as possible. Layered with peer group and school-based support, recovery times may be shortened, and long-term illness and isolation may be prevented.

What Does This Look Like?

While healing may look different for everyone, leaders in the field are establishing standards for mental health support in disaster resilience. Rest centers with quiet rooms, no-cost childcare, spiritual centers, grief support in shelters, legal aid, document replacement, and protection for mixed-status families are all options that have been proven successful and are becoming more prevalent in disaster efforts.

Our partners model this approach. CDP supports a disaster distress helpline and supports local leaders with psychosocial services for disaster relief and resilience. CRS pairs emergency aid with psychosocial care. CCUSA offers case management, housing help, and counseling through parish networks. Together, we support community-led healing and build power to prepare for the next season.

Communities that are more whole and more healed are more able to flourish, hope, love, and grow. We continue to focus on healing as life-saving work because recovery that heals also prepares for the future. And a healed community is a ready community.

 

To learn more about St. Joseph Fund’s support of disaster relief and resilience, please visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.