When Superstorm Sandy hit the New York-New Jersey area with rain and hurricane-force winds in late October, Scott La Rue, president and chief executive of ArchCare, the continuing care community of the Archdiocese of New York, witnessed many difficult situations, even among his own employees whose homes were flooded or destroyed.
But no circumstances were more desperate than what he saw in the cafeteria of Brooklyn Technical High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., Nov. 10, where hundreds of people who sought shelter from the storm were lying on cots, their possessions limited to small garbage bags and the clothes on their backs.
Among them were 59 people with mental illness whose group home in the Rockaways in the New York borough of Queens had been destroyed by Sandy. The New York State Department of Health had asked ArchCare to give shelter to the group, and La Rue, with the support of the ArchCare board and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, had agreed to take 40 evacuees into a formerly closed floor at San Vicente de Paœl Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the Bronx.
When he met the evacuees at the shelter, La Rue said it was "clear that this was a close-knit group of people," and many were experiencing great anxiety at the idea of being separated.
"The shelter staff was wonderful, but these were very challenging individuals given their issues," La Rue said. "The leadership of our board and Cardinal Dolan decided that we needed to take in all 59."
Assisted by Sr. Sheila Brosnan, SC, ArchCare vice president for mission integration, and Sr. Margaret O'Brien, a fellow Sister of Charity who is not associated with ArchCare, La Rue led an army of volunteers from the Knights of Malta and ArchCare staff in helping the evacuees make the transition from the shelter to San Vicente de Paœl on Nov. 11.
Since then, each new resident has received a television in his or her room, four new sets of clothing and medical attention. Plans are under way to convert the former nursing home floor into a more homelike atmosphere by removing the nurses' station; and a salvage company has been hired to search the destroyed group home for salvageable items belonging to the residents.
Sr. Brosnan said the ArchCare staff also has been "wonderful" about trying to meet individual needs of the residents. "One woman kept clamoring for beads, and the next time I was there she had her beads," she said. "It calmed her. ... They are trying to meet every need as it comes."
But there is no government reimbursement as yet for care of the new residents; and, although New Yorkers have been generous with both time and money, the local needs are so great that La Rue has reached out beyond the metro area for support for the evacuees from the group home.
"I have never met such a group of wonderful, appreciative people who have nothing material to their name," he said in a Nov. 14 letter to friends in Catholic health care. "These are people to whom a little would make a big difference. ... I thought it might be worth trying to get people to care who were in another geographic region and have not been overly burdened by this tragedy."
In addition to welcoming the new residents, ArchCare staff members also have reached out to other storm victims. Alerted to the lack of toiletries among people displaced by the storm on Staten Island, N.Y., ArchCare home care nurses collected and distributed dozens of personal care kits.
In the days following his financial appeal, La Rue said he has heard from donors large and small. But they all had a message similar to one he received from a group of Sisters of Loretto in St. Louis.
"They said, 'Our community has been sitting here watching on the television and we wanted to help in some way,'" La Rue said. "'We've been trying to find a meaningful way to help, and this is our opportunity to do something for those affected by the hurricane.'"
Ministry facilities provide aid to people hit by Sandy
Other Catholic health facilities providing aid in the wake of Superstorm Sandy were:
- Staff at Lourdes in Paducah, Ky., joined two local rotary clubs in collecting 25,000 pounds of food, clothing and blankets and nearly $10,000 to benefit storm victims. A rotary club in New York distributed the donated items directly to recipients.
- Saint Peter's Healthcare System, New Brunswick, N.J., housed families displaced by the storm in apartments owned by Saint Peter's University Hospital. Three families were still living in the apartments as of late November. Also, in the wake of the storm, Saint Peter's shared seven generators with people in need — one went to an employee, and six to community members. The hospital also provided tarp to people with roof damage.
- Schervier Nursing Care Center, Riverdale, N.Y., housed 17 elders displaced from two New York nursing homes hit by the storm. Nine residents came from the Resort Nursing Home in Far Rockaway; and eight from Sea Crest Nursing Home in Brooklyn. Many of the arrivals suffer from dementia and speak limited English. In many cases, family members did not know where the elders had been transported. Schervier staff members assisted the arrivals with the transition, identified and addressed their health care needs, contacted their family members and provided emotional support.
- Employees at St. Mary's Hospital, Passaic, N.J., collected more than 40 boxes of food, a dozen boxes of clothing and other items, and assembled 50 Thanksgiving food baskets for community members and employees impacted by Sandy.
Here's how to help
To donate online, go to www.archcare.org, click "donate," then "online donation." On the online form, choose to make a contribution "in honor of," and type in "evacuees" or select Hurricane Sandy Evacuee Relief Fund from the drop-down menu.
To donate by regular mail, send a check made out to the Catholic Health Care Foundation to:
Catholic Health Care Foundation
205 Lexington Ave., 3rd floor
New York, NY 10016
Note in the memo line that the donation is for "evacuees."
Copyright © 2012 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
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