Repairing Alabama After the Tornadoes

8/6/2019 Repairing Alabama After the Tornadoes

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Repairing Alabama after theTornadoes


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More than

824,000

Alabamianslive in poverty.

We can do

better.


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POVERTY: DEFINED!


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poverty!1 a: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount ofmoney or material possessions b: renunciation as a member of a

religious order of the right as an individual to own property!

2: scarcity, dearth!3 a: debility due to malnutrition b: lack of fertility!

websters dictionary!


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Table with row headings in column A and column headings in rows 4 to 8. (Leading dots indicate subparts)Poverty Thresholds for 2009 by Size of Family & Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

Related children under 18 years

Size of family unit Weighted

average None One Two Three Four

thresholds

One person (unrelated individual).... 10,956

Under 65 years....................... 11,161 11,161

65 years and over.................... 10,289 10,289

Two people............................ 13,991Householder under 65 years........... 14,439 14,366 14,787

Householder 65 years and over...... 12,982 12,968 14,731

Three people.......................... 17,098 16,781 17,268 17,285

Four people........................... 21,954 22,128 22,490 21,756 21,832

Five people........................... 25,991 26,686 27,074 26,245 25,603 25,211

Six people............................ 29,405 30,693 30,815 30,180 29,571 28,666

Seven people.......................... 33,372 35,316 35,537 34,777 34,247 33,260Eight people.......................... 37,252 39,498 39,847 39,130 38,501 37,610

Nine people or more................... 44,366 47,514 47,744 47,109 46,576 45,701

Note: The poverty thresholds are updated each year using the change in the average annual Consumer Price

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Since the average annual CPI-U for 2009 was lower than the averageannual CPI-U for 2008, poverty thresholds for 2009 are slightly lower than the corresponding thresholds for 2008.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.


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Alabamas Katrina Moment


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Low-Income Communities are MoreVulnerable to Natural Disasters!

Vulnerability = a persons or groupscapacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and

recover from the impact of a natural hazard Fothergill & Peek, 2004 !


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Why?!


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Low-Income Communities are less

resilient after natural disastersCommunity resilience = the ability ofcommunities to withstand and mitigate the

stress of a disasterRand, 2011


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Expanded Definition of ResilienceCommunity resilience entails the ongoing and developingcapacity of the community to account for its vulnerabilities

and develop capabilities that aid that community in:(1) preventing, withstanding, and mitigating the stress of a

health incident; (2) recovering in a way that restores the community to a

state of self-sufficiency and at least the same level of

health and social functioning after a health incident; and (3) using knowledge from a past response to strengthen the

communitys ability to withstand the next healthincident.


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Examples from Post-Katrina Louisiana!


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Tulane Center for Public Service!


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LSU!


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LSU!


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15 needs identified by the Louisiana Recovery Authority:1. Build better levees and other hurricane protection2. Develop new housing3. Restore coastal areas4. Improve schools5. Attract new businesses to the area6. Make reconstruction jobs/training available for residents 7. Provide better community social services8. Make highway and street improvements9. Reduce crime10. Devise a workable evacuation plan11. Protect the environment12.

Buy out flood-prone properties

13. Provide a better public transportation system14. Support the arts and culture15. Create more parks and open spacesSource: Louisiana Speaks


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Academic Disciplines Involved: Agriculture Architecture Communications Education/Mentoring Environmental Sciences Family and Consumer Sciences

Fine Arts Foreign Language Health and Exercise Sciences Historic Preservation Information Technology Mathematics and Science Nursing, Psychology and Social Services Social Sciences Student-Driven Projects


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Combating Truancy: A Prevention and Remediation Focus for the N.O.

Recovery School DistrictNorthwestern State UniversityDr. Gerra PerkinsThe goal of this project was to provide school counselors in the New OrleansRecovery School District with the resources and materials to help parents and

students understand the importance of school attendance. Approximately 60students in the Counseling program at Northwestern State University helped

design a two-pronged approach (prevention and remediation) that targeted

students and parents and addressed the issue of truancy at the elementary,middle and high school grade levels. Students decision making, problem-

solving, creative/critical thinking skills were enhanced; and products andresources were created that target truancy in the New Orleans Recovery School

District.


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Everybodys Child: Teacher Preparedness in Times of Crisis & RecoverySoutheastern Louisiana UniversityDr. Cynthia ElliottThis service-learning initiative involved collaboration between the International

Center for Everybodys Child at Hofstra University in New York, Southeastern

Louisiana University and local education agencies in Southeast Louisiana, in aneffort to improve schools by better preparing teachers to respond to the needsof children and families in times of crisis. The overarching goals of this project

were to develop a curricular framework that incorporates service- learning

pedagogy for enhancing teacher preparedness in times of catastrophic eventsand ongoing emergency situations; to provide professional development that

embraces literacy-based activities designed to support families and childrensacademic development as well as social and emotional needs; and to establish

Louisiana as the Gulf Coast Site for the International Center for Everybodys

Child.


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Assessment of Rural Well Water Quality in Southwest Louisiana in thePost-Rita EraMcNeese State UniversityDr. Wejiin DongThis project was designed to address two major needs identified by the

Louisiana Recovery Authorityestablishing the need to restore coastal areas

(which requires safe drinking water) and protecting the environment (whichrequires the prevention of contaminated drinking water.) The project identified

areas in Southwest Louisiana that needed water quality assessment afterHurricane Rita. The participants included citizens from rural communities in

Southwest Louisiana, students and faculty from McNeese State University, and

staff scientists from Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LakeCharles Office) and Calcasieu Parish Health Unit. Students learned and

received training as to how to use water analysis equipment to assess drinkingwater quality and to reflect on how they use the training and skills learned to

serve their communities.


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Environmental Awareness Service Projects for Low Income Homes University of Louisiana at LafayetteDr. Gholam H. MassihaThe goal of this project is for students from the College of Engineering at UL

Lafayette to perform energy and environmental testing on low income homes inrecent hurricane-ravaged communities in hopes of enticing the homeowners touse better insulation, purchase energy-efficient appliances, and modify their

energy consumption habits. The data gathered from the homes by students andvolunteers, which may include an inspection of the building envelope (insulation

levels, windows, doors, air leakage, etc.), as well as heating and cooling

systems will be disseminated to educate homeowners on energy guide labels,appliance energy use and general energy conservation.


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Marine Debris Removal at Grand Isle State ParkNicholls State UniversityDr. Allyse FerraraStudents of Nicholls State University, GISP (Grand Isle State Park), The NatureConservancy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Grand

Isle community joined together to provide students with an opportunity to seefirst-hand the effect of marine hurricane debris on Louisiana barrier islands

through educational seminars and observations. Students removed litter from aLouisiana barrier island; providing participants with first- hand knowledge of

Louisianas litter problem and about the negative impacts of marine debris and

litter on ecological processes.


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Coping Skills and Disaster Recovery Strategies for Low-Income Parents McNeese State UniversityDr. Allison GibbonsThe overall goal of the project is to improve community social services in

Southwest Louisiana by exposing low-income parents to information on copingskills and recovery strategies, including how to access available communityresources. This will require students to be involved in activities which include

identifying crisis needs of low-income parents in the five-parish area through aninterview process structured as a research activity; preparing and publishing a

Parents Resource Guide that provides information and guidelines on accessing

community resources as well as information on family coping strategies; and

holding face-to-face focus groups with sample groups of parents in the five-parish area.


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Hurricane Devastation Photographic Exhibition

Louisiana Tech UniversityDr. V. Elaine ThompsonThis was a multi-disciplinary project designed to produce a professional-quality,

mobile photographic exhibition showcasing images of hurricane devastation in

South Louisiana. A collection of photographs taken on several trips to the area

in early 2006 document the devastation and the earliest attempts at recovery.Incorporating students and faculty from six departments on campus, thisproject encompassed the notion of a multi-disciplinary service-learning

endeavor. History students served as curators of this exhibit while graphic

design students conceived the layout for the images. They also identifiedappropriate themes, selected the photographs to be included and wrote the

script to provide context for the images. By training students to become publichistorians, a new generation of professionals who have the knowledge to

produce high-quality educational exhibits and programming for the general

public will emerge.


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Spring Splash into Mathematics Service-Learning ProjectNorthwestern State UniversityDr. Kimberly McAlisterThe proposed project involves pairing students with low parental involvementfrom two elementary schools with teacher education candidates, many of

whom have been displaced to Natchitoches due to the hurricanes along theGulf Coast. Spring Splash into Math will build a community of learners

through a series of family mathematics night activities. Teacher candidates willplan and teach mathematics lessons and as parental involvement is essential,

these events will be held in the evening to encourage participation.


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Integrating Community Resources for Disaster Preparedness in Lincoln

ParishLouisiana Tech UniversityDr. Ramona GuinOver the course of two years disaster drills have been conducted within Lincoln

Parish by faculty and students from the Louisiana Tech senior nursing course to

provide education to nursing and EMS students as a way to train firstresponders and nurses when a disaster strikes. The impact on the community

has been extremely positive in that people in the community feel safer knowingthat local service providers are well prepared.


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Relationships Will Repair Alabama


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kristina scott 1016 19th street northexecutive director po box [email protected] birmingham, al 35255205-939-1408 www.alabamapoverty.org

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Repairing Alabama After the Tornadoes