avactor_edit, Author at Strength After

Hurricane Sandy Firefighter – Road to Recovery – Waves for Water

VIA KIND Foundation | November 1, 2013

People just rise to the occasion and help you get it done.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

One year after Hurricane Sandy hit, more than 22,000 families were still displaced from their homes. Volunteer Firefighter John Gelalia was one of them. He lost his Jersey Shore home, his relationship, and his truck. Too committed to his community to leave, John lived in his gutted home without electricity or plumbing, and he biked to respond to fire emergencies. Waves for Water and KIND Snacks partnered to help John completely rebuild his home and get back to a stable life.

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I Survived: A Marie Claire Exclusive

VIA Marie Claire | June 14, 2013

I'm defined by how I have chosen to live my life.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

Over the last two decades, 7 women from across the country have found meaning and purpose from their experiences surviving and recovering from mass shootings. From speaking about their experiences to groups and other survivors of mass violence to studying conflict resolution and advocating for more effective gun laws, these survivors are committed to using their traumatic experiences for good in the world.

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Watch A Coach’s Beautiful Speech To Students Hit Hard By Hurricane Sandy

VIA Buzzfeed | November 13, 2012

We take care of our business, and then we go home to deal with the dark.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, normal life started to come back together. For the Beach Channel Campus football team, that meant showing up for a playoff game against an intimidating rival. Despite the fact that helicopters were landing on their practice field, that schools had been turned into shelters and emergency staging areas, and that the team hadn’t been together in 2 weeks, these young men rose to meet all their challenges together.

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Daniel Ross

VIA StoryCorps | August 24, 2012 Audio Story

That was my proudest moment, hands down.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

The drought of 2012 spurred wildfires across the western U.S., and prison inmates were part of the team fighting to protect communities from the flames. David Ross, a former crystal meth addict serving time for aggravated assault against a police officer, fought his first fire that year. Despite feeling terrified by the intensity of the fire, the town’s gratitude for the 2-weeks of work the inmates spent protecting them was deeply moving for him.

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Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina: Story From a Survivor

VIA Huffington Post | November 17, 2011

I’ll be recovering for the rest of my life.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

When Katrina hit, Allison Good was a sophomore in high school living in the suburbs. Her family’s home was flooded with 6 feet of water, and along with their possessions, she also lost her two cats. Despite the grief of losing all that—and being displaced for four months—Allison cultivated a deep appreciation for New Orleans culture that she’d never had before. But years later, it became harder to have a rosy outlook on the impact of Katrina. Her parents had sheltered her from news coverage at the time, so seeing photos and video of the horror and devastation the community endured was difficult years later.

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Portraits from a Storm

VIA Facebook (YouTube Channel) | May 5, 2011

To someone who’s lost everything, it can mean the world.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=ERMQgqEF0yk

In April 2011, storms tore across the South, and where Patty lived, there were 200 tornados in 24 hour span. While her home was safe, her heart went out to her neighbors near and far. She began picking up pieces of paper in front yard, finding everything from ultrasound photos to mail from over 100 miles away. Then she started posting what she found to a Facebook page, and in the span of a few hours, hundreds of other people were following her lead and posting the family memories they found as well.

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StoryCorps Griot: Surviving Katrina

VIA StoryCorps | August 28, 2007 Audio Story

I can’t replace this place. It’s a part of who we are.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

When Hurricane Katrina displaced people all throughout New Orleans, many of them flocked to the Superdome for refuge. Police Officer David Duplantier spent a week there while floodwaters rose around them, but people kept coming and help was limited. Reuniting with his wife Melissa was the happiest day of their lives, and they both still deeply love the city of New Orleans and intend to stay for good.

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Bobby Brown and Rufus Burkhalter

VIA StoryCorps | August 26, 2006 Audio Story

We stayed together and we did what we had to do to try to protect the city.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

Bobby Brown and Rufus Burkhalter have been coworkers for 20 years at a pump station in New Orleans. Despite the danger and tragedy they witnessed during their work when Hurricane Katrina hit, they’re both still deeply committed to the city they love and the people in it.

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John W. Taylor, Jr.

VIA StoryCorps | August 25, 2006 Audio Story

You don’t think those sort of things are important—until they’re not there.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

New Orleans was also homebase for John W. Taylor, Jr., who’d lived all over the country but found himself with little more than his truck after Hurricane Katrina hit. He knows for many of his neighbors, it’s too hard to see the city they love in such disarray, and even he’s not sure if he’ll be able to stay.

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Roy Calabrisi and Anthony Calabrisi

VIA StoryCorps | Audio Story

We're hanging in there, and that’s what really counts.

If you are experiencing emotional distress or other mental health concerns after a disaster, the Disaster Distress Helpline is here for you 24/7/365.

1-800-985-5990

For Deaf and Hard of Hearing ASL Users: Please text or call using your preferred Relay provider. For more resources, click here.

For Spanish: Call or text and press “2”. For more resources, click here.

Para Español: Llame o envíe un mensaje de texto al 1-800-985-5990 y oprima el número 2. Para más recursos, haga clic aquí.

Hurricane Katrina caused damage to virtually every structure St. Bernard’s Parish, home to brothers Anthony and Roy Calabrisi. At 77 and 83 years old respectively, they talked about the uncertainty of rebuilding their community in the twilight of their lives. They’re focusing on holding on and doing the best they can, a little bit at a time. If nothing else, they’re even closer as brothers than they were before the storm hit.

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