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Catholic Charities continues to address needs of those affected by Ida Story by Janet Marcel Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier
After Hurricane Ida devastated much of the area that makes up the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, many people were temporarily unable to live in their homes because of the damage; and some were left homeless after their houses were completely destroyed. To address the housing needs of the people in this area, the diocese quickly began working with the National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP), and its sister company, the Disaster Services Corporation (DSC), to set up Parish Recovery Assistance Centers (P-RACs) in the diocese. At the P-RACs, case workers documented victims’ damages and assisted them in registering for federal and state programs. According to Lee Bultman, disaster recovery case worker and coordinator of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux (CCH-T) Case Management program, approximately 3,100 applications were collected at the P-RACs, and subsequently loaded into a spreadsheet whereby the data could be more easily managed and analyzed. As a result of analyzing the data, the administration at CCH-T is making data driven decisions to determine where and how to use the limited resources that are available. 26 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • February 2022
The goal is to assist as many people as possible, while being responsible stewards of our limited resources, Bultman says. “That’s where the recently implemented CCH-T Case Management program process comes into play. Utilizing a structured, comprehensive, assessment process, critical information is gathered and utilized to determine which cases we can most effectively address and which are more appropriately referred to other agencies.” Currently, there are five case workers/managers on staff at CCH-T contacting the 1,371 applicants who indicated the need for mold remediation and/or “muck and gut” assistance – the process of removing storm damaged items from homes such as wet carpet, ruined furniture, etc., and then gutting the houses to the extent needed – removing saturated, infested sheetrock – to prepare the home so that contractors can begin repairs. “Of course, there are two sides to case management work,” explains Bultman. “First there are the technicalities of the people who need a place to stay or they need to have their house gutted. And, the other side of the story is the psychological and emotional aspects of recovery. It’s the disruption to their lives, the trauma aspect, the faith aspect … the human side of the story. Their sense of security has
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