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| PRESS RELEASE: PROJECT REASSURE |
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In the aftermath of the hurricane, a volunteer team of mental health specialists, psychologists, crisis responders, educators and other professionals were inspired to create resources to assist adults caring for youth victims displaced and distressed by this disaster. Project Reassure is especially focused on giving aid to children and teenagers with disabilities, whose caregivers may be unaware of how to properly help them. Every child copes with stressful experiences differently. Youth exposed to an unexpected event such as Hurricane Katrina can experience emotional, cognitive, physical or behavioral stress reactions. Often, there can be spikes in unwanted behaviors such as nervousness, irritability, inflexibility and fearfulness. Some children may have more difficulty returning to normalcy than others. Because these children may require special assistance and support, the goal of Project Reassure is to train adults to be able to recognize symptoms that point to this need. Project Reassure will also teach parents, teachers and caregivers simple and effective ways to reassure children who may suffer from acute stress reactions as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, the collaboration will assist adults in helping children who face the additional burden of being far from home. Professionals from the University of Pittsburgh and The Watson Institute will use their expertise to provide various intervention skills and coping strategies that can be implemented to help children cope with the stress and trauma of a tragic experience. Project Reassure will give music and play activities, communication strategies, ways to help re-establish control as well as both written and oral exercises that can be implemented in the classroom. The information will be disseminated via the project’s website—scheduled to be completed within ten days—as well as through print materials and email distributions. The resources created by the project can also be adapted to other unexpected events that can traumatize children such as accidents, the onset of disease, violent crimes or other natural disasters, so the work efforts of this project will continue to assist children in the future. If you would like to make a donation to Project Reassure, please call (412) 749-2868. Payments can also be mailed to: The Watson Institute PROJECT REASSURE 301 Camp Meeting Road Sewickley, PA 15143 The Watson Institute is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization. |
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