~ Personalized Disaster Relief ~
by Sharon Rose Poet
Since the volunteer work I did with Katrina and Rita victims, as well as my own personal experiences with disasters,
I have felt saddened by the lack of uncomplicated help there is in their aftermath, especially for those who were already struggling,. . .and
have come to the following conclusion:
When we have the Heart to help, and money to donate, we can help more people with a lot less money when
we give directly to individuals and families who are in need. Through giving DIRECTLY to disaster victims we can FULLY help dozens of people with
the same amount of money that would barely trickle down to temporarily help just one person. . .through most other avenues.
Far more disaster victims will be helped when we let our Hearts guide us into the kind of compassion that cares to prevent further
distress by COMPLETELY lifting people back onto their feet, monetarily, emotionally and mentally. . .instead of offering only enough
food or water to sustain their plight. It can cost a lot less to fully help people than it does to keep them down and keep feeding them
for long periods of time. . .and its far more humane. Lets let our Hearts do the deed of REALLY helping those in need.
After disaster strikes, most victims need these three things,
In order to fully recover.
1. A SAFE, kind, genuinely welcoming place to live.
2. Time for grieving in an understanding and
compassionate home -
enough peaceful time
to heal,
without being pressured to hurry up and “get over it...etc.”
3. A chance to start over - enough uncomplicated financial
assistance,
to lift them back onto their own feet.
Please remember that reluctant help does not feel very helpful, because most disaster victims already
feel humiliated and guilty for having to depend on other people. We should not help just because we think we should
or just to make ourselves look good, because victims can only feel comforted by the type of help that comes from genuine care.
Also please remember that interrogating victims, and making them prove their losses, as most agencies do,
merely ads to their distress at a time when they are often already so overwhelmed that they have a hard time remembering
details, anyway. Its better to just focus on listening to our own intuition - our own “gut feelings” - our own Hearts.
It is best to just offer a compassionate ear and/or a shoulder to cry on, instead of suspicious questioning, because they
all DO deserve the help they need and should not have to be dealt the added distress of having to prove themselves or defend
themselves against suspicions, which are usually born from a greedy, selfish search for a reason to not have to help.
NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION IS,
Those who continue to suffer just haven't gotten the help they need.
“What can I do for you in your time of need?”
(These are the words that plant a healing seed.)
P.S. In an old Native American tradition, it's required that we never let anyone know what we've done to help another person.
This is to keep our egos out of it and pull our Hearts into it. Perhaps we can learn something from this wise tradition.