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counselor; and martine turner, the program manager of the capital area. typically, the resource linkage coordinator and crisis counselor canvas together. ?ey always go two at a time, door to door. kaneisha describes her crisis counselor role, ?i hear the story, figure out where i can step in and help them. ?en, i pull in our resource linkage coordinator to find resources that we can use to handle the crisis. sometimes we?ll pass them onto a disaster case manager. we have up to five times we can visit with a survivor.? ?e initial visit is not the end for louisiana
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team members. and when they walk through a neighborhood, they are not done. ?ey will continue to return until they have met with everyone in the flooded area. ?we want to inform survivors of resources we have that they may not know about,? martine shares. ?e louisiana spirit team in action looks a little like this. kaneisha and matthew enter the trailer of a survivor. ?ey greet him and explain who they are. ?en, they ask gentle questions about his experience and current situation. he responds with relief and honesty. after he recounts his flood story, they leave him with multiple handouts full of resources. he is grateful someone cares. ?is is what louisiana spirit does. ?ey stop and listen to those who have experienced crisis. ?en, they work to remove any pressure they can, whether that be by providing stress management ideas or linking them to much needed resources. martine says her love for this job is founded on the immediate gratification she receives from helping others. at the end of each day, she knows that she has met a need. ?people are very receptive and thankful. when they are caught up in trying to get their house rebuilt, they don?t have time. we get a lot of people in tears because they get to the point where they can?t do it all and give up. we will do anything we can to make this process easier and help people see there is a light at the end of the tunnel. when the day ends, i feel like i did something. i come to work every day and i love it.? another example of louisiana spirit?s impact occurred as the team walked. a truck stopped and a loud ?hey? boomed out of it as shantel approached. ?e group thought it may have been a relative or close friend with that type of greeting, but it was a flood survivor she had helped from the park forest neighborhood. he glowed as he described how her resources had helped him get his floors installed and his house painted. ?e team all agreed that their main job is building rapport and relationships. ?ey are true helpers, community servants who only bring good news. kaneisha explains, ?rapport helps us help the survivors throughout the whole process. it reminds them that someone from the state level is here and hearing their stories and are in the process with them. ?ey?re not forgotten.? remembering all types of survivors is one of louisiana spirit?s many purposes. not only do they walk the devastated streets, but they also get involved in summer camps and schools to work with survivor children. ?e crisis counselors help children process trauma and stress creatively. first responders and teachers are also on the program?s radar. ?ey offer services to them as well throughout recovery. ?e louisiana spirit team exudes compassion as they share confident knowledge with survivors. some of them are survivors themselves and offer empathy to each person they contact. ?everybody?s story is different. people are dealing with the total destruction of everything they?ve known as stability, and now they?re living with family members or in a trailer. parents have to rebuild their homes, deal with their kids having trouble with grades or in school, and manage their jobs. ?e spectrum is so vast. it?s easy to forget if you don?t drive through the areas, but people are still trying to get in their homes. we all have to work together,? matthew emphasizes. ? j u l y 2 0 1 7 | b r p a r e n t s . c o m 4 7
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