NEWS FEATURE: After Three Years Some Groups Still Aiding Sept. 11 Victims

c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The United Services Group, a New York City humanitarian consortium that helped victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, closed up shop on July 31. But that doesn’t mean the long-term relief work is anywhere near over. Stephen Solender, who served as chief executive officer of the group coordinating a […]

c. 2004 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The United Services Group, a New York City humanitarian consortium that helped victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, closed up shop on July 31. But that doesn’t mean the long-term relief work is anywhere near over.

Stephen Solender, who served as chief executive officer of the group coordinating a range of religious, secular and ethnic groups, estimates that the cases of thousands of people still in need have been referred to social service agencies in the New York region.


“There are … a certain number of people who feel that we are coddling some of these people and that we ought to say, `Look, it’s 36 months since 9/11. It’s time for you to really pull yourselves together and get going,”’ said Solender, the former president of United Jewish Communities, a national, New York-based charity.

“Unfortunately, life and human behavioral problems don’t get resolved that way.”

From Methodist relief workers in New York to Catholic Charities counselors in Boston to post-Sept. 11 interfaith gatherings in Washington, religious organizations are continuing to help those who were directly or indirectly affected by the terrorist attacks. As some continue the traditional work of counseling and helping pay bills, others are fostering dialogue between faiths and preparing for whatever tragedy may lie ahead.

Solender said cases now handled by groups such as the Salvation Army, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and Catholic Charities include victims who still carry physical and emotional scars from the flames and smoke of the World Trade Center. Widows with children struggle with the lack of funds after losing their husbands and their incomes.

“There was a delay for a certain number of people in feeling the pain because they were almost anesthetized after 9/11 and it took a year or two for them to fully comprehend how profoundly they had been affected by that tragedy,” he said.

In Boston _ the starting point of the two jetliners that were flown into New York’s Twin Towers _ Pat Dunn of Catholic Charities has worked with other charitable groups and government offices in a “community of care” to meet ongoing needs.

In July, the six crisis counselors on her staff were on hand when a remembrance garden was dedicated in the Boston Public Garden and, two days later, when the Justice Department held a grueling briefing in preparation for the trial of Zacharias Moussaoui, a suspect in the attacks.

For some of those attending the ceremony at the garden _ whose greenery will bloom each September _ the dedication was the closest thing to a funeral they’ll have for loved ones whose body parts were never found.


“A major event like the Department of Justice meeting, when you’re dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome or complicated grief, those things impact the (grief) process,” said Dunn, a licensed clinical social worker. “Wounds get opened.”

Some of the relief work aims to lift the moods of relatives who mourn three years later. Dunn, along with others in the caring consortium, have coordinated pizza parties for teenagers and a dinner featuring a local comedian that simply gave victims “the opportunity to laugh, just to be ordinary.”

In New York, the United Methodist Committee on Relief has served more than 2,000 families since April 2002, said the Rev. Ramon Nieves, executive director of the organization’s New York Disaster Response program. He predicts the program will open 40 cases in August.

He said some of the people they assist are “hidden victims,” noncitizens who have not qualified for other kinds of assistance.

In other cases, clients have come to the Methodist relief agency for help as they face unemployment.

“I would say 80 percent of our clients walk in here with a letter from their former employer saying, `Due to 9/11 tragedy, we had to let Mr. Smith go,”’ Nieves said. “We’re also seeing that persons who have experienced mental health problems have not been able to stay consistent with their employment.”


Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, organizations like the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington were overwhelmed with requests for speakers to address congregations and community groups. Now, grants from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ have helped that conference offer additional dialogues.

In mid-August, it sponsored an all-day gathering designed to help youth understand other religions. Panelists said they found that their faith was strengthened as they articulated its personal meaning to people from other traditions, said the Rev. Clark Lobenstine, executive director of the InterFaith Conference.

Church World Service, an ecumenical humanitarian agency, has worked with Eastern Mennonite University on interfaith seminars that have brought together congregation leaders and caregivers who have aided victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Donna Derr, associate director of the relief agency’s Emergency Response Program, said the weeklong conferences _ offered in English or Spanish on the Harrisonburg, Va., campus _ prove to be a source of counseling for those who have been counselors themselves.

But Derr said there’s also a long-term effect that is both helpful and foreboding.

“It provides a foundation for … these people to respond to future such events or to take what they’ve learned and be resources to neighboring areas that, God forbid, may experience some sort of crisis,” she said.

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