Brick Township High School Senior Kirstin Smith - whose home was destroyed in Superstorm Sandy - is all too familiar with the after-effects of a disaster on children.
For months, she has been working with a children’s group - run through New Jersey Hope and Healing project - for youth impacted by the storm and has heard children in the group express everything from fear of future storms, to nightmares, to the inability to concentrate on school work.
Smith knows first-hand how important a support system can be to overcoming these issues, so when she heard about the two-mile wide tornado in Oklahoma, she suggested the group "pay it forward."
Today, at the Visitation Relief center on Mantoloking Road in Brick, Smith, her 10-year-old brother Riley, and several others in the group filled out cards with messages of hope and resiliency for children in Oklahoma.
Riley said it made him "feel good" knowing that he was able to reach out and help others.
The New Jersey Hope and Healing Program is sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Disaster and Terrorism Branch, through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, in partnership with Barnabas Health Institute for Prevention, the Mental Health Association of New Jersey, Family Services Associates in Atlantic County and Family Services Bureau in Newark.
Crisis counselors have been canvassing storm-impacted counties across the state since Superstorm Sandy, meeting with survivors in their neighborhoods, town halls, churches, and anywhere else people need help to deal with the damage that goes beyond bricks and mortar.
Gov. Chris Christie announced last month that New Jersey Hope and Healing has been awarded $11 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to continue the program. That program began on May 15th and has since made nearly 4,000 contacts.
Allison Blake, who is the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, looked on today as the children from New Jersey wrote their cards, and praised the children for reaching out to their peers.
"It is heartwarming to see the resiliency of children affected by Superstorm Sandy as they reach out to Oklahomans," Blake said. "I believe both groups of children - in New Jersey and Oklahoma - will benefit from this thoughtful and generous gesture."
For more information about New Jersey Hope and Healing, call 1-877-294-HELP (4357), TTY: 1-877-294-4356.
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