Rita and its aftermath

Lots I could talk about this morning but I have so much to do before 9:00 am I don't have the time. So here are a few things I'd like to write about later:

* Our picnic at our city park was a HUGE succes. Many families from the Gulf Coast. Lot's of our KSU students to help. Great food, including gumbo!

* My first case (Saturday) from Rita and a dramatic effort by a local family to bring them here

* My second and third Rita cases (Sunday) from the same area. The tragedy of a friend left behind.

* The continued efforts of a woman to bring her two horses from Mississippi to Kansas (I will make calls today to see if we can find $$ to help her pay for gas

* The baby steps toward a new program on family to family helping called "DearNeighbors." I purchased the URL http://www.dearneighbors.com (as of today, nothing is there yet)

* The frustration of a new form we have to use and the power of survivor stories as part of the permanent record

* The great tension of expecting HUGE numbers of Rita survivors and the relief that heavily popluated areas were spared (but sad about the families who were affected)

* The unexpected rush of new evacuees from Rita over the weekend and this week

* A student reporter wanting to find a story about "fraud" and my concern that the wonderful families we have served could be a target of suspicion caused by misinformed media releases

Lots to talk about. This is going to be a busy week and the number of case managers we have has declined.