The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies' Response to September 11th Disaster

(February/March 2002)

Dr. Meagan McLaughlin, Executive Director

Tell us about your organization

The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies is an umbrella organization with a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1922 with the mission of helping Protestant children in the child welfare system, the organization has grown tremendously in size as well as scope.

Today, the Federation provides support to more than 244 human service agencies and churches throughout the City of New York. These organizations provide services across the life cycle, from early childhood centers to nursing homes. Some of the services provided to member agencies include technical and management assistance, training, policy analysis, legal assistance and much more.

Could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

I have been the Executive Director of this organization for 16 years. I am proud to be a social worker and have an MSW from Howard University and a DSW from Columbia University.

What role did your organization have in responding to September 11th?

In the immediate crisis, we reached out to as many member agencies located below 14th street as we could. We provided them with help, such as, renting a van for a church, making funds available for an agency to get a psychiatrist to see children who were traumatized, sending trauma trainers to agencies and churches, giving cash grants to people who lost their jobs because of the tragedy…the list goes on and on.

What are your long-term concerns about responding to the disaster?

The challenges ahead are tremendous. There is a growing financial need because so many people lost their jobs. People are desperate and are having trouble meeting basic expenses. The demands on our staff can be over whelming. In addition, our organization has to respond to the disaster while we continue to do our ongoing work like lobby with the City and State governments on important social policy issues such as welfare reform. Our staff has had to stretch a great deal and as Executive Director, I need to try to maintain balance.

How do you think your social work training has informed your perspective?

My background is in casework and I am keenly aware that the World Trade Center attack impacts us all. We are all healers as well as victims. Our staff provides services while simultaneously struggling with their own truamatization. As a social worker, I am aware that as we take care of others, we must take care of ourselves as well. I'd like to add that social workers and the non-profit agencies have been in the forefront, helping in many ways and volunteering at the Pier, although the tremendous outpouring of support has not been given much attention by the media.

Julia Nieves, M.A., Program Assistant for Emergency Assistance and Grants

What kind of work are you doing?

I make available cash grants to people who have been affected by the World Trade Center disaster. These are funds from the NY Times 9/11 Fund. While some of the assistance goes to those directly affected by disaster, like spouses, we also work closely with people who have lost their jobs because of the attack.

Can you give me some examples?

I am bilingual Spanish speaking and many of my cases are Latino. I work with many undocumented people. These are the people that worked in the restaurants and cleaned and maintained the buildings at the World Trade Center. My impression is that the undocumented have a lot of trouble asking for help. They are generally very hard working and feel a sense of shame that they are asking for financial assistance. They are also fearful that they will get in trouble with their immigration status by coming to us. I tell them that it's not their fault that the World Trade Center was attacked and that asking for help is a sign of courage, not of weakness.

It's very sad because the undocumented worked long, hard hours and struggled to support their families. Now they have to cope with being out of work.

The undocumented were hit hard by this disaster but this doesn't get much attention in the media.

Judy Milone, CSW, Assistant Director of Member Services

What is your role at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies?

I have been on staff for 8 1/2 years. Since September 11th, I have been very involved with our financial assistance program. The demands have been tremendous. We have hired more staff but the high volume of cases makes it a challenge to be responsive while maintaining other program areas of responsibility.

How does your social work training inform your work?

My social work background is key to my ability to make professional judgments about the cases we work with. When we talk about identifying those affected by the World Trade Center, we use a broad interpretation. For example, one of my cases was an Arab-American woman who owns a laundromat. Even though her business is far from the World Trade Center, she was affected because her clientele, primarily Arab-Americans, were not leaving their homes. Consequently, her business suffered.

In doing assessments, you have to know what questions to ask and you have to have the ability to make informed decisions. That where being a social worker really makes a difference.