Picking Up the Pieces: One Agency's Response

By Eivira R. Gonzalez, CSW Associate Executive Director, Puerto Rican Family Institute, Inc.
(February/March 2002)

I have been given an opportunity to put my thoughts to paper regarding the events of September 11th and our agency's response to this abominable event. This is an opening sentence for an article as good as any, for I have found this task to be far more difficult than I anticipated. My dilemma stems from the reality that like any resident of this city, I too have a "personal impact statement"; but who doesn't? It suffices to say that I am one among millions who share in the collective shock, fear, grief and mourning that still overwhelms us. I hereby resolve to make an effort not to view life and the vicissitudes of daily living in terms of "pre and post" that dreadful date. In my view, social workers and all mental health professionals, now bear the burden of responsibility to heal the psyche of a nation. We can agree that this is a daunting and seemingly unattainable task. In order to begin, submit that we have to dispense with the leisure of "processing" and rapidly move to expediency oriented strategies. In hindsight, our agency's response and current direction supports this course of action.

The Puerto Rican Family Institute, founded in 1960, is one of the oldest and largest Latino, community based organization in New York City. The agency's administrative offices and seven of its programs are located on West 15th Street, not far from Ground Zero. Treatment programs, five of these mental health clinics, operate in four of the City's boroughs and in Jersey City. Other programs such as Child Placement Prevention, Case Management, Head Start and Residential Facilities are scattered throughout predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Bushwick, East New York, Queens and the Bronx. Our primary mission is family preservation. We take great pride in a service delivery model that is culturally and linguistically competent. Our goal is to maintain fiscal and programmatic stability, expand services to meet the high demand that consistently exceeds our capacity, and advocate for programs and policies that adequately address the many unmet needs of Latino children and families. Idle and carefree are not words one can use to describe our day to day professional reality. It suffices to say that our ability to multi-task serves us well. I will also tell you that no amount of planning could have prepared any of us for what we faced that first day. I think that most of us responded with common sense, logic and instinct. Now that we have a road map to guide us, we hope that we never have to use it.

At the Institute, as in many other organizations and businesses throughout the city the first three days can best be described as chaotic for everyone. In addition, we faced the added stress of being short handed since many of us were unable to reach our respective work sites. The fact that we had a communication plan prior to this tragedy was extremely helpful. Executive staff contacted all managers who as it turned out, had already initiated contact with their staff. We knew almost instantly that our sites had at least minimum coverage. Our initial steps focused on the safety of our staff and service consumers. In this regard, two observations are worth mentioning. Within the first week, our mental health clinic began to report that their patients were making their way to their sites in great distress.

On the other hand, our Child Placement Prevention Programs reported that families were staying away. Staff was mobilized to increase their outreach via home visits to diminish isolation and reduce risk factors. Like many other agencies those first few days, we anticipated receiving victims' families at all of our sites. This never came to pass. We soon came to the realization that we had never experienced a collective crisis of this magnitude. We had no frame of reference for what to expect. Almost simultaneously, by the second day, we had initiated an external response. Some of our clinicians, unable to get to their sites the first two days, had volunteered immediately with the Red Cross. The flurry of telephone calls requesting assistance received from the State Office of Mental Health, the New York City Department of Mental Health, the United Way of New York City, the Hispanic Federation and the Red Cross, led us to join the cadre of professionals who did such commendable work at the Family Crisis Center at Pier 94. I was told that at one point, over one hundred clinicians were needed on any given day. In spite of our limited resources, we were able to allocate ten clinicians during the second week following the tragedy.

Through part of the month of October, we continued to send staff as often as possible. We did the best we could, yet not enough. I will always regret that our limited resources forced us to redirect our efforts to meet our own internal needs. As an organization, we witnessed the total vulnerability of the service infra structure that we knew existed but was never so readily evident. In diverting all efforts to the events of September 11th, as our City needed to do, our established service systems were insufficient to sustain the basic and limited support services available to those already at risk prior to our changing course. The effects of this necessary course of action are yet to be fully felt and adequately addressed.

In closing, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the second tragedy, the crash of Flight 587, caused a devastating blow to the Latino community in general, and to many of our service consumers in particular. Now more than ever, those we serve present a heightened degree of anxiety, fear and stress. The Puerto Rican Family Institute has been operating five Crisis Centers within its Clinic Treatment Programs to respond to the service needs of individuals and families dealing with the aftermath of these horrific events. Our agency is a provider under Project Liberty. We are also concerned and closely monitor the adverse financial impact suffered by the Institute. The loss of revenue incurred as a result of lost client visits during the period, augmented by staff diversion to Pier 94, can be quantified in the thousands of dollars, but not recouped. Now, five months later, we remain vigilant and in a heightened state of alert. I will also tell you that our mission is clear; our goals unchanged; and our resolve to advocate, promote and impact social policies to better the quality of life for our children and families, remains undiminished. We are not going to process too much. We are going to proceed.

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