Long term recovery group pools community resources

The Santa Rosa County Long Term Recovery Organization (LTRO) met recently in their continuing effort to align resources and share information to assist the community in disaster recovery. The organization was coordinated by FEMA in response to Hurricane Ivan.

The organization, which meets every third Tuesday, is currently an amalgamation of county officials, church leaders and various non-profit organizations such as United Way and Red Cross.

"This forum's working right now. We're bringing together all the facets of the community and I think it's a great forum," said Stirling Boomhower, administrative coordinator for LTRO.

One function of the LTRO is to bring programs to the attention of local leaders and their related publics. One such program is Project Recovery presented by Community Drug and Alcohol Council (CDAC) Inc. The program offers free counseling to residents of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties, and offers a variety of mental health services to assist children, teenagers and adults with hurricane related post-traumatic stress.

"We want to help people with stress related problems cope with storms. We can help people with a whole gamut of problems, everything from severe depression to substance abuse," said CDAC Executive Director Gail Honea. "We have a really great group of people who are good at outreach. [Interested residents] don't have to come to us, we'll go to them," Honea said.

Honea explained that the program was initially designed to focus on victims of Hurricane Ivan, but its scope of work was expanded to encompass residents affected by Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina as well. For now, the program will be available through December 2006, but Honea is optimistic that their contract will be extended to meet the needs of future disasters.

According to literature provided by CDAC, residents must meet one of the following criteria to qualify for this free service:

.Daily interruption of normal abilities

.Abnormal levels of anxiety, depression or stress

.Increased substance abuse

.Decreased ability to manage relationships in a constructive or non-violent manner

.Children with school behavior or attendance concerns

.Children with emotional challenges

Residents interested in getting involved with the Project Recovery are encouraged to call (850) 434-2724 or visit CDAC's website at www.cdac.info.