Agencies respond to cries for help in wake of attack

The real deluge may come later as the reality of the event sinks in.

By: Jennifer Potash
   A woman who lost her husband in the World Trade Center attack calls an area counseling organization to seek help.
   A major financial institution which had offices in the towers seeks counselors to help devastated employees cope with the deaths of co-workers.
   Parents seeking help for frightened children call mental-health hot lines.
   Local social-service and counseling organizations have found themselves responding to the emotional aftershocks of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
   The counseling centers have sent staff to local schools and companies and have offered the opportunity for counseling at their offices.
   Counselors from Corner House, which provides counseling services and treatment for adolescents, young adults and their families, went to John Witherspoon Middle School and Princeton High School to help students as well as faculty, said Gary DeBlasio, executive director.
   A large insurance company lost a substantial number of employees in the attack and many surviving employees were relocated to the Mercer County offices, said Mark Lamar, executive director of the Family Guidance Center, which has offices on Nassau Street.
   "Typically, we receive a call from the company human resources manager that (employees) lost co-workers or saw someone get hurt," he said. "Sometimes, it’s for a person who got out but it’s a mess now."
   Following the attacks, CONTACT of Mercer County, which provides a free crisis hot line 24 hours a day, seven days a week, received calls in the middle of night, said Executive Director Eleanor Letcher.
   "Many of the calls were from the rescuers who had been in New York and just needed to talk about it," she said. "And we’re here to lend a listening ear."
   So far, no counseling organization reports being overwhelmed with requests, but that’s to be expected, the professionals said.
   In a catastrophic or traumatic event, the first reactions from survivors or by relatives of victims is geared toward survival, Mr. Lamar said.
   "You’re busy getting out safely and making sure the family is in order," he said.
   Later, those survivors may experience depression, fear of normal activities such as leaving for work or traveling on an airplane, he said.
   The deluge may come in later days as the reality of the event sinks in, said Mimi Ballard, executive director or Family and Children’s Services of Central New Jersey, which has offices on John Street in Princeton Borough.
   "We’re going to see more and more people, while not directly affected in that they lost a loved one or a friend, but it’s affected them like it’s affected all of us," Ms. Ballard said.
   Mr. DeBlasio said he expected social-service providers and counselors would engage in more grief counseling in the coming weeks.
   Area counseling providers, including Trinity Counseling at Trinity Church, are all working together with the United Way of Greater Mercer County to meet the need for counseling services in the area, Mr. Lamar said.
   And regular clients have been talking about the attacks during therapy and counseling sessions.
   "I’ve heard from our counselors that all of our regular clients have mentioned the attack," Mr. Lamar said. "That crisis reminds them of earlier crises in their own lives."
   Ms. Letcher of CONTACT recounted the story of a regular caller who is a recovering alcoholic and began drinking in the days following the attack.
   "She went back to her old way of coping with crisis," Ms. Letcher said.
   Other calls have come in from parents seeking ways to alleviate their children’s fears, she said.
   And the agency also received offers of help from colleagues throughout the country, Ms. Letcher said.
   "On my e-mail I had messages from colleagues all over the county and the world, all wanting to help and offering to take some of our calls," she said.
   Now more than ever there is a need for volunteers, Ms. Letcher said.
   CONTACT will begin training classes for new volunteers on Wednesday, she said.
   For more information, call the CONTACT office at (609) 883-2880.