Mississippi’s Project Recovery Available To All Affected By Hurricane Katrina 

Release Date: October 28, 2005
Release Number: 1604-097

» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Department of Mental Health provides a special program to assist people in coping with the stress caused by Hurricane Katrina. This program is called Project Recovery.

Project Recovery, funded by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and facilitated with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides crisis counseling services to anyone affected directly or indirectly by Hurricane Katrina.

“Project Recovery offers crisis counseling services to affected individuals and families in shelters statewide,” said Robert Latham, Director of Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). “Project Recovery provides outreach services throughout the community, public education services and information and crisis counseling referral services,” Latham added.

“This program provides valuable services and resources to people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Since beginning in September, the program has received more than 500 calls.” said Randy Hendrix, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.

“The state of Mississippi has developed a much-needed program that is accessible to citizens throughout the state by visiting the Disaster Recovery Centers or by calling the Project Recovery Helpline. The helpline is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 1-866-856-3227,” said Nick Russo, deputy federal coordinating officer for FEMA.

For additional information, visit the Mississippi Department of Mental Health web site at www.dmh.state.ms.us

FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.

Last Modified: Monday, 28-Nov-2005 17:54:42