Repairing Alabama after the Tornadoes

More than 824,000 Alabamians live in poverty. ! We can do better.

POVERTY: DEFINED!

websters dictionary!

poverty!
1 a: the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions b: renunciation as a member of a religious order of the right as an individual to own property! 2: scarcity, dearth! 3 a: debility due to malnutrition b: lack of fertility!

Table with row headings in column A and column headings in rows 4 to 8. (Leading dots indicate subparts)

Poverty Thresholds for 2009 by Size of Family & Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

Related children under 18 years Size of family unit Weighted average None One thresholds 10,956 11,161 11,161 10,289 10,289 13,991 14,439 12,982 17,098 21,954 25,991 29,405 33,372 37,252 44,366

Two

Three

Four

One person (unrelated individual).... Under 65 years....................... 65 years and over.................... Two people............................ Householder under 65 years........... Householder 65 years and over...... Three people.......................... Four people........................... Five people........................... Six people............................ Seven people.......................... Eight people.......................... Nine people or more...................

14,366 12,968 16,781 22,128 26,686 30,693 35,316 39,498 47,514

14,787 14,731 17,268 22,490 27,074 30,815 35,537 39,847 47,744 17,285 21,756 26,245 30,180 34,777 39,130 47,109

21,832 25,603 29,571 34,247 38,501 46,576

25,211 28,666 33,260 37,610 45,701

Note: The poverty thresholds are updated each year using the change in the average annual Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Since the average annual CPI-U for 2009 was lower than the average annual CPI-U for 2008, poverty thresholds for 2009 are slightly lower than the corresponding thresholds for 2008. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Alabamas Katrina Moment

Low-Income Communities are More Vulnerable to Natural Disasters! Vulnerability = a persons or groups capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of a natural hazard Fothergill & Peek, 2004 !

Why?!

Low-Income Communities are less resilient after natural disasters Community resilience = the ability of communities to withstand and mitigate the stress of a disaster Rand, 2011

Expanded Denition of Resilience Community resilience entails the ongoing and developing capacity of the community to account for its vulnerabilities and develop capabilities that aid that community in: (1) preventing, withstanding, and mitigating the stress of a health incident; (2) recovering in a way that restores the community to a state of self-sufciency and at least the same level of health and social functioning after a health incident; and (3) using knowledge from a past response to strengthen the communitys ability to withstand the next health incident.

Examples from Post-Katrina Louisiana!

Tulane Center for Public Service!

LSU!

LSU!

15 needs identied by the Louisiana Recovery Authority:

1. Build better levees and other hurricane protection

2. Develop new housing 3. Restore coastal areas 4. Improve schools 5. Attract new businesses to the area 6. Make reconstruction jobs/training available for residents 7. Provide better community social services 8. Make highway and street improvements 9. Reduce crime 10. Devise a workable evacuation plan 11. Protect the environment 12. Buy out ood-prone properties 13. Provide a better public transportation system 14. Support the arts and culture 15. Create more parks and open spaces
Source: Louisiana Speaks

Academic Disciplines Involved: Agriculture Architecture Communications Education/Mentoring Environmental Sciences Family and Consumer Sciences Fine Arts Foreign Language Health and Exercise Sciences Historic Preservation Information Technology Mathematics and Science Nursing, Psychology and Social Services Social Sciences Student-Driven Projects

Combating Truancy: A Prevention and Remediation Focus for the N.O. Recovery School District Northwestern State University Dr. Gerra Perkins The goal of this project was to provide school counselors in the New Orleans Recovery School District with the resources and materials to help parents and students understand the importance of school attendance. Approximately 60 students in the Counseling program at Northwestern State University helped design a two-pronged approach (prevention and remediation) that targeted students and parents and addressed the issue of truancy at the elementary, middle and high school grade levels. Students decision making, problemsolving, creative/critical thinking skills were enhanced; and products and resources were created that target truancy in the New Orleans Recovery School District.

Everybodys Child: Teacher Preparedness in Times of Crisis & Recovery Southeastern Louisiana University Dr. Cynthia Elliott This service-learning initiative involved collaboration between the International Center for Everybodys Child at Hofstra University in New York, Southeastern Louisiana University and local education agencies in Southeast Louisiana, in an effort to improve schools by better preparing teachers to respond to the needs of children and families in times of crisis. The overarching goals of this project were to develop a curricular framework that incorporates service- learning pedagogy for enhancing teacher preparedness in times of catastrophic events and ongoing emergency situations; to provide professional development that embraces literacy-based activities designed to support families and childrens academic development as well as social and emotional needs; and to establish Louisiana as the Gulf Coast Site for the International Center for Everybodys Child.

Assessment of Rural Well Water Quality in Southwest Louisiana in the Post-Rita Era McNeese State University Dr. Wejiin Dong This project was designed to address two major needs identied by the Louisiana Recovery Authorityestablishing the need to restore coastal areas (which requires safe drinking water) and protecting the environment (which requires the prevention of contaminated drinking water.) The project identied areas in Southwest Louisiana that needed water quality assessment after Hurricane Rita. The participants included citizens from rural communities in Southwest Louisiana, students and faculty from McNeese State University, and staff scientists from Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (Lake Charles Ofce) and Calcasieu Parish Health Unit. Students learned and received training as to how to use water analysis equipment to assess drinking water quality and to reect on how they use the training and skills learned to serve their communities.

Environmental Awareness Service Projects for Low Income Homes University of Louisiana at Lafayette Dr. Gholam H. Massiha The goal of this project is for students from the College of Engineering at UL Lafayette to perform energy and environmental testing on low income homes in recent hurricane-ravaged communities in hopes of enticing the homeowners to use better insulation, purchase energy-efcient appliances, and modify their energy consumption habits. The data gathered from the homes by students and volunteers, which may include an inspection of the building envelope (insulation levels, windows, doors, air leakage, etc.), as well as heating and cooling systems will be disseminated to educate homeowners on energy guide labels, appliance energy use and general energy conservation.

Marine Debris Removal at Grand Isle State Park Nicholls State University Dr. Allyse Ferrara Students of Nicholls State University, GISP (Grand Isle State Park), The Nature Conservancy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Grand Isle community joined together to provide students with an opportunity to see rst-hand the effect of marine hurricane debris on Louisiana barrier islands through educational seminars and observations. Students removed litter from a Louisiana barrier island; providing participants with rst- hand knowledge of Louisianas litter problem and about the negative impacts of marine debris and litter on ecological processes.

Coping Skills and Disaster Recovery Strategies for Low-Income Parents McNeese State University Dr. Allison Gibbons The overall goal of the project is to improve community social services in Southwest Louisiana by exposing low-income parents to information on coping skills and recovery strategies, including how to access available community resources. This will require students to be involved in activities which include identifying crisis needs of low-income parents in the ve-parish area through an interview process structured as a research activity; preparing and publishing a Parents Resource Guide that provides information and guidelines on accessing community resources as well as information on family coping strategies; and holding face-to-face focus groups with sample groups of parents in the veparish area.

Hurricane Devastation Photographic Exhibition Louisiana Tech University Dr. V. Elaine Thompson This was a multi-disciplinary project designed to produce a professional-quality, mobile photographic exhibition showcasing images of hurricane devastation in South Louisiana. A collection of photographs taken on several trips to the area in early 2006 document the devastation and the earliest attempts at recovery. Incorporating students and faculty from six departments on campus, this project encompassed the notion of a multi-disciplinary service-learning endeavor. History students served as curators of this exhibit while graphic design students conceived the layout for the images. They also identied appropriate themes, selected the photographs to be included and wrote the script to provide context for the images. By training students to become public historians, a new generation of professionals who have the knowledge to produce high-quality educational exhibits and programming for the general public will emerge.

Spring Splash into Mathematics Service-Learning Project Northwestern State University Dr. Kimberly McAlister The proposed project involves pairing students with low parental involvement from two elementary schools with teacher education candidates, many of whom have been displaced to Natchitoches due to the hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Spring Splash into Math will build a community of learners through a series of family mathematics night activities. Teacher candidates will plan and teach mathematics lessons and as parental involvement is essential, these events will be held in the evening to encourage participation.

Integrating Community Resources for Disaster Preparedness in Lincoln Parish Louisiana Tech University Dr. Ramona Guin Over the course of two years disaster drills have been conducted within Lincoln Parish by faculty and students from the Louisiana Tech senior nursing course to provide education to nursing and EMS students as a way to train rst responders and nurses when a disaster strikes. The impact on the community has been extremely positive in that people in the community feel safer knowing that local service providers are well prepared.

Charity Meets Immediate Needs

Relationships Will Repair Alabama

kristina scott executive director kscott@alabamapoverty.org 205-939-1408

1016 19th street north po box 55058 birmingham, al 35255 www.alabamapoverty.org