The School of Social Policy and Practice hosted a Hurricane Katrina study group at the Sheraton Hotel April 29 through May 1.
The Schools of Engineering and Applied Science, Dental Medicine, Nursing and Design, as well as the Fox Leadership Program have worked for the last three years with other universities and the public welfare offices in Hancock County, Miss., the site of the eye of the storm in August 2005.
According to SP2 Dean Richard Gelles, the group focused on forming an exit strategy for Penn, keeping track of what the school is doing and building a roadmap with advice for future groups working in disaster relief.
Formulating an exit strategy is important because Penn is an educational institution and will help when it is needed but cannot stay in one region indefinitely, Gelles said.
The involved groups met to share information collected over the last three years. The findings will be compiled in a book, which is the third in a series about Hurricane Katrina and is slated to be released this fall. The book will provide a blueprint for how educational institutions can help the next time a disaster strikes.
"It's very appropriate that Penn is hosting this gathering to really assess what's been accomplished, what more is there to do [and] what are the lessons learned," Penn President Amy Gutmann said. "Right after the tragedy . the Penn community came forward to help."
Connie Hoe, a recent SP2 graduate and the coordinator of SP2's Feldman Initiative for Hancock County, emphasized that, although help may be plentiful at first, the "initial outpour of aid is usually unsustained."
"We went down to Hancock County 18 months [after Katrina hit]," Hoe said. "Volunteers and help was dwindling, and service providers were scrambling to meet the needs."
Each of the involved schools helped with the disaster relief in a manner fitting its area of expertise.
SP2 focused on mental-health needs in Hancock County, and the Nursing School held health screenings and set up annual health fairs to educate residents.
The Dental School coordinated with Mississippi's Director of Oral Health.
Penn Design concentrated on rebuilding homes in New Orleans.
SEAS examined the water supply, finding that 20 percent of the wells were bacterially contaminated.
According to Dental professor and director of Community Health Joan Gluch, the state dental director designated the area a health-professional shortage area, which helped allocate more resources and funding.
Penn's efforts were coordinated by Maureen Gatto, volunteer coordinator for the Bucks Mont Katrina Relief project, a partnership between the Bucks-Mont community, Salvation Army and Mississippi Gulf Coast citizens.
"It is a complex situation," Gluch said. "Hancock County was in need prior to the disaster, and Katrina just made it worse."
