“Katrina, Rita, and the Donation Drive That Rearranged My DNA”
By 2004, I held my dream job as the Accessibility Coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the ADA Business Centers, where I was stationed at the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University in my new adopted home of Philadelphia, where, unbeknownst to me, I had become part of one of the most extraordinary circles of passionate, loving, and persistent community disability activists and advocates I would ever meet.
My time at the Institute taught me what it means to be an activist, to advocate for access and inclusion, and to be present with people in the darkest moments of their lives. Access is not a privilege. It is a right. My experiences there shaped the advocate and activist I am today.
What follows is a chapter of that history: a moment when my city, the City of Brotherly Love, rose to meet a crisis with compassion and muscle. It's a story that lit a fire under me and has been burning ever since.
Below is some history, you might enjoy reading!
Temple University's Post-Katrina DME Donation Drive (2005-2006) Background: Hurricane Katrina and Rita, Disaster Medical Equipment Needs.
When Hurricanes Katrina in August and Rita in August and September 2005 displaced hundreds of thousands of people on the U.S. Gulf Coast, many of them with disabilities, some of those people fled quickly and were unable to take their assistive technology devices or durable medical equipment (DME)[1]. After the hurricanes, wheelchair replacements, medical supplies, and other assistive technologies were needed.
Institute on Disabilities & Temple VOAD Response
The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University (and its national program, Pennsylvania's assistive technology program PIAT) responded to this crisis by participating in a national effort to collect DME and send it to the Gulf Coast. The Institute on Disabilities also joined with a new Temple volunteer organization, Temple Volunteers Organized Against Disaster, to organize a DME donation drive. Temple's VOAD responded to a request for help from the Louisiana Assistive Technology Access Network (LATAN) when it issued a plea for durable medical equipment (DME) needed by hurricane survivors in Louisiana. The Institute on Disabilities' emergency management coordinator, George Heake, said that Temple had a community service culture that led to the creation of VOAD to coordinate efforts.
Collaborations: Temple partnered with LATAN in Louisiana, and all donated equipment would be routed through LATAN for distribution to individuals in need of devices. The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University provided technical assistance and leadership in assistive technology, while Temple VOAD was responsible for mobilizing volunteers and resources on campus. The organizers also sought sponsorship from businesses and organizations to provide trucks, storage space, pallets, and food for volunteers throughout the drive[5]. The collaboration would lay the groundwork for an extended focus on emergency preparedness for people with disabilities, a focus the Institute would continue to pursue in the future [1].
Solicitations for donations and volunteerism
After Hurricane Katrina, the Institute and Temple VOAD coordinated several public campaigns between 2005 and 2006 requesting assistive DME and volunteers. One such campaign, the "2nd Relief Effort for survivors of Hurricane Katrina," was organized in spring 2006 and specifically requested assistive DME[4]. The drive was heavily advertised on campus and through community networks (e.g., Philadelphia's PHENND), with details of how and when to donate.
When/Where: The collections ran from April 10 to 29, 2006. The final drop-off was on Saturday, April 29, at Temple's Main Campus (Parking Lot #3 at 13th & Cecil B. Moore Ave)[6]. (There had been previous collections in late 2005, and supplies had already moved south.)
What to Donate: Various kinds of "Assistive Durable Medical Equipment". Equipment in priority need included wheelchairs (manual and power, including high-capacity models), shower chairs and benches, commode chairs, patient lifts, ramps, and home-use hospital beds [7]. Other items included walkers, crutches, positioning boards, feeding supplements/formulas, consumable medical supplies (diabetic supplies, adult pads, and disposables), and home delivery when the patient was unable to travel to the clinical setting [8]. Donors were asked to ensure that the equipment is clean and in good working order [9]. Thus, the drive also accepted donations directly to LATAN from those who wanted to contribute.[10]
Volunteers were recruited by the Institute on Disabilities and Temple VOAD for every aspect of the event, including clerical work, picking up and driving donations, forklift operation, and volunteer labor, in addition to soliciting donations (such as T-shirts and food) for some of the necessities already needed by the volunteers at the time of each collection event.
This information was found on Temple's communications vehicles and community listservs, and was posted in local media, stating that the donations would be tax-deductible and would go directly to disabled people living on the Gulf Coast.[13] George Heake with Temple was named as the contact at the Institute for all questions, as Temple was identified as the head of the drive.[14]
Community Response and Outcomes
The DME drive was well received by the Temple and Philadelphia communities, and many donated or volunteered to gather a large amount of equipment to send to those affected by the hurricane. Temple sent out "two full trailers" of supplies to the impacted areas, including wheelchairs, IV stands, walkers, and other pieces of medical equipment[2]. LATAN delivered the trailers to those in Louisiana and nearby regions who had lost their assistive devices in the storms.
George Heake noted that "Temple has a great reputation for community service" and that Temple VOAD's work was an example of the university's capacity for compassion and quick action, as students and faculty members put their feet on the ground to make such programs succeed[3]. He reported that "it is truly amazing the response we have received and continue to receive from the Temple community" in support of the relief effort[15]. In addition to donations from students, staff, and residents, local businesses and groups have provided in-kind donations (trucks, storage space) to help overcome logistical challenges. The success of the drive is attributed to its local, grassroots organization.
In the meantime, the DME collected by Temple and other groups helped many disabled people in the Gulf Coast regain their autonomy. Furthermore, the experience would have a long-lasting impact on Temple University. It also set the stage for a permanent disaster-response structure at Temple. As part of this organizational development, Temple VOAD became a permanent program after the Katrina/Rita response, with the goal of supporting future disaster preparedness and sustaining vital donation networks [16]. The Institute on Disabilities would describe the 2005 Katrina response as the "start of our emergency preparedness work" and would continue efforts to add disability needs to emergency response efforts [17]. In later retrospectives, Temple noted that the students' efforts (such as the VOAD DME drive and medical volunteer trips) would later become permanent programs, including the Temple Emergency Action Corps disaster response training program [2][16].
Follow-Up and Retrospectives
Since 2005-2006, the Katrina/Rita DME drive has often been credited as a model of community-based, inclusive disaster relief, and it has frequently been covered by Temple's news media. For example, an article on Temple's news site, announcing the completion of the drive, states that "as a result of Temple's response, two full trailers of supplies... were sent to residents in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina" [2]. The Katrina drive was used to show university-community partnerships and Temple's commitment to service in numerous articles. It also formed an active partnership with LATAN, not only increasing the availability of assistive technology and DME in disaster response at the local level but also raising national awareness.
The response drive lasted only a few weeks once immediate needs were met, but the Institute on Disabilities has continued to follow up on Katrina and disability-related issues in the aftermath and incorporated the experience into disaster planning. Temple's work locally and nationally has acted as a model of best practice in disability-inclusive disaster response, and the successful equipment donation campaign in particular has been cited as a way to mobilize a community and effect change in survivors' lives.
In summary, the 2005-2006 DME donation campaign by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, supported by Temple VOAD and LATAN, was a highly successful model of public relations, cross-sector collaboration, and volunteer activity to fill a major gap in services for survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with disabilities. The community response and the provision of equipment to storm survivors have affected the delivery of inclusive disaster response efforts going forward.
Sources:
Temple University Institute on Disabilities - Timeline: 30 Years of AT in PA, 2005 entry on Hurricane Katrina response [1]
PHENND Update (April 21, 2006) - Volunteers Needed, Katrina Relief Donations Event (Temple Institute on Disabilities & VOAD call for DME donations) [18] [7] [9]
Temple Now (Temple News) - "Community service is alive and well at med school" (August 3, 2007) contains a retrospective on Temple's Katrina relief (G. Heake quote, DME drive outcome)[2][15].
[1] [17] Timeline: 30 Years of Assistive Technology in PA | Institute on Disabilities | Temple University Institute on Disabilities
Community service is alive and well at med school | Temple Now https://news.temple.edu/news/community-service-alive-and-well-med-school
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