Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation Helps Agencies Respond to Lessons of Hurricane Katrina

Chapel Hill, N.C. - Challenges faced by the elderly, ill, poor and immigrants during Hurricane Katrina have spurred the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (BCBSNC Foundation) to award grants to 10 agencies across the state that have particularly innovative ideas for reaching vulnerable populations before and after emergencies.

The BCBSNC Foundation today announced a total of more than $325,000 in grants to help North Carolina nonprofit groups and government agencies implement plans to help vulnerable populations. Those plans include an effort in eastern North Carolina to use church networks to help communities prepare; a project in a mountain county to use ham radio for emergency communications; a coastal initiative to create a mapping system to allow responders to locate homes of the ill, elderly and disabled; and a plan to use a Spanish-language TV network for preparedness education.

Following Hurricane Katrina, response agencies in Louisiana reported a variety of problems reaching the elderly, ill, disabled and others in need. Nearly 60 percent of the deaths in Louisiana were of people over the age of 60¹, and 215 people died after being stranded in nursing homes and hospitals². There were few systems in place to define, locate and help people with special needs, and traditional means of communicating with hospitals and other emergency medical services proved useless.³

"Hurricane Katrina revealed real challenges that communities and agencies face in making sure that residents in greatest need are cared for in a crisis," said Kathy Higgins, president of the BCBSNC Foundation. "North Carolina agencies are ready to learn from those lessons, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation is pleased to support these practical yet innovative ways to reach vulnerable people before, during and after an emergency."

The grant recipients are:

• The Triangle Chapter of the American Red Cross, which is receiving $25,000 for its partnership with Spanish-language Univision 40 TV for preparedness education for Hispanic residents. The project will include public service announcements and other educational initiatives.
• Community in Crisis, a Clayton-based organization that is receiving $48,400, will use church networks to help teach community teams how to respond to disasters as part of a collaborative effort with Mount Olive College. The program will work with organizations associated with both Baptist and Catholic churches, and it will target Hispanics and other rural residents in Johnston, Wayne, Sampson, Craven and Duplin counties.
• The Cape Fear Council of Governments, based in Wilmington, is receiving $28,000 to create a registry and map of vulnerable people in New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus and Pender counties. The registry will include the name, address and specific needs of those residents, including the disabled and chronically ill.
• Ashe County in northwest North Carolina is receiving $15,000 to implement a ham radio system that fire, rescue and law enforcement officers can use in the event that other communications methods fail or are disabled during an emergency.
• Jackson County in western North Carolina is receiving $31,750 to create an emergency preparedness and response system for non-English speakers in the county. The plan will include mapping farm-worker camps and their projected seasonal population, developing evacuation plans and preparing Spanish-language disaster information.
• Pamlico Information Network Enterprise, a nonprofit group in coastal Pamlico County, will receive $25,000 to assist in implementing an emergency radio system to help responders aid residents in flood-prone areas of the county. The organization is conducting the project in conjunction with Pamlico County government.
• The Triangle United Way is receiving $40,000 to train senior citizens and agencies serving the elderly on disaster preparedness in Wake, Durham and Orange counties. The project will help determine the most effective methods for helping seniors get ready for emergencies. The organization is doing the training in collaboration with the Triangle J Council of Governments.
• The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina will receive $40,000 to upgrade its disaster plan and purchase a mobile generator that can be used to support relief operations in eastern and coastal North Carolina.
• The UNC-Greensboro Center for New North Carolinians is receiving $48,160 for its effort to build relationships between immigrants and emergency relief agencies across the state. As part of the program, the center will provide emergency preparedness training to professional interpreters and participants in an immigrant leadership program. Those people will then be linked to disaster relief teams.
• The Arc of Alamance County is receiving $25,000 for disaster planning for developmentally disabled residents, including a mapping system and registry, assisting group homes with planning and providing training for people with such disabilities, as well as their caregivers and emergency workers in the county.

The BCBSNC Foundation announced the availability of emergency preparedness grants in January. By the March 3 deadline, it had received 59 requests totaling more than $2 million.

"We're pleased with the start we've made and believe these grant recipients will serve as examples for agencies across North Carolina," Higgins said. "The need and desire to serve our most vulnerable residents are larger than any single agency or foundation can meet. We are hopeful that the government, nonprofit groups, philanthropic community and businesses will help us fill this gap."

As part of the grant program, the BCBSNC Foundation will convene a conference of grant recipients next year to discuss lessons learned and effective practices that can be implemented by other agencies seeking to help vulnerable residents.

"I congratulate the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation on their efforts to improve emergency preparedness in North Carolina," said Bryan E. Beatty, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Crime Control & Public Safety, which heads the state's emergency preparedness and response efforts. "In addition to the great work being done by these grants, I hope people will log on to our new Web site designed to help individuals and families be ready for emergencies - www.ReadyNC.org."

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), North Carolina was affected by 40 percent of the 62 weather-related disasters that struck the United States between 1980 and 2004, more than any other state in the country. Each disaster cost at least $1 billion, according to estimates. The state also has a high proportion of vulnerable groups, with 14 percent of North Carolina's population living below the poverty level, 12 percent with an age of 65 or older, and approximately 21 percent being disabled.⁴

¹ Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals

² A Failure of Initiative, Select Bipartisan Committee to the Preparation and Response to Hurricane Katrina, U.S. House of Representatives

³ A Failure of Initiative

⁴ U.S. Bureau of the Census