OHEL’s Project Hope Still Rebuilding Lives One Year After Hurricane Sandy Hit

Project Hope at OHEL has served thousands of individuals and families across all demographics and communities that were directly impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

In addition to individual, family, and group counseling sessions, Project Hope at OHEL has teamed up with various institutions in numerous neighborhoods and communities, to help rebuild what was lost by so many during Hurricane Sandy – a sense of emotional and personal stability.

The Breezy Point community was one of the hardest hit locations, and to honor the resilience of the community, a team from Project Hope at OHEL spent the day in Roxbury alongside survivors as they planted trees and built sand dunes to protect their remaining homes.

Project Hope at OHEL has also recently partnered with the Million Trees Initiative of the NYC Restoration Project and the JCCRP, and will provide public education workshops that address stress management at The West End Temple.  Million Trees Initiative is giving away 100 trees in Neponsit to area residents who lost their trees in Sandy.

At the end of October, Dr Norman Blumenthal, OHEL’s Director of Trauma, Bereavement, & Crisis, gave a special address in Staten Island on surviving and striving in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

OHEL’s Director of Project Hope, Tzivy Reiter, said about Project Hope’s ongoing work, "The first anniversary, with its expected media coverage and visual images of the hurricane's destruction, can be a trigger event for many people who suffered devastating losses.  Many communities have chosen to commemorate the anniversary by acknowledging their losses while focusing on their collective strength in rebuilding and reclaiming their lives.  This is an important step in helping people find meaning in their experiences and moving them forward in their recovery."

Project Hope at OHEL has been instrumental in helping the various neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Sandy recover. They have helped nearly 15,000 people in group sessions, close to 5,000 participants in family crisis counseling, and they have been in direct contact with over 33,000 people to provide various types of support.

While no one can erase the devastating losses people have sustained, OHEL’s Project Hope stands alongside them, and helps them find the inner strength to manage and move on.

To find out more about all of the work and special projects OHEL’s Project Hope has been involved with, please contact Tzivy Reiter at 718.686.3294 projecthope@ohelfamily.org or visit www.ohelfamily.org

See some pictures of OHEL’s hard working Project Hope staff - http://www.ohelfamily.org/?q=node/1101

Since 1969, OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services has served as a dependable haven of individual and family support, helping people of all ages surmount everyday challenges, heal from trauma, and manage with strength and dignity during times of crises. Driven by service excellence, OHEL’s professional staff meet the myriad social service needs of the general community, while at the same time providing culturally-sensitive services to the Jewish community, including Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian speakers. Through highly-rated foster care, developmental disability, mental health, and other programs and services, OHEL provides supportive housing, treatment, care coordination, education, outreach and much more to elevate lives and strengthen individuals and communities in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Florida, California and worldwide on the web. David Mandel is the CEO of OHEL.