(Baton Rouge, LA, July 24, 2008) Catholic Charities Baton Rouge Disaster Response worker Toni Wright has had her suitcase packed since Monday, the day a call came from Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) asking for assistance to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Dolly.

Wright will be part of a disaster response team of expert staff from CCUSA deployed to the region on Saturday to help the local agency assess post-storm damages, human needs, and recovery efforts.

"Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) is working with the local Catholic Charities agency and the Diocese of Brownsville to ensure our network's response will be aiding the most vulnerable populations, including a large migrant population, in the impacted areas," said Kim Burgo, senior director of disaster response for Catholic Charities USA.

Already, Catholic Charities USA geared up its response efforts, collaborating to preposition supplies and opening shelters. 

“We consider the invitation an honor,” said Todd Hamilton, interim executive director of Catholic Charities. “We welcome the opportunity to share some of our insight and experience with the CCUSA network that has been so generous to us in Baton Rouge.

”From the $160M raised after the 2005 Hurricanes, CCUSA granted the Baton Rouge agency $17M to assist in the recovery efforts. Additionally almost 100 volunteers and staff from other Charities agencies and experts like Burgo from the National Service Center have lent their expertise during the past 3 years.

Since Hurricane Katrina, CCDBR disaster response case managers provided services to almost 17,000 households, applying $7.7M of direct assistance for housing, furniture, transportation, clothing, and more. Today, CCDBR is one of the last remaining assistance outlets for Katrina and Rita survivors. The agency expects the program to wind down in 2 to 3 years. 

“I not at all surprised that Toni accepted this two week assignment without hesitation,” said Hamilton. “She is one of the Katrina’s blessings--literally hired on the first interview three weeks after the storm.”

Prior to the storm, she worked at New Orleans inner city community center and evacuated to the Florida gulf coast to ride out the storm.

In her early days with CCDBR, Wright and other disaster response team members assisted families who had languished for weeks without any assistance in area motels.

“The work spearheaded by that first team is the model we are still using today in our long-term recovery efforts,” added Hamilton. “Toni definitely knows what to do when her plane hits the ground because she’s done it all.”