Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/disaster-recovery-fostering-a-resilient-future-through-child-care/5024166/
For my son, Hurricane Sandy messed up a lot. He wasn’t able to play like he used to. He wasn’t able to go to the park. He wasn’t able to see the people he saw on a daily basis because we weren’t able to go anywhere. So, it stopped him from talking. It stopped him from wanting to feed himself and to play.
–Florence, mother of Skylar,
then two years old.
After Hurricane Sandy flooded their Brooklyn apartment, Rachel, then three years old, cried nightly for weeks and panicked for many months every time it rained.
Ever since Hurricane Irma whirled its way toward her home in Everglades City, Florida, Liz and her daughters have been on the move. First, they bunked with a friend in Naples, then moved to a hotel, and then stayed at a volunteer’s house. The constant change, in addition to the loss of her home, has been very hard on Liz’s younger daughter, whose life has been upended. Liz does her best to reassure her and keep her daughter moving forward; but even smaller daily challenges can bring back the trauma of their loss.
I can’t leave my kids walking around here lost, like I ...