Seniors Getting Aid For 9/11 Trauma

Poonam Lam Singh experienced the loss of a young friend who died in the inferno that killed so many at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center. Today this community outreach specialist is one of seven counselors seeking to help elderly Forest Hills residents impacted by the tragedy.
"Im quite familiar," she said, "with the emotional distress caused by this disaster and how we all suffered when my sisters best friend turned up as a casualty."
Operating out of a 72 Ave. building just blocks from North Shore University Hospital at Forest Hills, the elderly outreach program is funded to the tune of $668,000 by New York State Project Liberty.
The newly-organized program has been busy the last few weeks visiting health fairs and community groups that serve the elderly in Forest Hills. The free service will provide psychiatric referrals to residents in need, and will make visits to institutions and even homes to aid elderly in distress because a loved one died in the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Social Worker Ted Lehmann said that hundreds of seniors have already been apprised of the new program. The visits have occurred at Jewish Family Board, Castle Senior Living, Raices Senior Center, SelfHelp, the Forest Hills Community House and Young Israel of Forest Hills.
"Our program has special value to communities in central Queens which has so many retirees," he said. "In fact, 25 percent of the Forest Hills population is comprised of seniors."
Many of the outreach clients are Holocaust survivors, immigrants and veterans of foreign wars who are at increased risk for mental health distress following Sept. 11.
Lehmann said the new aid group often feel a stigma about mental health and resist attending therapy sessions.
Another outreach specialist Vivian Fernandez said her goal was to help mentally distressed Forest Hills residents who are underserved by the health care system.
The grant was arranged by North Shore University Hospital just after Sept. 11. Other grants for 9/11 assistance have gone to Elmhurst General Hospital.
In all, $132 million has been allotted by the Project Liberty Fund to be spent on short-term crisis counseling, referral services and a public education program. The grant originated with the federal government and is distributed by the New York State Health Dept.
Chip Felton of the State Health Dept. said the money was meant to last nine months from June 15, when it started flowing in, but would probably last for a year.
"This is relatively short-term assistance. The majority of people who use it are going to have distress that is temporary in nature," Felton said.
The North Shore University Hospital at Forest Hills has a companion program called House Call which dispatches doctors, nurses and technicians to the homes of elderly restricted to their beds.
Congressman Anthony D. Weiner, the Brooklyn-Queens Democrat is a co-sponsor of a bill that would provide for equal coverage of mental health benefits with respect to health insurance coverage. The bill was referred to the House Subcommittee on Health and has been targeted for early consideration. The passage of this measure would be of particular help to seniors in Forest Hills, according to a spokesperson for Weiner.