Comforting Kids Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

As thousands of hurricane-affected children start heading back to school, Mercy Corps is partnering with Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the world's leading provider of worksite childcare and early education solutions, and financial services giant JPMorgan Chase to bring comfort to displaced children. The current "Comfort for Kids" program is modeled on a program the same partners created to help traumatized New York school children in the aftermath of 9/11.

"Young children throughout the Gulf coast have been severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina. These children have lost nearly all of their comforts of home, often do not have a school to go to, and are so vulnerable to the stress and trauma the hurricane has brought to their family," said Linda Mason, chairman and founder of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, and a board member of Mercy Corps. "We are pleased to work together with Mercy Corps and JPMorgan Chase to provide critical relief to these thousands of children. For many children who have experienced confusing and often terrifying loss, this will be the first support they have received that is specifically designed to meet their needs as young children."

Mercy Corps and its partners are targeting children five years old and under in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The program targets this age group because, among other things, the first years of life are recognized as critical for developing cognitive skills and social and emotional attachments, and they are too young to receive school-based support services.

There are several components to the program:

Comfort Kits are designed to promote emotional security, comfort, and basic developmental support to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. These kits, which cost $15 each, will be presented in small child-friendly duffel bags and backpacks. The youngest evacuees will receive kits including a stuffed animal, toys, and a book. Preschoolers will get a stuffed animal, crayons, books, a doll and play people. (View the kit contents.) The kits have been assembled by Kaplan Early Learning Company and are being distributed by Head Start centers to 55,000 children.

School Kits contain notebooks, pens, games, a stuffed animal, markers and other school supplies for K-12 students who've been affected by the storm. (View the kit contents.) Thanks to volunteers in Portland and Seattle, and to enormous efforts by Nike and its employees, Mercy Corps has shipped 15,000 kits to Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi as well as St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana.

Bright Spaces in a Box are kits containing resources and guidelines for creating safe and nurturing play areas in shelters housing hurricane evacuees with young children. Each kit is comprised of boxes containing materials and guidelines for creating and operating a play space for young children, from furniture to art supplies and toys. The play space will serve 15-20 children at one time and up to 200 young children in the course of a day. These play spaces could be established in shelters, religious centers and other community spaces hosting children. Bright Spaces in a Box are modeled on a program by the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children.

Training and resource materials tailored to natural disasters and displacement will be provided to strengthen the ability of childcare workers to support traumatized youth. Participants will receive materials including booklets for parents and activities for supporting traumatized children, with a special emphasis on dealing with displacement, homelessness and emotional recovery.

JPMorgan Chase, the Bright Horizons community of families and employees, and Hanna Andersson are providing substantial financial support for Comfort for Kids, along with the thousands of individuals who have chosen to support Katrina survivors through Mercy Corps.

Foundations can learn more about how to support Mercy Corps' psychosocial response by downloading a PDF document outlining our program strategy. Individuals can help by making a donation today.