News Releases

IOWA CONCERN HOTLINE OPERATORS AVAILABLE 24-7 TO ASSIST DISASTER VICTIMS

1/22/2010 6:55:58 AM
 

Hotline Still Providing Disaster Recovery Information, Counseling Assistance

Note:More than $3.6 billion in disaster-recovery funds have been committed to Iowa since the 2008 floods and tornadoes. “Working to Recover” is an effort by the Rebuild Iowa Office to show how disaster recovery funds have assisted individuals, businesses and communities as the money flows out through recovery programs administered by local, state, federal and non-profit agencies. Volunteer efforts will also be highlighted.

 Iowa Concern Hotline counselors/operators have been accessible for Iowans in need of information or someone to talk to 24 hours a day, seven days a week since the disasters struck in 2008.

Currently, the Iowa Concern Hotline (1-800-447-1985)provides three types of services: information and referral, stress counseling and legal education, although calls can pertain to just about anything.

Created in 1985, the Iowa Concern Hotline was originally named the Rural Concern Hotline, because it was created in response to the stresses and needs stemming from the farm crisis in the 1980s.

The hotline has gone through several transitions since that time, with operators handling calls that have dealt with the needs, emotions and concerns caused by ice storms, drought and hay shortages, mental health issues, the flooding of 1993, and more recently the historic floods and tornadoes of 2008. Lately calls have included concerns about the H1N1 flu.

Margaret Van Ginkel, hotline coordinator with the Iowa State University Extension Service out of Urbandale, explained that when flooding hit the state in 1993, affecting many suburban and urban areas, the call center began taking flood-related calls. But, people were confused because the name was Rural Concern Hotline.

“People would call and say they weren’t sure if they should be calling a rural person,” Van Ginkel said. “That’s when we changed the name to the Iowa Concern Hotline.” During that time, they learned that many people simply needed someone to visit with to reduce stress levels. That’s when stress counselors were added.

“The new service seemed to work well,” she said. “Operators were trained to determine if someone needed additional services or therapy and would make appropriate referrals,” Van Ginkel said.

Since the hotline was already well-established, it was the perfect statewide resource to provide initial information about disaster recovery immediately following the devastating floods and tornadoes of 2008. In the first few months after the disasters, calls to the hotline reached as high as 2,000 a month. Many of those initial calls were from people who wanted to know how they could volunteer, Van Ginkel said.

Until the Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) was establishedto coordinate the recovery from the 2008 disasters,the Iowa Concern Hotline handled all disaster-related calls. Now the RIO handles all inquiries regarding the 2008 disasters, but the Iowa Concern Hotline still receives calls from impacted Iowans needing help.

For example, 145 of the 573 Jumpstart Housing (a disaster-related housing repair and replacement program) application requests made at the state level originated through the Iowa Concern Hotline.

Judy Lowe, theRIO’s constituent liaison, said that while the calls she receives are of a less-immediate nature now than in the months directly following the disasters, the RIO still fields frequent calls from disaster-affected Iowansincluding referrals from the Iowa Concern Hotline.

“People continue to seek information. We are still getting calls from people who have not applied for available assistance, or are wanting to check the status of the recovery programs for which they have applied,” she said. “TheRIO has developed relationships with disaster-related service providers at the state and local level, such as the Iowa Concern Hotline, and is able to refer callers to the appropriate agencies.”

“We too get quite a few calls from people who are still in hold mode, waiting for buyouts or other programs,” said Tammy Jacobs, who is an operator and stress counselor for the Iowa Concern Hotline. Calls were down some in December, but she expects the numbers to increase throughout January and whenever there are precipitating factors, such as flood warnings. “That’s when people can experience a post-traumatic stress reaction and we get some of those calls,” she said.

Throughout the recovery period, mental health calls were referred to two Iowa Department of Human Services disaster-related counseling programs, first Project Recovery Iowa, which ended last year, and now the Ticket to Hope program, in which free counseling services are available to those encountering mental stress and anguish.

Statistically: