Stacy Phelps, center, attended the Make It Right Foundation Hurricane Katrina commemoration not in any official capacity, but as a friend. Stacy knows how to be a supportive friend, as she has made it her profession. As a worker with the Louisiana Spirit crisis counseling service, she and her colleagues pictured here have been friends to those in need who are suffering psychologically from the effects of the hurricane.

It's great to see African Americans helping African Americans -- another indication that the black community in New Orleans is both sticking together and getting involved in its own recovery, contrary to many accusations. As part of Louisiana Spirit, these black women help their community through counseling and emotional-support services administered over the phone and within clients' homes. And the need for their service is great.

People may not know that four years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans still does not have one mental health hospital. This is a crisis in and of itself, because over and over, I have heard a certain very disturbing phrase used to describe what many black residents are going through: "post-traumatic stress disorder."

The National Institute of Mental Health describes PTSD like this:

Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents or military combat.

Many New Orleans residents are reporting, anecdotally, that they believe friends and relatives are suffering from this disorder. Some even see the persistent state of shock that many are living in as one of the biggest issues in need of healing before economic recovery efforts can be successful.

One native I met in the French Quarter, relaxing after work, talked of "people doing things they wouldn't normally do. Middle-class people who lost everything are ashamed to talk to you in the street. People are getting into things, when they wouldn't normally. I was in two wars, so I know what to expect from living through something like this. People need help to know what to expect and how to deal. If we can't fix that, we'll be in big trouble in the future. People need more than just money."

Louisiana Spirit is one of the few organizations I've heard about that is attempting to do something to soothe the souls of traumatized residents in this much-needed manner.

Unfortunately, the work of these women is financed by a grant that will be ending soon. These beautiful black angels who have been ministering to the emotionally wounded are hoping for a miracle of their own -- that money will come allowing them to continue their work with the Louisiana Spirit crisis counseling service until a permanent mental health hospital is established.

Four years later, the hurricane and its aftereffects are still burned in the minds of many who need support that is not just financial. I hope that government agencies will take the needs of these souls more seriously and budget effectively for citizens' emotional healing in their wide-scale planning.

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