





































In January 2006, students from CUSSW and Union Theological Seminary 
participated in an immersion course entitled, Katrina: Poverty, Race, and 
Social Work Practice. The aim of the course was to explore experientially the 
inequality exposed by Hurricane Katrina and its effect on some of the poorest 
communities and individuals in the United States. This paper presents an 
overview of the course development. In addition, the authors describe some 
of their experiences and observations before, during, and after their travels 
to the Gulf Coast and other communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. The 
specific focus of the article is on the themes of poverty, racism, violence, 
governmental irresponsibility and disregard in the wake of this tragedy, and 
describes some of the efforts made towards supporting social justice in the 
Gulf Coast as it rebuilds.

Gabriella Cassandra and Natania Kremer

Learning from Katrina: Student 
Perspectives on Poverty, Race, and 
Ethics through an Experiential 
Course

In January 2006, 45 graduate students, faculty, and staff members from 
Union Theological Seminary (UTS) and the Columbia University 

School of Social Work (CUSSW) embarked together on an immersion  
course to the Gulf Coast titled Katrina: Poverty, Race, and Social Work 
Practice. The course was designed to give students the opportunity to 
witness and reflect on the systemic inequalities exposed by Hurricane 
Katrina and its effect on some of the poorest communities and individuals 
in the United States. As participants in the course, we explored poverty 
and race relations along the Gulf Coast in towns and cities with displaced 
Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Throughout the experience, we were struck by 
the similarity between the systemic issues highlighted by Hurricane Katrina 
and the social justice issues with which we struggle as social workers in 
New York City and across the nation. There is a vividly clear need for an 
integrated, race-conscious, and class-conscious approach to recovery and 
change, and this approach must reach beyond the immediate horror of 
the disaster. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought poverty, racism, 
violence, and governmental irresponsibility and disregard into the general 

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consciousness of the American public. These realities, however, were too 
quickly forgotten by the media and, as a result, have largely disappeared 
from public discourse. Race and class injustices were ignored throughout 
the processes of evacuation, planning, and rebuilding.

Our goal in writing this paper is twofold. First, we want to share our 
experience in this uniquely hands-on and codisciplinary immersion course 
with other social work students. We feel the immersive learning opportunity 
provided through this course was invaluable, particularly in light of the 
uniquely raw and overwhelming subject matter, which we feel is difficult to 
grasp through any medium but experience. Second, we have a strong desire, 
as well as a responsibility, to raise awareness about the ongoing struggles 
that face many people and communities hit by this disaster and how race and 
class are inherently embedded within these struggles. We will first present 
an overview of the course and its development. Next, we will describe some 
of our travel experiences and highlight some of the inequality, trauma, and 
macro level issues that we witnessed. Finally, we will briefly address efforts 
being made to continue working toward social justice in the Gulf Coast 
and nationwide. In writing this paper, we are mindful that the story we tell 
represents our personal experiences and not the multiplicity of experiences 
and stories that emerged for other participants in this course. 

Katrina: Race, Poverty, and Social Work Practice

The idea for this course started with students at UTS who were angered by 
the situation in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. These students 
approached the Poverty Initiative i and asked for help leading a community 
response. UTS students then worked in collaboration with the Poverty 
Initiative to prepare, plan for, and develop the framework for an immersion 
course. Soon after, social work students from CUSSW were invited to share 
in the learning and advocacy experience. As a codisciplinary effort, the 
course offered a unique perspective on healing, recovery, treatment, and 
community in the wake of devastation, both natural and human-made, by 
utilizing both a social work and theological framework. 

The central questions of the course, which developed out of student 
 

i “The Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary is a student-initiated program that brings poor 

people into all facets of Union’s life – classes, worship, workshops and informal discussions, where they 

are no longer regarded as objects of charity, but are appreciated as change agents, working for a more just 

society.” (www.povertyinitiative.org)

cassandra & kremer

 Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV    �1  



discourse, were: What are social workers, religious leaders, and other people 
of conscience to do in the face of growing poverty, homelessness, and 
misery? How are we, as a country, responding to the aftermath of natural 
disasters like Hurricane Katrina? To explore responses to these questions, 
we embarked on this immersion experience to fuel ourselves with facts and 
stories to share with others, so that we would be equipped to publicize and 
expose the continuing injustices devastating the Gulf Coast. We documented 
much of what we observed through writing, audiotaping, videotaping, and 
photography.

This course gave us an opportunity to meet, engage with, offer assistance 
to, listen to, and learn from many different families, community organizers, 
and professionals of varied ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. 
We explored the short and long-term impact of disaster and the ways in 
which trauma relief was and is delivered. UTS students and faculty contacted 
members of local congregations, community organizations, and other 
agencies involved in relief efforts to host our group during the week along 
the Gulf Coast. Specifically, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the 
Presbyterian Church (USA), the Baptist Church, the Episcopalian Church, 
Common Ground Relief, Pastors for Peace, and member organizations of the 
Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign ii organized forums for 
dialogue with community leaders who educated us about their own struggles 
when providing disaster relief. These groups connected us to families and 
organizations in need of support, as well as to individuals who were willing 
to share their stories. 

We traveled with a strong and committed group of people led by Liz 
Theoharis and Willie Baptist of The Poverty Initiative at UTS alongside John 
Robertson of CUSSW. The social work and seminary students brought their 
perspectives and experiences to the group, which contributed to the richness 
of the codisciplinary learning that occurred. We engaged in dialogue to build 
sensitivity toward and knowledge about the issues of health care, housing, 
education, food, and living wages. We also examined response efforts to 
disasters with particular attention to the influence of poverty, homelessness, 
and racism. Throughout this experience, we made efforts to incorporate 
  

ii The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is “committed to unite the poor across color lines 

as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. They work to accomplish this through 

advancing economic human rights as named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as the rights 

to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job.” (www.economichumanrights.

org)

learning from katrina

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what we saw and what we learned into our social work knowledge while 
renewing and deepening out commitment to social and economic justice. 

New York City: Groundwork

In New York City, we met for 2 days of intense preparation before our 
trip to the Gulf Coast. We began by introducing ourselves to the history and 
culture of the area, poverty programs in the South and nationally, and the 
economic and social impact of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters 
on communities and individuals. Through readings and videos, we studied 
the structure of race and poverty in America, the effects of the Hurricane on 
the poorest communities, and efforts to address short-term needs and long-
term empowerment of affected families and communities. 

Additionally, we learned from experts and other professionals as we 
prepared for our journey to the Gulf Coast. For example, David Billings 
from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond iii provided a helpful 
framework for understanding the situation in New Orleans post-Katrina and 
described some of the experiences of Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the New 
York City area. Mary Ragan, a woman who worked with Hurricane Katrina 
survivors as they returned to their neighborhoods and their devastated 
homes, shared stories and images that she witnessed during her own trip to 
New Orleans. We found that hearing these first-hand accounts and viewing 
the photographs gave us a sense of what we might encounter on our trip, yet 
two days of speakers and pictures could not fully prepare us.

Atlanta, Georgia: A People Displaced

Our group had decided to visit Atlanta, Georgia due to the large number 
of Hurricane Katrina evacuees relocated there; we arrived in Atlanta on 
Saturday, January 7th. We visited homeless shelters and met with grassroots 
organizations in the city to critically explore the structural manifestation 
 

iii The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond was created to “develop more analytical, culturally-

rooted and effective community organizers. Over the past 24 years, The People’s Institute Undoing 

Racism™/ Community Organizing process has impacted the lives of nearly 100,000 people both nationally 

and internationally. Through this process, it has built a national collective of anti-racist, multicultural 

community organizers who do their work with an understanding of history, culture, and the impact of racism 

on communities. These anti-racist organizers build leadership in and account to the constituencies where 

they are organizing.” (www.pifsab.org)

cassandra & kremer

 Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV    ��  



of racism, classism, and poverty highlighted by the displacement of 200,000 
Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Atlanta residents described increases in 
homelessness, housing shortages, and unemployment. As the Federal 
Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) winds down its  
emergency shelter program and plans to drop 20,000 people from its hotel 
subsidy program, the problems will be compounded. Although one could 
argue that money is better spent directly on housing vouchers rather than 
hotel subsidies, thousands of people are not receiving emergency housing 
benefits and are in need immediate shelter. Disorganized management of 
housing assistance is pushing locals and Hurricane Katrina evacuees into 
homelessness. Some Atlanta residents described their concerns about 
unemployment, fewer job opportunities with living wages, and an increasing 
number of day laborers who work for substandard pay.

We also visited the Task Force for the Homeless shelter, a privately 
owned and funded shelter that nightly houses between 300 and 500 men – the 
homeless from Atlanta and Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The shelter was an  
overcrowded, dirty, and noisy warehouse. The already overburdened shelter 
system in the city will be further taxed by an influx of Hurricane Katrina 
survivors as they lose their housing subsidies. The inadequate government 
response has pitted the poor against the poor in competition for scarce 
resources. Atlanta had few systemic responses, and little support from the 
federal government, to address these housing and employment issues. The 
situation will likely deteriorate as recovery efforts are discontinued and the 
pervasive problems of homelessness and unemployment are once again 
deprioritized.

Pensacola, Florida: Community in Convalescence

Although our country’s experience of Hurricane Katrina may have been 
unique in that it forced many, if only for a moment, to consider race and 
class inequity, this storm was not the first to wreak havoc on vulnerable 
people. After 2 days in Atlanta, we moved on to Pensacola, Florida to look 
at recovery and rebuilding a year and a half after Hurricane Ivan ravaged 
the area. As in Atlanta, we met with local church leaders, as well as a social 
worker and a case manager from United Ministries, a cooperative crisis 
assistance effort of many different denominations in Pensacola. We discussed 
needs assessment systems that were used by these individuals and examined 
the role of social workers in coordination and case management following 

learning from katrina

��    Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV



Hurricane Ivan. The social workers and community leaders highlighted the 
importance of monitoring systems and formal documentation, not only for 
accessing support but also as a means to establish the extent of the destruction 
that occurred and the number of lives lost.

Although many people are aware of the more immediate and tangible 
impacts of a hurricane, less obvious consequences radiate well beyond the 
storm and reverberate through already marginalized communities. On several 
occasions, we were told by church and community leaders that the rates of 
child abuse, substance use, and domestic abuse significantly increased in 
the year following the disaster of Hurricane Ivan. Additionally, a pastor 
who spoke with us shared that due to the high levels of stress and lack of  
appropriate outlets and support, some individuals were channeling their 
stress through family violence. In Pensacola, even though the local leaders 
we met had an awareness of these social concerns, they continued to 
struggle with how best to address post-Ivan problems. We became aware of 
the extent to which a community continues to suffer years after a disaster 
without adequate supports and resources. Post-Katrina rebuilding efforts 
could benefit substantially from the knowledge of what was effective and 
ineffective in supporting communities in Pensacola in the aftermath of 
Hurricane Ivan and use this knowledge to anticipate long-term effects in the 
Gulf Coast. 

Biloxi, Mississippi: Inadequate Assistance

After 2 days in Pensacola, we drove by van to Mississippi and worked in 
demolished communities. We were told by residents that the death toll from 
Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi alone was 5,000, although this number was 
not found in media reports. As freezer trailers for unidentified bodies were 
pointed out to us by church leaders acting as our guides, we were struck 
by the sheer number of people still missing in Biloxi. We also saw FEMA 
trailer parks throughout the city where people have been living in cramped 
quarters for months. Others have yet to receive their FEMA trailers due 
to problems accessing and completing forms. Residential areas closest to 
the water were completely destroyed and laying in ruin. In contrast, the 
neighboring casinos were rebuilt and fully functioning, seemingly untouched 
by the storm. Residents told us that current casino patrons were primarily 
locals from Mississippi, struggling in desperate attempts to regain some of 
what was lost. 

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In addition to the homes destroyed along the coastline of Mississippi, 
many houses further inland were also significantly affected by the storm 
surge that accompanied Hurricane Katrina. We helped some families gut 
and remove up to 6 feet of moldy, black sheetrock inside of their homes. 
They were living in FEMA trailers on their front lawns while working to 
make their houses habitable again, which was clearly an emotionally and 
physically daunting task. 

We worked with churches in Mississippi that were actively providing 
basic assistance to families in the area. We canvassed communities, 
providing outreach to residents by asking them about their immediate 
needs. During our time in Biloxi, we saw church groups and social service 
organizations working with Hurricane Katrina survivors. We noticed that 
most of the interventions being provided only addressed their basic needs, as 
the physical rebuilding of communities had barely begun. In the months that 
follow our trip, the need for extensive mental health support will increase 
dramatically as survivors move beyond physical recovery and struggle to 
recover emotionally from the trauma they experienced. Indeed, the extent of 
the trauma experienced by Hurricane Katrina survivors became increasingly 
clear to us as we moved through Mississippi and on to Louisiana.

New Orleans, Louisiana: Abandoned Citizens

Our final 2 days were spent in New Orleans. We had the privilege of 
spending time at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center iv where we spoke to local 
residents and professionals who lived through Hurricane Katrina and 
continue to work in the city. Throughout our conversations, we took on the 
role of listener, feeling that these individuals wanted and needed to be heard 
as we listened to their stories of trauma and survival. Many individuals 
shared stories of how they were affected by the lack of sufficient aid and the 
woefully inadequate intervention efforts before, during, and after Hurricane 
Katrina. Most of the stories we heard had undertones of racism and classism. 
Although the New Orleans residents with whom we spoke experienced class 
and race disparities pre-Katrina, the disaster reinforced their worldviews 
that the local and national governments did not value the lives of minorities 
  

iv “Ashé is an effort to combine the intentions of community development and economic development with 

the awesome creative forces of community, culture and art to revive and reclaim a historically significant 

corridor of New Orleans’ Central City community.” (www.ashecac.org)

learning from katrina

��    Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV



and the poor. We were told by a community leader that 80% of New Orleans 
residents had not returned to their city, and those who had returned were 
predominantly white and wealthy. Many residents expressed frustration and 
anger about the government neglecting to ensure that non-white residents 
were able to return to their homes, demonstrating a lack of commitment to 
rebuilding the city for all of its citizens.

Those who shared their stories with us were each unique in their 
recounting. The following account by Tim, an African American man in his 
mid-fifties who has lived in New Orleans for many years and is a professor 
of music, provides one example of the many powerful experiences that were 
shared with us.

I tried to leave the city but it was too late. They turned us back. I 
was stranded with my 3 sons on the bridge in utter blackness for 7 
hours with many, many others. I sat on top of them throughout this 
time to ensure that they were still there with me in the morning. We 
saw helicopters overhead but could not get them to stop for us. I felt 
helpless and scared. It has been 5 months since the storm and since 
the levees were breached, but this is the first time that I have been 
able to share my story in this way. 

Tim’s story highlights the human experience of disaster and its 
consequences, but does not begin to describe the work yet to be done. In 
New Orleans we saw the need for extensive rebuilding months after the 
disaster and the need for repairing and implementing basic systems like 
water and electricity before survivors could be treated for trauma. Relief 
workers found another body one day after we left the area in mid-January, 
5 months after the storm. The city of New Orleans remains in a state of 
emergency with most residents unable to return. Local advocates describe 
how few public housing units have been reopened and landlords intend to 
evict people in mass numbers upon their return. Many residents shared their 
feeling that the local and federal governments had abandoned them in their 
recovery just as they were abandoned during the first days of the storm. 

 
Where Do We Go From Here?

Upon return from the Gulf Coast region, our group took time to reflect 
on the social work implications of the visit and the course. Social work 

cassandra & kremer

 Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV    ��  



students met for three seminar sessions in the month following our return. We 
continue to encourage each other to value social change and to incorporate 
racial, cultural, and socio-economic considerations into our practice. 

This paper is a brief overview and an introduction to our immersion 
experience in Atlanta, Pensacola, Biloxi, and New Orleans through the 
course Katrina: Poverty, Race, and Social Work Practice. One goal of our 
trip was to reclaim public attention for the continued plight of Hurricane 
Katrina’s survivors as well as the long-standing race and class inequality 
pervasive along the Gulf Coast and throughout the United States. We have 
sought to share our awareness by developing consciousness-raising efforts 
through presentations, writing articles, displaying artwork and photography, 
and holding public forums at CUSSW and outside communities. As we 
reflect on our experiences, we hope to continue these conversations and 
inspire others to participate in the dialogue and take action.

Contacts

The Poverty Initiative

Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway
New York, NY  10027
poverty@uts.columbia.edu

Common Ground in New Orleans

1415 Franklin Street
New Orleans, LA  70117
www.commongroundrelief.org
Volunteer Coordination Team
Phone: (504) 218-6613
commongroundvolunteers@gmail.com

Washington Office:
1525 Newton St. NW 
Washington, DC 20010
Phone: (202) 332-5333
projectsouthdc@earthlink.net

National Office:
9 Gammon Ave.
Atlanta, GA  30315
Phone: (404) 622-0602 
general-info@projectsouth.org

Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide

WRFG RADIO (Radio Free Georgia)

1083 Austin Avenue, NE
Atlanta, GA  30307-1940
Phone: (404) 523-8989
info@wrfg.org

learning from katrina

��    Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV



Gabriella Cassandra is a second year master’s student at 
CUSSW within the Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming 
method, in the Family, Youth, and Children’s Services field of 
practice. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and French 
from Skidmore College. She is currently an intern at a residence for 
pregnant teenagers at the New York Foundling Hospital in Manhattan, 
NY. She is interested in trauma intervention. Her email address is 
gsc2102@columbia.edu.

Natania Kremer is a second year master’s student in the dual 
degree master’s program with Bank Street College of Education 
for Special Education and CUSSW, within the Advanced Clinical  
Practice method, in the Family, Youth, and Children’s Services field  
of practice. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College with a bachelor’s 
degree in Psychology and Education. She is currently an intern at 
the Child Development Center of the Jewish Board of Family and 
Children’s Services in Manhattan, NY. Her email address is nek2104@
columbia.edu.

 Journal of Student Social Work, Volume IV    ��  


