Immediately after the tragic events of 9/11/01, Bishop Loverde established a fund to defray burial costs for those who lost their lives at the Pentagon. He also encouraged all the parishes to publicize the fund and take up a special collection for contributions to be sent to Catholic Charities. As a result of the overwhelming generosity of the Diocese of Arlington and others, Catholic Charities has helped with the expenses of 16 funerals and assisted more than 2000 individuals in almost 900 families with more than $645,000 in assistance.

Our provided services have included: (1) paying for the burial and funeral expenses of victims; (2) providing immediate and direct financial assistance to the survivors and their families; (3) providing immediate and direct financial assistance to those who lost employment; (4) providing immediate and direct in-kind assistance in the form of food, clothing, transportation, and prescription medications to those who lost employment or who were in verifiable need; (5) providing longer-term financial assistance to the survivors and their immediate families; (6) providing job-referral services; (7) providing legal assistance for immigration and housing related matters; (8) outreaching to immigrant and other vulnerable populations (e.g., the elderly); (9) establishing grief and spiritual counseling centers in the immediate vicinity of the Pentagon; (10) augmenting parish efforts in providing grief and loss counseling and therapy; (11) providing professional training seminars on the psychology and therapy of personal loss; (12) providing grief and loss workshops for victims; (13) providing referral and inter-agency coordination services; (14) partnering in anniversary memorial and remembrance events; (15) collaborating in inter-agency Federal legal trial hospitality services for victims; (16) establishing a Disaster Response office; and (17) praying for the deceased and surviving victims of the tragedy.

Our expectation, based on the best available evidence, is that we will need to continue to offer a variety of assistance for the next two-to-three years as a direct result of 9/11.

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Due to the tremendous response of those who answered the appeal for aid since 9/11, Catholic Charities is no longer accepting donations restricted only to serving those directly and indirectly affected by the terrorist attacks. Thank you for your incredible support!

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Approximately 49.2% of Catholic Charities’ 9/11 related clients have been male, and 50.8% female with an estimated ethnic identity profile as follows: 1.4% Asian; 7.4% Caucasian; 13.2% African; 35.3% Other (including Mid-East and Asian Sub-Continent); and 42.5% Latino/Hispanic. Socio-economic divisions have ranged from basic survival needs for the low-income neediest (families requesting help with food provisions), to financial assistance for higher- to high-income earners who lost gainful employment (assistance with mortgage, rent, utilities, etc.).

Geographically, a clear preponderance of our clients are located within a 15-mile radius of the Pentagon. More than a few, however, are located outside this radius, with some located as far as 75 miles or out-of-state. The employment-related demographic ranged from taxi drivers, hotel workers, food service staff, and people in the travel and tourism industries to those who lost work as a direct result of contractual arrangements with the Pentagon.

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Damages from the 9/11 attacks extended into the immediate economic and personal impacts of the attacks. In the DC-metro area, the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries were particularly affected, such that thousands of workers were idled by the drop in travel and closure of Reagan National Airport. Many workers are unfortunately still struggling to recover financially after long periods of lay-offs or reduced hours, and remain unsure of whether they can meet their basic expenses on a month-to-month basis.

While it is difficult to establish the true personal impact of the terrorist attacks, evidence suggests that what is characteristically seen in victims of a high-profile mass tragedy is something of a spiral response to their spiritual and psychological trauma whereby their recovery may be aggravated, particularly in a high-profile event such as 9/11, by the intense media coverage and political atmosphere engendered by the event - especially at anniversary dates. This intense media coverage and political atmosphere, coupled with the fact that the cause of the disasters was human rather than natural, is frequently cited as an explanation for the projections that roughly 30% of the victims will experience continued distress after two years.

Counseling is still available at our Family Services offices in Arlington (703) 841-2531, Burke (703) 503-7821, and Fredericksburg (540) 371-1124. Bilingual counselors are available in Arlington. There are no fees for counseling related to the September 11th tragedy.

Immigration, legal, and related services may be reached at Hogar Hispano at (703) 534-9805.

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On October 16, 2002, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington received a grant from Catholic Charities USA for 9/11 restricted long-term disaster relief in the amount of $905,000. This grant will support:

(1) the hiring of a geriatric consultant specializing and/or experienced in elder care to staff an existing satellite office for one-to-three years; the geriatric consultant will research, design, and implement a proactive outreach and response program to vulnerable elderly populations;

(2) the hiring of additional personnel to open and staff one or more satellite office(s) for a period of one-to-three years with bilingual attorneys (both immigration and family law specialists), ESL staff, Naturalization coordinators, and social services case workers; the additional personnel and office(s) will supplement existing immigrant and refugee programs; and

(3) Catholic Charities’ participation in a collaboration of agencies planning how best to coordinate and provide services during the federal criminal trial(s) for the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack who will be viewing the trial proceedings either in the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, or by closed circuit television in the Northern Virginia/Metro D.C. area.

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Staff are providing service coordination with other agencies to assist victims and to avoid duplication of services. More specifically, Catholic Charities has been and continues to work collaboratively in an informal VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) comprised of a coalition of responding agencies including United Way of Arlington, United Way of the National Capital Area, Northern Virginia Family Services, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Project Resilience, CrisisLink, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, AMEN, and others that in turn link with the Arlington County Employment Center, the Shirlington Employment and Education Center, the Arlington County Civic Federation, and the Arlington County Government Disaster Planning Task-Force, to name but a few.

We are also a member of the MetroDC911Network, a consortium of greater Washington, D.C., area human services organizations (nonprofit, government, and private sector) working in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, Anthrax incidents, and related economic consequences and military actions. There are currently 159 member agencies in this consortium. In addition, Catholic Charities of of the Diocese of Arlington is partnering and cooperating with various agencies and organizations on a number of projects including the Arlington County Interfaith Community; the Fairfax County Interfaith Liaison Office; the United States Attorney’s Office; and the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, among others.