Officials within FEMA and Kentucky Emergency Management have announced the approval of funding for free crisis counseling for those who experienced the tornadic disasters of December 10 & 11 in west Kentucky.
Until January 15, 2023, residents of Barren, Caldwell, Christian, Fulton, Graves, Hart, Hickman, Hopkins, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Taylor, and Warren counties can immediately seek this service by dialing “2-1-1.”
Caldwell, Christian, Hopkins, Lyon, and Muhlenberg residents will be directed to resources through the Pennyroyal Center in Hopkinsville.
Fulton, Graves, Hickman, and Marshall residents will be forwarded to resources through Four Rivers Behavioral Health in downtown Paducah.
Counselors will meet with adults and children affected by these disasters in non-traditional settings such as shelters, homes, and community buildings — not in clinical or office-like settings. The goal is to provide emotional support, education, and basic crisis counseling, while perhaps pointing survivors toward needed local resources and disaster relief services in the region.
All services are anonymous. No records or case files are maintained. Typically, counselors live in the disaster area, and at times have been survivors themselves.
Families, and particularly children, have been impacted by these events, and officials note now is a good time to listen to kids in order to grasp what they’re feeling, and reassure them any emotions felt are normal and expected because of this “scary” and “difficult” situation.
For more information on Kentucky’s recovery efforts, visit fema.gov.
