Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities

Mary’s Story The day of Hurricane Katrina, trees were down and the power was out. Mary Troupe, Executive Director of the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities, had long been concerned about the lack of emergency preparedness on the state’s part, particularly when it came to the needs of people with disabilities—people like herself.

Troupe first became involved with the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities as a volunteer, back when her kids were first leaving home. She eventually became a board member, then the board president, and finally stepped in to become the organization’s executive director. Founded in 1989, the Coalition is a disability rights organization comprised of Mississippians with disabilities, their families, and organizations that advocate for people with disabilities. The group’s mission is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life for children, adolescents and adults with disabilities, as well as their families, and to empower them to reach their full potential in every aspect of their lives.

After the storm had passed, Troupe called her staff of 5 together, ascertained that everyone was ok, and then sent them out to the shelters to do some reconnaissance. What they found was that Jackson’s population had doubled in 24 hours, able bodied and disabled alike. And Troupe’s initial hunch had been correct: the State of Mississippi was woefully unprepared to deal with the special needs of its disabled population.

Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities: Intervening after the storm Coalition staff, led by outreach coordinator, Clyde Monroe, who is legally blind, realized immediately that the shelters were not equipped for people with disabilities. In fact, there were no shelters at all for people with special needs, and they were being turned away from regular shelters “for safety purposes.” Many people were forced to evacuate with their families, yet no shelter had been set up that could accommodate someone with a disability and their family. So the First Baptist Church of Jackson became a special needs shelter. Troupe says, “They housed nearly 60 people with significant health challenges and they were wonderful.”

Once the immediate needs for shelter were met, Troupe and her staff began working to get ADA accessible trailers from FEMA. “People couldn’t get their wheelchairs into the bathrooms of FEMA trailers,” said Troupe. “There were no ramps. FEMA expected mothers to pick up their disabled children and carry them to the bathroom.”

Mental health issues were equally challenging. People quickly ran out of medication and had difficulty negotiating the chaos. Troupe helped arrange for families with children with autism to go to a camp in North Mississippi as the commotion of the shelters was too much for these kids. One four-year-old child, Troupe said, tried to commit suicide. “She lost everything to the water, so she tried to drown herself, to go back to the water.”

Since the hurricane hit at the end of the month, many people were out of money (disability checks arrive the 3rd of the month) and low on medication. The Coalition office became a de facto “post office” so that people had an address to receive their disability checks. Disabled adults and children were forced to wait in endless lines for ice until one woman collapsed in front of a Red Cross worker; then the system became more flexible.

Transportation was a challenge; in the evenings there is no accessible transportation at all in Jackson. Troupe and her staff waited in long lines to fill their own cars with gas; they took people everywhere. For people who where not mobile, they took people’s identification and stood in lines on their behalf—for ice, medication, and funds from the Red Cross and FEMA. People with homes also needed assistance; food was rotting in their refrigerators. Volunteers cleaned refrigerators and delivered fresh food. The lines were endless and the need was endless. In the first 11 days after Katrina, the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities aided 350 people.