Beslan Assistance - Keystone Human Services International

Keystone Human Services International

Keystone Supports Beslan

I am writing this letter while in Moscow asking for your support in a very important matter. Since my last letter much progress has been made on our international initiatives. We currently have fifteen interns with us from Moldova, Ukraine, Poland and Russia. These young people spend a year working for Keystone carrying out the responsibilities of direct care professional staff. They also receive extensive training for when they return home. The International Intern initiative is becoming an important resource for accessing skilled employees for Keystone and has had a very important impact in reducing our direct care staff vacancies to the lowest levels in fifteen years.

Our two programs in Moldova, in the villages of Tudora and Brinza, are operating and we are involved with support and home visits for over 20 families. Through the generous contribution of one donor we have been able to purchase a home for the use of our program in Tudora. In addition the Mayor of Brinza has made land available for a "Bright Beginnings" Children and Family Center. I was deeply moved by the $18,340 that was generously contributed in response to my last letter.

We were thrilled to be the recipient of a US Department of Commerce, Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) grant that supported a senior professional exchange for six participants from Moscow and Moldova for approximately thirteen weeks during the summer. Five of these individuals were psychologists, social workers and a psychiatrist working with children in Moscow. The professional exchange was a very rich experience and many of you had the opportunity to meet our distinguished guests. As these outstanding professionals were preparing to return home to Moscow on September 1st the hostage situation began to evolve in Middle School #1 in Beslan, Russia. As everyone is aware, a horrific attack resulted and over 344 people were killed including 172 children. In addition 420 people, including 237 children were seriously wounded in the attack and are in hospitals in Moscow and elsewhere in Russia.

After the attack, Keystone extended our deepest condolences to our Russian friends and offered to help in any way. It quickly became clear that there was an urgent need for training and consultation in post trauma stress intervention. Russian counselors are doing a heroic job working directly with the children, families and emergency workers of Beslan. However Russia does not yet have a highly developed clinical model for post traumatic stress intervention nor the extensive experience that the United States unfortunately has in this area.

Our Russian colleagues welcomed the insights and experience of our Student Assistance Program (SAP) specialists in trauma management. For many years, throughout Central Pennsylvania, Keystone's SAP team members have provided support and consultations to school professionals, students and family members during crisis situations related to suicides, accidents and other violent deaths as well as other critical events affecting community life in our schools. We have learned that effective intervention is essential in order to minimize the long-term impact of such events on the lives of the people who survive and must come to some understanding of the traumatic event.

Emilia Chervinskaya, Director of the Association of Experts on the Problems of Children, and Alexander Makhnach Ph.D., a respected expert in children's' services in Russia, will be co-hosting the seminar and welcoming our trainers with an eye on strengthening their crisis counseling capabilities so that affected children and families can return to normalcy as soon and as much as possible.

Representing Keystone Human Services will be myself, Ms. Connie Kennedy, a highly experienced SAP mental health consultant having twenty years experience with Keystone, and Ms. Ann Tapman, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with extensive Red Cross disaster mental health training. Also part of the team will be Dr. Karin Jordan from Oregon's George Fox University. Dr. Jordan is noted as an expert in Post-Trauma Supports and has been part of previous teams working to aid professionals, children and families of the "911", Columbine and Oklahoma disasters.

The Keystone team left for Moscow on Friday, October 15th and began training and consultations with ten psychologists and counselors from Beslan as well as twenty counselors from Moscow who are working with children in Moscow hospitals. As part of the consultation, we have prepared and translated extensive professional material for the benefit of our Russian colleagues.

Not only have families lost spouses, mothers, fathers, beloved children and endured unimaginable trauma, but scores of innocent children have been severely wounded and will now have to re-enter Russian society with permanent disabilities that will fundamentally reshape their lives. To fortify the intense services required, our first objective is to support the professionals who are assisting the families and children affected by this terrorist act. By supporting the work of our Russian colleagues, we hope to help our Russian partners stem the immediate emotional trauma for the affected families. We will also encourage authorities to consider providing the community based supports necessary to allow severely wounded children to return to their families, school and community, rather than being placed in specialized residential schools.

It is integral to Keystone's overarching Mission to encourage whatever supports are necessary so that children with disabilities can lead valued and independent lives in their homes and communities.

In light of these challenging goals, funds are desperately needed to help cover the direct costs of the Moscow seminar to include: consultations, materials development and translation, travel and lodging for the counselors from Beslan, travel for the trainers and most important to provide direct support to the children and families of Beslan.

As such, Keystone Human Services is asking for emergency community support for this critical humanitarian mission. If you have experienced a desire to respond in some fashion to the horrors that took place in Beslan that fateful afternoon; this is your opportunity to take action in a very meaningful and personal way. All monies collected will be carefully managed and used exclusively to help defray the costs of providing Keystone's expert resources to local Russian professionals, while providing emergency funds to support the children and families involved. Additionally, we have requested support for this mission from Intel of Russia, AmCham - The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia as well as The Orthodox Church of America. Also be assured, that many humanitarian and community service organizations within Russia are also taking strong supportive action.

If you are able to help please forward your donation to the Keystone Partnership at 124 Pine Street, Harrisburg PA 17101, Attn: Beslan. An envelope is enclosed for your convenience. You can also make a secure online donation by visiting our web site at www.keystonehumanservices.org. All funds donated are fully audited and will be carefully disseminated through the Keystone Partnership. Further information is available by calling KHS at (717) 232-7509 and asking for Ann Moffitt at extension 133.

Events such as Beslan and "911" are increasingly becoming a shared experience and it is so very important that we all offer support, expertise and resources in response to a common threat.

Upon returning from Moscow I will provide an update on the training in Moscow as well as share the perspective and insights of our Russian colleagues. WGAL Television provided wonderful coverage last week and will do a follow up report upon our return.

I greatly appreciate your consideration of this important request.

Sincerely

Dennis Felty
President

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