ABSTRACT

CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................ 124 Methods.................................................................................................. 125 Chronology of the Disaster ..................................................................... 126 The Nonprofit Community Response..................................................... 130

American Red Cross....................................................................... 130 Salvation Army............................................................................... 133

San Antonio Food Bank................................................................. 134 Catholic Charities of San Antonio.................................................. 136 Baptist Child & Family Services .................................................... 138 The Faith-Based Community......................................................... 139 The Faith-Based VOAD ................................................................ 141

Perceptions of Key Nonprofit Executive Directors Regarding the Disaster Response ......................................................................... 141

Perceptions of the Wider Nonprofit Community Regarding the Disaster Response ......................................................................... 143

Lessons Learned ...................................................................................... 149 Conclusion.............................................................................................. 151 References ............................................................................................... 153

Introduction On Wednesday, August 31, 2005, the city of San Antonio opened an emergency operations center (EOC) after having been notified by Governor Perry that Texas was going to take Hurricane Katrina evacuees from Louisiana. With the activation of the EOC, the San Antonio Chapter of the Red Cross began the process of opening shelters to house the hurricane victims from New Orleans. The Salvation Army, the San Antonio Food Bank, Catholic Charities, United Way, Baptist Child & Family Services, and many other nonprofit organizations launched operations to assist the city with the Katrina crisis. On the 24th of September, less than a month after Katrina had pummeled New Orleans, Hurricane Rita devastated the Gulf Coast and San Antonio again received evacuees from this second storm. San Antonio assisted tens of thousands of evacuees from these back-to-back hurricanes that locally came to be called ‘‘Katrita.’’