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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

Smith to counsel victims of Hurricane Katrina

FOR RELEASE May 22, 2006

Martha Smith

Huntington, Ind.—Martha Smith, associate dean of student development for Huntington University, will spend the next two weeks helping victims of Hurricane Katrina learn to cope with the tragedy.

Smith will be stationed in Daphne, Ala., from May 22 to June 4 to fulfill a call from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for licensed mental health counselors.  Smith will be one of 50 state certified school counselors and licensed professional counselors who will serve in Alabama and Louisiana through the Katrina Assistance Project.

Smith will work with a wide range of clients including children, families and adults displaced or affected by the hurricane.  Some counselors will work individually while others will be part of a multidisciplinary team approach to disaster response and recovery.

Applicants for this program were required to have “training or experience in crisis intervention and some or all of the following: brief approaches to individual, group and family counseling; classroom presentations; life skills training; substance abuse prevention and education; grief counseling; and violence prevention in a school-based setting.”

For more information about the Katrina Assistance Project, visit www.wcikatrinahelp.com.

In January, Smith co-led a team of 35 students on a mission trip to Biloxi, Miss.  The Huntington University group worked at the Biloxi Community Center giving out clothes, food, and blankets; at the Salvation Army Distribution Center handing out supplies; and at the Salvation Army Warehouse sorting clothes.  In addition, the team cleaned up a cemetery and assisted with sorting through artifacts from the Jefferson Davis home.

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

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