The
CDMH Project is supported by a grant from the Pew
Charitable Trusts in collaboration with the Rand Gulf
States Policy Institute. The
CDMH Project began in August, 2007 to address the overwhelming
mental health needs faced by faith communities following Hurricane
Katrina in the Mississippi Gulf Region, with an emphasis on reaching
religious leaders in African American churches. This project evolved
directly from research conducted by Drs. Sharon Topping (principal
investigator) and Jamie D. Aten (co-investigator) of the University
of Southern Mississippi, which was funded by the UMMC's
Mississippi Institute for Improvement of Geographic Minority Health which is
supported by DHHS's Office of Minority Health. In interviews with
African American pastors one year after Hurricane Katrina, findings
showed pastors reported having an interest in receiving training
that would help them better attend to the disaster mental health
needs of their congregations and surrounding communities.
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Advisory Board
Jamie
D. Aten, Ph.D., CDMH Project Director, Assistant
Director-Health and Mental Health, Katrina Research Center,
Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology, Department
of Psychology, The
University of Southern Mississippi.
Rose Mary Williams, Pastor, DeLisle Mount Zion United Methodist
Church, Pass Christian, Mississippi.
Ada Clay Williams, Pastor, Haven Memorial United Methodist Church,
Winona, Mississippi.
Kemmie McNeese, Pastor, Newell Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church, Meridian, Mississippi.
Sharon Topping, Ph.D., Professor of Management, Department of Business, The University
of Southern Mississippi.
Beverly Wallace, Ph.D. Candidate, M.Div., Assistant to the Bishop
for the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Coordinator
of Pastoral Care and Katrina Recovery Effort funded through Lutheran Disaster
Response.
Roberta Avila, M.S., Executive Director, Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster
Task Force.
Alice Graham, Ph.D., Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Care, Hood Theological
Seminary, Executive Committee Member, American Association of Pastoral Counselors.
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