By: Suzanne Lawler, Regional Communications Manager

Savannah, Georgia, is the epitome of Southern charm. Spanish moss-laden trees form canopies like a welcome mat over roads, ocean blue waters draw in tourists, as does the smell of freshly baked pralines along River Street. Locals hang out in town squares dotted with majestic grand fountains that look like movie sets.

“I love Savannah; a lot of great things are happening here, the way this community collaborates is just unheard of,” said Vira Salzburn, Executive Director for the Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council.

In many ways, collaboration in the face of catastrophe has had to happen because Savannah is also a community at risk. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that 19.5% of Savannah residents are living in poverty. That’s well above the state poverty level of 14%. They’re also vulnerable to hurricanes and other climate-related disasters, sitting on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council is an umbrella organization for numerous different mental health programs that run throughout the county to help folks dealing with trauma.

Salzburn is a force in Savannah, an advocate for people going through a rough time and a community leader who knows firsthand how trauma can imprint a life. “Originally, I’m from Ukraine; I moved to the United States when I was 18,” she said.

She kept close ties with her homeland. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Salzburn got a call from the Trauma Resource Institute. “It turned into months of work providing basically emotional support, trauma support, resiliency training to Ukrainians, to educators, to people in bunkers and shelters,” she recalled.

War falls into its own category of trauma, but loss, grief and uncertainty of the future are common factors after any type of disaster.

“The things I was invited to help with was to work with Ukrainians in Ukraine, providing those community resiliency model trainings that we now implement here in Savannah,” Salzburn said.

The Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council reaches out like a spider web, connecting with young and old whenever a need arises and working ahead of a crisis to give people the tools they need.

The organization does extensive suicide prevention outreach. “It’s offered at absolutely no cost to participants, which is truly unique in many parts of Georgia,” Salzburn said. They’re also the only provider of a program called Front Porch A.C.T.S., which utilizes theatre work to help youth affected by adverse childhood experiences. The Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council uses a program called REAL, which stands for Resilience Enhancement and Learning. “The program also helps leaders in our community to develop those leadership skills and a deeper sense of awareness and connection with others,” said Salzburn. “There’s a big part of the program that is focused on trust building, so how can we help individuals to build the skills to build trust quickly?”

In addition, they encourage people to use the tools of exercise and breathing. “Trauma sensitive yoga actually helps people build coping skills and resiliency on the mat and then they can take the skills from the mat into real life, and when disaster really happens, they would be ready to be more responsive rather than reactive and more likely to make decisions from a place of clarity and understanding rather than a place of chaos,” Salzburn reasoned.

Late last year, the American Red Cross expanded its Community Adaptation Program (CAP) into Chatham County. CAP focuses on strengthening local partner networks in targeted areas that face an elevated risk of extreme weather and existing societal inequities.  This immersive collaboration is intended to holistically enhance the partner’s ability to deliver health, hunger, or housing-related services before, during and after disasters. Partners commit to working with the Red Cross during times of disaster to help mitigate disaster-caused displacement and poverty. “Disaster relief preparedness requires more than just physical equipment and emergency plans,” said Alex Taylor, Community Disaster Risk Reduction Manager. “It also demands a workforce and community equipped with the mental and emotional resilience to cope with traumatic events. This is why we wanted to partner with Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council, they are benefiting our community by showing them how to manage stress and anxiety. By investing in a mental health resource like resilience building, communities can reduce the long-term impact of disasters on mental health and well-being.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Risk Index has identified Chatham County as more at risk of the adverse impacts of natural disasters than 99% of all U.S. counties. Working on the front lines to respond to frequent and intense disasters, the Red Cross sees firsthand how chronic physical and mental health conditions, food insecurity and the availability of safe and affordable housing are worsened by these events. CAP is a multi-year effort designed to increase support for socially and geographically vulnerable communities while reducing disaster-caused displacement.

“When the American Red Cross shows up, it’s a sign that we need help and being recognized as a community that has a lot of resources but also a community that suffers a lot, it’s important and it’s hope-giving more than anything," Salzburn said solemnly. “So, for our organization to be a part of this bigger picture, this movement towards let's work together help is available, we are in this together. It's a big deal; it’s more than a big deal.”

A big deal with real-life solutions, after a disaster, feelings of despair, frustration and hopelessness can invade just like a hurricane-force wind. Community Adaptation Program partners can make the road to recovery easier. Salzburn says she has seen barriers to recovery when people don’t ask for resources. “A lot of times they think well someone else has it worse or I can get through this or I should be able to figure this out or pick myself up and move forward and the idea that no this is a human experience of suffering and you’re going through and it’s okay to ask for help and we are here to help.”

Collaboration, compassion and care, a formula to make sure a quaint and vibrant seaside town can stand up to challenges in the future.