ABOUT US

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.


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.