International Group Helps With Katrina Relief On Mississippi Coast

GULFPORT, Miss. -- An international group best known for working in countries such as Iraq, Serbia and Sri Lanka is now helping with hurricane relief on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Since early September, the nonprofit International Relief and Development has helped arrange supply shipments to Biloxi's Vietnamese community.

Now, the group is working with other agencies to provide services in parts of Gulfport.

IRD hopes to open "Neighborhood Services Center" in about a week. It will help people navigate the maze of services available through other agencies.

Center workers will connect people to programs that help with housing, employment, health care and other needs. The center also will provide legal services, crisis counseling and financial planning assistance for residents in north Gulfport, one of the poorest areas on the Coast, and in west Gulfport.

The Hurricane Katrina work marks the first time the agency has provided relief in the United States. The group had an important role in Indonesian recovery after last year's tsunami.


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