Camp Bulldog Starts New Sandy Survivor Support Group

Even though Camp Bulldog is set to close on April 28, a new support group the Camp has started to help their fellow neighbors heal the internal wounds the superstorm left behind.

New Support Group Started
“We’ve started a support group on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. that meets at Harding Avenue Elementary School in Lindenhurst,” said Andrea Curran, who spoke with Lindenhurst Patch at the Beautification after Sandy event on Saturday.

Curran and Robin DiGiacomo - one of Camp Bulldog’s founders - have run the effort at Shore Road Park along with the help of several other key volunteers, including Corinna Reyes, Bruce Casagrande and Jackie Milton, and countless other volunteers from Lindy, some of whom were devastated by the superstorm, and some not.

And the effort’s helped fellow numerous neighbors, friends and family who were devastated by Sandy’s record-breaking tidal surge.

But now with the help of one of Camp Bulldog’s volunteers, a Sandy victim from the Venice area of Lindy and a licensed social worker (LCSW) - Camp Bulldog will transition from helping physically with a presence at Shore Road to helping psychologically via this new group.

“It’s run by one of our volunteers, Joanne Milito,” Curran said.

The Inspiration
Milito was originally inspired to come and help at Camp Bulldog after she saw neighbors helping neighbors right after Sandy. So when the decision came to close the grassroots volunteer effort’s base of operations, she stepped forward.

“I suggested we do a group, and so we started by putting fliers in the Camp Bulldog tent and telling people they could sign up,” Milito told Patch on Saturday.

Milito explained having gone through the same thing as many of those Camp Bulldog’s helped is one motivation behind her spearheading the group.

"Having gone through it and making it through to the other side, I realized part of this recovery process was the recovery of self. This was traumatic for many, and so many are suffering from PTSD,” she said.

At this group survivors can share their frustration of negotiating the difficult, lengthy process of dealing with FEMA and insurance and mortgage companies, and not being able to get their house back in order or get their houses - and their pre-Sandy lives - back at all.

“People have already been coming to Camp Bulldog to network and share and support each other through this, and I’ve kind of been the Camp therapist, greeting many of them, helping and directing them,” Milito said.

So starting a support group made sense.

“We’ve taken care of the external. Now we need to take care of the internal,” she said.

Signing Up
Curran said the first meeting was on April 10, and there were about 15 or so people who came.

Those who did were a mix of Sandy victims from Lindenhurst and neighboring affected areas who signed up via CampBulldog.net.

Others could sign up for the support group on the website, too, Curran said, and they could also find out more from Camp Bulldog on Facebook at Lindenhurst after Hurricane Sandy.