Weeks after flooding devastated her home state, actress Jennifer Garner visited with Elkview families affected by the tragedy on Saturday.
Garner, a graduate of George Washington High School, described those she met who had lost everything as strong and resilient.
"I can't tell you how many people today already have told me, 'I'm fine, we're fine,' and I look around and think, 'You're fine, but it's a mess," she said. "You keep being fine, and let us help with the mess."
The former Charleston resident first visited a distribution center and Herbert Hoover High School to experience first-hand the damage and needs of those in the affected communities before making a special visit to a child care center. She highlighted the importance of psychosocial health for children affected by the flooding and how her partner organization, Save the Children, is working to ensure they receive the emotional support they need.
Save the Children is an organization dedicated to making sure children are protected and able to continue healthy development. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the organization has served more than 1 million U.S. children affected by emergencies.
When several families from Save the Children's network were devastated by the flooding, the organization jumped into action to ensure children were well cared for.
It has focused on restoring child care services and offering psychosocial support through providers and caregivers.
At Come Grow With Me, a child care center where Save the Children has focused its efforts, several families lost their homes to the flooding. The families were invited to the center Saturday to meet Garner and speak with her about their own experiences.
While reading a book and playing with finger paint, Garner spoke to children about their stories and how to handle their emotions in a positive way.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, state health officer and commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health, said the trauma children experience in events such as these can often go unnoticed.
"Psychological trauma is important and needs to be addressed as part of the public health response," Gupta said. "We have been working with crisis and intervention teams and organizations, like Save the Children, to make sure that we do everything we can to sort of intercept it."
He spoke with Garner about the importance of this effort and what the organization is doing to help.
"It makes me feel a little more safe to know that this organization that I love is taking this so seriously and saying, 'How can we make kids more safe? How can we make them more whole? How can we help their psycho-emotional fears after this?'" Garner said.
Before visiting the children, Garner focused on learning about the devastation and need of relief in the southern counties affected.
She traveled with Senator Corey Palumbo to the Elkview Baptist Distribution Center, where she delivered diapers and sat down with several legislators, as well as a Save the Children representative.
"You can see things in the media, but they don't seem real because we see devastation all the time but you kind of grow inured to it." Garner said. "When you see it here with your own eyes and you see the faces of people who have experienced it, who are fighting their way through it, who are figuring things out and who still have a smile on their face, I knew that it wasn't really going to be real until I got here."
Garner asked about the plans for the schools that are severely damaged and what she can do to help, and expressed concern about families who are in need of child care.
The legislators explained to her the state of Herbert Hoover High School and the community.
Her visit comes only a day after news was released that the school may not reopen. Its damages total 70 percent of its appraised value.
When school begins Aug. 8, high school and middle school students will share Elkview Middle School. Middle-schoolers will attend in the morning and high-schoolers in the afternoon.
Anna Hardway, state director of programs for the West Virginia branch of Save the Children, explained the need to expedite the licensing process and gather the basic materials necessary for child care providers, including a place for them to provide their services, since many lost their homes.
"Something we are working on long-term is a psychosocial recovery place, with DHHR, with Department of Education, and with West Virginia University Prevention Research Center," Hardway said. "We're going to put a plan in place to help make sure these home providers understand how to help children who are coming back from this disaster and trying to find normal again, and that as many teachers as possible can be trained in things like psychological first-aid and self-care."
Speaker of the House Tim Armstead, R.-Kanawha, Sen. Ed Gaunch, R-Kanawha, Del. Andrew Byrd, D-Kanawha and Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam, explained to her the living conditions many families are facing after the loss of their homes.
"These individuals are living in tents on their front lawns. They have their kids in the tents with them. There were 90 families staying at the shelter at Capital High School and there were 240 families staying inside gymnasium shelters in West Virginia," Walters said.
Garner asked what will come next for these families.
"Even just figuring out who to go to for assistance and what to fill out and how to fill it out, it's kind of overwhelming," she said. "I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it."
She explained the way she believes the state needs to reach beyond itself to ask for help.
"This is an ongoing struggle and people in West Virginia are really good about looking after each other," Garner told them. "It's easy for us to just look after each other and for [others] to forget about us, but in this case, we need a larger movement where people are helping out."
After her meeting, Garner toured the devastation with Herbert Hoover High School principal Mike Kelly.
"The school isn't about the building. The building is a mess. The spirit of the school is strong," Garner told reporters. "We have to figure out as a community how we're going to get these kids educated and stable and back to work. The leadership is in place."
She spoke about the strength she had seen from those who have lost homes in the flood.
"We do look after each other and we have got each others' backs and it's always been that way," she said. "We also need to be strong enough to ask the rest of the world, 'Hey, we need some more just plain old resources,' and I will shout that out from the mountaintops as loud as I can."
Garner will host a fundraiser at the University of Charleston Tuesday at 6 p.m. to raise money for Herbert Hoover High School. Tickets can be purchased at http://www. supportherberthoover.eventbrite.com/.
She has also teamed up with Omaze and Save the Children to sell a "West Virginia Strong" T-shirt. Proceeds go to Save the Children and their efforts in the flooded communities. They can be purchased here.
Garner also recommends visiting savethechildren.org/westvirginia to make a direct donation.
"I just want the people affected by the floods to know that they're not going to be forgotten," she said.
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @jennc_gardner on Twitter.