How DAP Was Started

Shocked and outraged news anchors captured the extreme poverty and widespread suffering after Katrina.  Having just returned from India, Ben didn’t expect to see conditions he witnessed in India on US soil.

Soon after, Ben was the site manager of a Red Cross Client Service Center in Gulfport, MS.  Working closely with National Guard, County officials, and local NAACP leaders, Ben grew angrier by the day.  Basic human needs exceeded services available and survivors, after enduring Katrina’s fury, suffered more.

After unsuccessful requests via official channels, Ben called friends and contacts for supplies, tents for shade, water misters for heat, computers to speed up the site's hand-written in-take and check writing, tetanus shots, IVs, and National Guard medics. He felt helpless.

If the public realized the extent of service gaps at relief sites, many would question how billions of donated dollars were spent and demand accountability and action.

 Ben told himself that if a group did not exist to demand public accountability and provide an open-line for whistleblowers to report service gaps during disasters, he would start it.