Our Lady of the Lake University Offers Free Teletherapy Services to Hurricane Laura Evacuees

San Antonio’s Our Lady of the Lake University is offering teletherapy services to evacuees of Hurricane Laura at no cost.

The university’s Community Counseling Services has provided bilingual psychiatric services to San Antonio’s West Side for more than 40 years, and it’s now expanding those offerings to another group in need.

Laura, a Category 4 hurricane, made landfall east of the Texas-Louisiana border near midnight on Wednesday. Evacuations ordered by state and local officials left many residents temporarily displaced.

OLLU’s response comes as those Texans face the aftermath of the hurricane’s physical damage and the mental health risks that come with the upheaval. Studies show that survivors of natural disasters are highly susceptible to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The university has a mission of service to the community, and the CCS wants to ensure we help fill the gap while people are relocated from their homes and living with uncertainty of what will be there when they return,” Clinic Director Bernadette Solorzano said in a statement.

“We offer individual, couples and family therapy. Receiving services soon after this type of event helps people identify their resources and move forward more quickly.”

Evacuees can schedule an appointment by calling the CCS at (210) 434-1054 or sending an email to ccs@ollusa.edu.

While Texas avoided a direct hit, effects from the edges of the storm can be seen along the Gulf Coast. Many in Jefferson, Orange and Hardin counties went without power overnight. Some in the same region are still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which left widespread destruction in its wake.

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