Barb Skudlarick, NADA
Vice President and Director, Family Support Team
From Bellingham WA - Email: MazamaJoe@direcway.com (360) 371-4108
Barb is a retired R.N.,
retired Flight Attendant, and Director for Family Support Team.
Barb also survived an air crash landing while a teen-ager traveling
alone to attend school in Colorado. All survived, however, the aircraft
was destroyed, and the passengers knew their lives had changed that
day.
After
retiring from the airlines, Barb became a Disaster Service Volunteer.
Emergency response experience includes: Government Liaison for the
local Red Cross, working in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center)
the night of the Olympic Oil Bellingham pipe line explosion, and
the DAT (Disaster Action Team) for local disasters when the community
was impacted by the loss of 12 former students/alumni who were on
Alaska 261 on Jan. 31, 2000.
"This is an opportunity
for us to make a difference where and when help is most needed.
We will do everything possible to help family members, and give
follow-up support to our FST Members. I found NADA/F on the Internet,
and NADA/F was most helpful in sharing information to help prepare
the aviation disaster plan for our local area. I attended the Annual
Meeting and was impressed to meet family members who have sustained
such pain and loss, yet have come together, and are working with
aviation professionals, government, and the industry, to promote
safety and support for victims' families. Each crash is unique,
and the dynamics of each person's loss is very different, yet all
are able to be patient and supportive with each other. I welcome
the opportunity to work with such special people. If you want to
learn more about FST please let us know and we will mail a packet
of information to you. Feel free to send an email or give me a call."
Barb Skudlarick
Articles:
"Support
Officer Spotlight"
"Barb
Skudlarick at the Pentagon"
Jim Hurd - from Maryland
Email: CYN29HU@yahoo.com
(410) 802-6059
Jim lost his son on TWA
800 and it changed his life. Jim organized the first NOVA training
for NADA/F members, and has helped develop the FST concept and our
role.
"I will go anywhere at
any time if I can help someone after an air disaster. I remember
the three weeks at the Ramada while we waited for information about
our loved ones. No one told us that we might have to wait ten months
or more for a proper funeral. I feel that I can reassure others
to try and be patient, and that an air crash is different from other
disasters." Jim Hurd
Joan Pontante - from
Oswego NY
Email: Japontante@juno.com
(315) 593-3279
Joan's
family lost 5 family members on NW255, including three small children,
almost 14 years ago. Joan has been an active member since the first
air crash family group meeting in 1992.
"Family members have
networked with each other for many years, and I have developed terrific
friends all over the world through NADA/F. Support was a goal of
our NW255 group, and we gave support to other air crash families.
NADA/F Family Support Team, on a well-organized level, is something
that we have wanted for many years, and I am proud of our program
and our volunteers. We did not have support available in years past,
and we know how important those first few days can be to a family."
Joan Pontante
The Post-Standard News
– Syracuse NY – CNY
“Activism from the Ashes” December 9, 2001
A feature story about Joan Pontante and NADA/F Click
Here
Helen & Larry Siebert
- from Missouri
Email: HlnSiebert@aol.com
(573) 635-1488
Helen
and Larry Siebert lost their daughters Chrisha and Brenna, plus
their niece and her husband, Stephanie & Dan Gaetke on TWA 800.
Helen is retiring from a career with an insurance company, as Supervisor
in Risk Management. Larry continues to work in commercial real estate.
"Put me to work! I look
forward to working with NADA/F members and I know that we will make
a difference. We came out of a dark hole, and I want to show others
that they can continue to live after a terrible situation. I could
not have "come back" after losing our girls without friendship and
peer support. I look forward to returning the favor and helping
others." Helen Siebert
"I decided that the best
way to honor our daughters would be to put aside any bitterness
and to help others." Larry Siebert
Maria-Helena
Pereira Franco, Ph.D. from São Paulo, Brazil
bromberg@pucsp.br (011) 55-11-3887-5116
Website in Portuguese:
www.4estacoes.com
Maria-Helena has
assisted as a Psychologist at a number of air crashes in Brazil, since 1996, and is a welcome participant
as a Team Leader to NADA/F’s Family Support Team. Maria-Helena
has assisted international airlines, and is also a Professor at
Catholic University of São Paulo, where she founded the Bereavement
and Grief Center, and continues to do research and provide psychological assistance
for the bereaved. Maria-Helena’s professional background, experience,
commitment, and multiple foreign language skills, are an asset to
our Family Support Team program.
“Brazil was
the second country to pass a Family Assistance Act, similar to the
U.S. laws, and I have helped airlines since 1996 with training,
and support for survivors and family members. We need to continue
to do everything we can to improve our understanding of the survivor,
and family member needs after they have been impacted by an aviation
disaster or incident. I look forward to helping wherever and whenever
we are needed.”
Maria-Helena Pereira
Franco, Ph.D.
