Lost amid the horrific images of human suffering and loss caused by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are other problems, no less grave in their implications. One such tragedy is the disruption caused in the education of uncounted numbers of students displaced from the Gulf Coast region.

In response to this urgent need, The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation has awarded a grant to the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., covering the education costs of school-age children displaced to the national capital area and suburban Maryland by Hurricane Katrina. This grant will pay the full tuition, textbook, fee, and school uniform expenses for 33 students in the school system of the Archdiocese for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The opportunity for these students to continue their studies in a setting that they find both familiar and comforting will greatly facilitate the uninterrupted growth of their education and development. At the same time, it promises to restore a welcome and much-needed measure of stability to the lives of youngsters who – despite their tender years – have seen hardships that most adults cannot even begin to imagine.