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New York trip offers help, healing
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer INVERNESS -- It was the discovery of a tiny cross-stitched Christmas ornament amid the mountain of rubble at ground zero that made the tragedies of Sept. 11 a reality to Angel Vincent. "It reminded me that this happened just a few months before Christmas," said Vincent, 29. "It made me wonder what happened to the person who made that ornament." Vincent, a former victim advocate for the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, just returned from an eight-day trip to New York City, where she was part of a team of six people offering counseling to the men and women still sorting through the debris left by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. More than eight months after the towers collapsed, work continues around the clock to identify the missing. Firefighters, police officers, rescue and construction workers must carefully sift through the remains, searching for clues: a scrap of fabric, a tooth or a piece of a cellular phone. To an outsider, it seems like chilling, mind-numbing work. But Vincent said the workers remain fiercely dedicated to the task. "They are on a mission," she said. "They are searching for closure, both for themselves and for the victims' families." Vincent was invited to New York by the National Organization for Victim Assistance, a nonprofit group founded in 1975 to promote the rights and services for victims of crime and crisis. The organization has been sending teams continuously to ground zero since the attacks to offer counseling and assistance. Vincent served as a victim advocate for two years before becoming a crime analyst for the Sheriff's Office about six months ago. During her time as an advocate, she received training in crisis counseling and joined the national organization. Vincent arrived in New York on April 20. It was the first time she had visited since a trip five years ago, when she rode to the top of the World Trade Center as part of a sight-seeing tour. She said seeing the destruction made her feel hollow. "There was an emptiness," Vincent said. "It was a somber feeling. But to see the determination of the workers, that really changed how I viewed everything." The counselors try not to interfere with the workers' daily routine. They walk the perimeter of the site, offering a smile, a cup of hot coffee and a sympathetic ear for anyone who wanted to talk. Vincent said she wasn't sure of the reception she and the other members of her team would receive. So much time had passed since the tragedy. Would anyone still need their help? Surprisingly, many of the rescue workers immediately opened up to them, Vincent said. "Their real concern now is what are they going to do when the recovery effort is over? What will they do when they have to go back to their jobs and their families?" Vincent said the cleanup will probably be finished within the next two months. Many of the workers at the World Trade Center have been toiling at the scene since immediately after the attacks, she said. Her job was to listen to the workers and give reassurance that what they were feeling was normal. Some of the stories were especially touching, Vincent said. For example, she met a firefighter from Staten Island who was scheduled to be on duty when the towers were attacked. But he left early to pick up his child and the man called in to replace him was killed. "He did feel very thankful to be alive, but he had a lot of guilt," Vincent said. "You can't change the way that they feel. . . . You just try to talk to them about what they're going through." Vincent worked eight-hour shifts for the eight days she was in New York. She was too exhausted, both emotionally and physically, to do any sight-seeing. But she did bring back a collection of souvenirs, including a hard hat signed by many of the workers she met. "They were very inspirational," Vincent said. "I feel truly blessed and honored to have met them." -- Crime reporter Carrie Johnson can be reached at 860-7309 or cjohnson@sptimes.com.
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