Building Resiliency After New Orleans Tragedy

Mashed potatoes and chicken -- a small comfort but welcome change from the long days of hospital food. The meal was one of the ways United Way of Southeast Louisiana showed up for Heaven Sensky Kirsch and her family.  

On New Year’s Eve, Heaven’s family and father, Jeremi Sensky, were visiting New Orleans from Pennsylvania when tragedy struck. A man intentionally drove a pickup down the crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter in a deadly rampage taking 14 lives, injuring 35 others, and traumatizing countless bystanders . Jeremi, who has been in a wheelchair since a 1999 accident left him paralyzed,  had been out with friends Michael and Jordan, enjoying a late-night slice of pizza. He was making his way back to their hotel when the chaos unfolded. “We kept calling his phone. It was ringing, but he wasn’t answering,” Heaven recalled. Moments later, news reports revealed the devastating scene. She saw her father’s crumpled wheelchair on TV.

Jeremi had been struck by the vehicle, thrown from his wheelchair, and left critically injured. Heaven says it’s a miracle he survived.  “My dad is not an angry man. He’s been through so much, but he stays positive.”

United Way of Southeast Louisiana responded immediately. Michael Williamson, president and CEO, says, 

We launched the United for New Orleans Relief Fund on January 1 to ensure we can respond at the speed of need, just like we always do.”

The fund’s contributors include Ms. Gayle Benson, the New Orleans Saints, NFL Foundation, and over 500 generous donors, raising over $600,000. Within seven days of the tragedy, United Way allocated funds to those impacted, including $15,000  for families who lost loved ones , $3,500 to those injured, like Jeremi, to help offset medical and logistical costs, and crisis grants to partner organizations addressing mental health and other urging needs.

Beyond financial support, United Way focused on unseen but essential necessities—meals, laundry services, and partnering with the Split Second Foundation and the United Cajun Navy to provide a specialized motorized wheelchair after Jeremi’s was destroyed.  

Their work isn’t new. United Way responded to countless natural disasters in recent years and launched a mental health collaborative in 2023, addressing trauma and crisis response citywide. Now, they’re expanding those efforts and are committed to long-term recovery and healing. “Our focus is on the survivors and the victims’ families, but also on the broader community affected by this tragedy,” Williamson said.

Heaven is grateful for the support her family has received: “They’ve been bringing food; they brought in Mark Raymond Jr. with the Split Second Foundation, who’s a quadriplegic here in New Orleans, and that has been a tremendous support for my dad. They helped ... us ... pay for a special bed for my dad at home so that he can prevent bedsores. And just all around, being there for us as we’re far away from home.”

Today, a United Way staffer is picking up and returning a package that was delivered to the family’s hotel after they started their journey home following Jeremi’s release. Proof that where there is a need, there is a United way.  

The road to healing will be long for New Orleans. Michael and his team are committed to showing up long after the attention has faded. 

We're completely focused on ensuring that folks that have experienced trauma, especially related to this tragedy, have access to the resources they need – no matter what.”

Jeremi, too, faces a difficult recovery. Soon, he will be reunited with his beloved Yorkie, Gizmo, whom Heaven says will certainly lift his spirits.