How To Practically Navigate a Crisis: with Sarah Sullivan

In this episode, Katharine and Seth interview Katharine’s sister Sarah Sullivan and investigate all the ways in which she supported them through the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Sarah, who is an expert in creating, analyzing, and building new organizations and systems, as well as being a self-proclaimed “spiritual activist” shares many of the practical tools that helped their greater family navigate through tragedy and loss.

The key takeaways from this episode are:

1. Establish communications protocols:

   • Without cell service and limited communication, Sarah took on the role as the single point of contact for the family. Creating a daily long-form group text helped keep family and friends updated.

   • Daily standing meetings in the local town square in Black Mountain helped keep important info and the lines of communication open between officials and locals.

   • Sarah created a family Zoom meeting to discuss next actions together. This proved to be very helpful and grounding.

   • The GoFundMe that Sarah set up for Katharine and Seth ended up being a communications portal.

2. Rely on facts from the ground:

   • The family sent a scout as we couldn’t get info in real time from the neighbors due to breakdown in cell communication.

   • Katharine and Seth were able to make decisions based on that scout’s findings.

   • Keep in mind that a scout might not always be safe especially in many natural disaster circumstances.

3. Take action:

   • Sarah gives examples of how she helped the family by making decisions for them that they didn’t have the capacity to make in real-time due to extreme stress and overwhelm.

   • Decisions can always be undone later, but taking concerted action(s) on someone else’s behalf when they are fight or flight can be life-changing.

   • Find the role that you can best help with and go for it. Don’t communicate with the person in shock about every little thing - help them simply by taking something off of their plate.

4. Prioritize basic needs:

   • Food

   • Shelter

   • Clothing, Toiletries, etc.

   • Nervous system/Grounding support: Massage, acupuncture, even a facial! What can you offer?

5. Prayer support:

   • Sarah organized a prayer circle which helped the affected families feel held and gave those wanting to help a free way to support the affected families.

6. You have so much more than you think!

   • We all can help in more ways than we realize. Think about the things you can donate (time, items, money, etc.), but also the people you know, resources you have that you might overlook (a pull-out couch), and the skills you have (a free massage can go a long way to helping someone feel more grounded)

   • We all want to help, but we don’t all have to do it all. Offer one way you can help someone you love going through a tragic event.

Liked this episode? Please email us at hello@arainbowinthestorm.com and let us know!

A few useful links:

Sarah’s beautiful poem: Grief is the Teacher

Sarah’s Instagram

Jenna Kutcher’s The Podcast Lab Course

Katharine’s Writings