Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/tag/sept-11_/page/2/)
Her easygoing trendy life in Manhattan forever transformed on Sept. 11, an unemployed dot-com writer places her e-mail list and her technological savvy in the service of the Red Cross and other agencies providing disaster relief.
In ancient Greece, doulas were women, often slaves, who helped at childbirth, and today the multiskilled doula is increasingly in demand. While midwives focus on delivery, doulas are coaches, listeners, hand-holders, teachers about motherhood.
Nearly overcome with her own anxiety and sadness, graphic artist Kathryn Carey pleaded to be permitted to help in the catastrophe. She found herself running a center for trauma victims, making sure they knew where to find the help they needed.
An ironworker was called on by her union to help clear the site of the collapsed twin towers. She brought her own respirator and gas mask and dug for three days. “It could have been me,” she says.