She lost her home in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, only a year after the death of her husband. Last fall, her son committed suicide. Then, robbers broke into the trailer she and her son once shared, which made her afraid to stay there alone.

Yet, like a surprising number of Katrina survivors, Duplessis says her faith in God has only grown stronger.

Pastors and psychologists say religious faith has helped many Gulf Coast residents endure both the hurricane and the painfully slow recovery. Over the past decade, researchers who study psychological resilience have developed new respect for the role of religious faith in helping people cope with trauma, says psychologist Lisa Miller, an associate professor at New York's Columbia Teachers College.

This article appeared in the July 23, 2007 edition of the USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-07-18-katrina-faith_N.htm#uslPageReturn

Published Friday, Jul. 27, 2007