Social Worker Recalls 9/11 Response

Dec 1, 2011

Thomas 'Tab' Ballis

NASW News’ “Social Work in the Public Eye” features Thomas “Tab” Ballis. He was interviewed by Jemila Ericson for WHQR Public Radio in Wilmington, N.C., as part of the station’s special coverage of the centennial remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks.

Ballis, a licensed clinical social worker in Wilmington, explained that he spent time at a Ground Zero tent as an on-site counselor for the Red Cross.

He arrived in December after the attacks. He noted that even up to that date, responders continued to work nonstop. “They were being driven [by the hope] that they would find at least one soul who survived under the rubble,” Ballis said.

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