9/11 Hits While Already Traumatized

• 40:54Tim was in New York around 9/11, staying near his dad, and felt angry and worried about him.
• 41:05His ex-girlfriend, a Manhattan DA, woke him up in Brooklyn to tell him about the attacks.
• 41:17She casually asked whether she should go to work downtown, not grasping the severity yet.
• 41:33His dad, a wine salesman, thought business would resume the next day and he'd be slinging Pinot Grigio.
• 42:08Tim became a disaster relief case worker for Project Life, a Lutheran Social Services agency, starting in January 2002.
• 42:39The program served anyone who lost family, employment, or housing, or could prove they were affected by 9/11.
• 43:02He'd present clients' cases to the Unmet Needs Table, where charities decided whether to grant funding.
• 43:55Lower Manhattan was shut down for weeks; his father's Battery Park City neighborhood was evacuated to hotels.
• 44:18Right after 9/11 was actually the best time to buy property downtown, though the area was burning and smoking for weeks.
• 45:18A friend offered him the job while Tim was having panic attacks, bombing at comedy shows, and considering leaving stand-up altogether.

9/11BrooklynLutheran Social ServicesBattery Park CityManhattan DA's officeProject LifeLower ManhattanLutheran Disaster Response in New YorkMarkSalvation ArmyRed CrossCatholic CharitiesWoolworth building