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United Methodists continue hurricane aid in Alabama-West Florida

Feb. 1, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05072}

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Meredyth Earnest*

ATMORE, Ala. (UMNS) - United Methodist churches throughout the
Alabama-West Florida Annual (regional) Conference are continuing to help
their communities recover from Hurricane Ivan, four months after the
storm.

In partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the
conference expects to be involved in the long-term recovery process for
at least two to three years.

The Rev. Tom Hazelwood, UMCOR's U.S. disaster response coordinator,
recently toured many of the areas in Alabama-West Florida that were most
damaged Sept. 16 by Hurricane Ivan. Some of his stops included
Pensacola, Fla.; Gulf Shores, Ala.; Mobile, Ala.; and Perdido Key, Ala.

During a Jan. 25 stop in Atmore, Hazelwood noted the vast difference in
the landscape since his last visit to the conference, a week after the
hurricane.

"A tremendous amount of work has been done already," he said. "When I
flew in, I noticed the significant number of blue tarps still on homes -
each one indicating where a roof still needs to be replaced or repaired.
Even with the many strides the conference has made, there is still a lot
of work to be done."

One church that has been particularly active in disaster recovery is
Atmore First United Methodist Church. The church's pastor, the Rev. Doug
Newton, is a veteran of dozens of mission trips during his 49-year
ministry and has a passion for helping those in need.

First Church has become a center for recovery efforts in Atmore and the
surrounding area, according to Newton. "The word has gotten around - you
can get help at the United Methodist church."

Not long after Ivan hit, the Atmore congregation received a blessing in
the form of Alice Holmes, an 80-year-old member of Hedding United
Methodist Church in Elmira, N.Y. When Ivan made landfall, Holmes took a
Greyhound bus to Pensacola to help however she could. The extensive
damage prevented the bus from entering Pensacola, so she ended up in
Mobile. There she learned of the significant damage in Atmore and the
lack of response, and decided that was where she would help.

After initially working at a Baptist church for a month, Mrs. Alice, as
she is affectionately known at First Church, offered to help the United
Methodists. She now coordinates all of the church's recovery efforts out
of her own office in the church.

Since her arrival more than three months ago, Mrs. Alice has been living
in the church's youth house. "She has come to live with us, quite
literally, and she has been as faithful as any paid staff," Newton said.

When Mrs. Alice decided the youth house could accommodate more than just
her, she went to Newton with the idea of converting it into a dorm-like
space for volunteer work teams. The church borrowed cots from the local
armory and set them up for incoming teams. Since then, the church has
hosted 60 teams, almost of all of which have stayed in the house. The
church, with help from the volunteer teams, has worked on 179 homes and
six churches.

"I want all pastors to know that they don't have to be afraid to open up
their churches to (work) teams and say, 'Yes, we can take you,'" Newton
said. "What they may not understand is that work teams have an 'Alice
Holmes mentality.' When we tried to provide a bed for Mrs. Alice in our
youth house she said, 'Volunteers sleep on cots or on the floor.' So,
she convinced me that maybe these volunteers would sleep on cots and
crowd into this little house."

While much of the attention during disaster recovery is focused on
cleanup, construction and debris removal, Hazelwood cautions those
involved to not overlook the deeper problems survivors face.

"You have to remember the ministry part of all this, and check on
people's emotional and spiritual state of mind," he pointed out.
"Oftentimes, they can get frustrated because of what seem to be delays
in insurance processing, (federal) assistance, and a lack of progress.
We have to be aware of these issues and address them as we are able."

Hazelwood assured the conference of UMCOR's commitment to assist in the
long recovery.

The Rev. Clyde Pressley was recently named executive director of the
conference's disaster recovery center in Mobile. Pressley oversees
everything from material distribution to case work management and
placement of volunteer work teams.

The placement of teams is a time-consuming job for Pressley. The
geographic area is large, and each community has different recovery
needs that require different types of volunteer teams. He said the Holy
Spirit helps guide his decisions.

Donations for UMCOR's hurricane assistance should be designated to
Advance No. 982410, "Hurricanes 2004." Checks can be dropped in church
collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Dr., Room
330, New York, NY 10115. To donate by credit card, call (800) 554-8583,
a toll-free number. Online, donors can go to www.MethodistRelief.org,
where a secure server allows the donor to enter credit-card information.

*Earnest is communications director for the Alabama-West Florida Annual
Conference.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org