wfn.org | Church World Service Launches Katrina Evacuee Relocation Program

[Jan Dragin <jdragin@gis.net>]

Media Contacts:
Ann Walle/CWS, (212) 870-2654, awalle@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin ­ 24/7 ­ (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE LAUNCHES NATIONAL KATRINA
EVACUEE RELOCATION PROGRAM

Local CWS Refugee Resettlement Affiliate Agencies Will Initially Serve Most
Vulnerable Evacuees in Nine States

NEW YORK ­ Sept 21­ Global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS)
announced details today of a national program to help relocate people still
displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The program, says Erol Kekic, Acting Director of the CWS Immigration and
Refugee program, "is intended to assist uprooted people recover their
dignity and regain self-sufficiency in communities where they have found
their way or been relocated."

Church World Service ­ the only agency responding to Katrina that has both
an in-house domestic emergency response unit and a refugee resettlement
program ­ is applying its professional refugee case management experience
to
help meet the particular needs of Americans displaced by the hurricane.

Services are being provided in nine states through CWS¹s established
network
of local agencies normally serving refugees resettled from around the world.
Giving priority to people most in need, the program is helping Katrina
evacuees connect to resources offered by such agencies as FEMA, HUD and the
Red Cross on the local level; find affordable housing, jobs and health care;
get their children enrolled in school; and get oriented to and integrated
into their new communities ­ whether their stay ultimately is short or
long.

"The people we serve are not and will not be left to fend for themselves as
they navigate their new surroundings," said Erol Kekic, Acting Director of
the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program.  "We are committed to serving
people professionally and in a uniform, not ad hoc, way."  The new CWS
program also includes training for volunteer faith groups in how to best
help those who are relocating, who may have lost everything, and may be
suffering trauma.

Each year, the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP) helps about
5,000 refugees from other countries ­ people fleeing persecution and who
often have lost everything ­ rebuild their lives in the United States.
Since 1946, CWS has helped more than 450,000 refugees resettle in the United
States.

This work is a "public-private partnership."  One of nine voluntary agencies
through which the U.S. State Department resettles refugees, Church World
Service, in collaboration with eight participating denominations and their
congregations, and 42 local refugee resettlement agencies in 25 states,
works hand-in-hand with national, state, and local governments and community
organizations.

"It¹s not a big leap for us to be able to adjust those resources to fit the
needs of American citizens who have also lost everything and are starting
over in new places," Kekic said.  "We¹ll help these newcomers connect into
the rich fabric of social contacts, engaging local church and other partners
in facilitating their integration through the gift of attention, friendship
and time.

"The U.S. government has asked CWS and other resettlement agencies to
consider using its expertise to help Katrina evacuees," Kekic noted.
"Similarly, local and state authorities and consortia are turning to our
refugee resettlement affiliates.  Our network feels privileged to be able to
lend a hand in responding to Katrina survivors¹ needs and give something
back."

CWS/IRP is supporting relocation services being provided through its field
office in Miami and through the following eight of its local affiliates:

? GEORGIA: Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta
(serving
Athens, Atlanta, Dalton, Macon, and Savannah)
? ILLINOIS: Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries (serving Chicago
and Champaign/Urbana)
? KENTUCKY: Kentucky Refugee Ministries (serving Danville, Lexington, and
Louisville)
? MICHIGAN: Programs Assisting Refugee Acculturation/Bethany Christian
Services (serving Grand Rapids, Holland, Kalamazoo, & Traverse City)
? NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA: Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas
(serving Asheboro, Burlington, Charlotte, Greensboro, High Point, Raleigh,
and Winston-Salem, N.C., and Columbia, Irmo, Spartanburg, and West Columbia,
S.C.)
? TENNESSEE: Bridge Refugee and Sponsorship Services (serving Bristol,
Greeneville, Johnson City, Kingsport, and Knoxville)
? TEXAS: Refugee Services of Texas (serving Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, and
Fort Worth)
? VIRGINIA: Virginia Council of Churches (serving Harrisonburg, Newport
News, and Richmond)

CWS¹s relocation assistance to evacuees is being funded by the humanitarian
agency¹s supporting member denominations and by contributions to the
agency¹s $9.5 million public appeal for funds for Katrina survivors.	The
relocation program is being conducted in close working relationship with
FEMA and the Red Cross.

The CWS relocation program "is strictly voluntary on the part of the
beneficiaries," Kekic said.  Katrina evacuees will be free to "opt into or
out of" the program.  Potential participants will get full information about
the program, and individual needs will be assessed.  Clients¹
confidentiality will be respected.

CWS is particularly concerned to help reunite families separated during the
evacuation, said CWS/IRP Associate Director Jennifer Hendrick.

Church World Service is also supporting trauma care through its Interfaith
Trauma Response Trainings (ITRT) for Katrina caregivers and direct trauma
care through its Spiritual and Emotional Care Response (SECR) cadre of
volunteer professional counselors.

To date, Church World Service has shipped more than $900,000 in donated
material assistance to affected areas, including 14,670 CWS Blankets; 47,190
"Gift of the Heart" Health Kits; 704 CWS "Gift of the Heart" Children¹s
Kits; and 3,360 "Gift of the Heart" School Kits.  CWS also partnered with
UNICEF, distributing school and recreation materials in Meridian,
Mississippi.

**EDITORS, PRODUCERS, PLEASE INCLUDE CWS IN YOUR LISTINGS OF AGENCIES
ACCEPTING DONATIONS FOR KATRINA SURVIVORS:

Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to:
Church World Service
Hurricane Katrina Response -- #6280
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Or call 800 297 1516 ext. 222.

For more information, see: www.churchworldservice.org

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