Title: Lutheran Volunteers Continue to Make a Difference One Year After Hurricanes ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 23, 2006
Lutheran Volunteers Continue to Make a Difference One Year After Hurricanes 06-128-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma struck the U.S. Gulf Coast nearly one year ago 15,000 volunteers have logged 600,000 hours of service, worth an estimated $10.5 million of rebuilding work. These volunteers worked on behalf of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) to rebuild homes and communities in hurricane-devastated areas. LDR is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod.
The 2005 hurricane season included 26 named storms, 13 of which were hurricanes that caused an insured loss of more than $47 billion, according to LDR. The most powerful of these storms were Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which caused widespread damage throughout Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
A year later ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and LDR remain in the recovery phase, said Heather L. Feltman, director of LDR and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response. Coordinating long-term responses with other faith-based and community disaster partners, LDR continues to provide spiritual and emotional care to survivors and caregivers, coordinate volunteer efforts, and secure long-term case management for survivors who have lost their homes and livelihoods, she said. LDR distributed hardship grants to survivors in need of financial assistance following the hurricanes.
"LDR is providing housing for hundreds of volunteers weekly," said Feltman. It has organized a volunteer site in Texas, six volunteer sites in Louisiana, three in Mississippi and two in Alabama.
As LDR continues its commitment to long-term disaster response, LDR must be able to sustain its volunteer efforts, said Feltman. "That means our work is not completed in the 12 months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The church will remain committed to accompanying those impacted by these storms for years to come," she said.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged or destroyed 34,000 units of rental housing along the Mississippi coast, representing 80 percent of the total rental housing stock pre-Hurricane Katrina, Feltman said. In Louisiana, 84,000 rental units were destroyed or suffered major damage. Of the 84,000 units, 88 percent were affordable to low-income homes, she said.
"Our volunteers rebuild thousands of houses, providing skilled labor and building materials. However, these efforts are not necessarily impacting the replacement of rental stock along the devastated coast. We are working closely with our LDR affiliate agency, Lutheran Social Services of the South, and other (entities) to explore how we might work with landowners and landlords to create affordable rental stock and housing," Feltman said.
"LDR has assisted thousands of individuals and families left devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Help and hope is being restored," Feltman said. "Many people have shared with me, 'I had no idea that people who I've never met would come from hundreds of miles away to help us. It gives me hope when I see so many people working in our communities. Thank you.'"
In other work "LDR has sent chaplains to some of the most devastated communities to address many of the spiritual and emotional care issues that arise after such devastating disasters," said Feltman. Lutherans have also volunteered in Camp Noah, a week-long day camp for children recovering from natural disasters. More than 65 camps were held across the church in summer 2006.
LDR's participation in Katrina Aid Today -- a national consortium of social service and volunteer organizations -- has allowed LDR affiliates to hire 158 paid case managers across the Gulf Coast. Case managers advocate for individuals and families in locating additional resources to rebuild lives, she said.
"Please remember those volunteering and those rebuilding their lives after these destructive storms in your prayers," Feltman said. "Many still struggle day to day just to meet their basic needs and the needs of their children," she said.
Worship resources following a natural disaster and resources to acknowledge the one year anniversary of the Gulf Coast hurricanes are available at http://www.ELCA.org/worship/liturgies/Natural%20Disaster.html on the ELCA Web site.
ELCA presiding bishop offers words of thanksgiving for assistance, gifts
"I have witnessed the resilience of ELCA congregations in affected communities, which have confronted the losses in their personal lives while also responding to the outpouring of offers for assistance," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, said in an Aug. 16 letter to congregations and pastors of the ELCA.
The two of the ELCA's 65 synods most affected by the hurricanes, ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston, and ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, "have, in collaboration with social ministry organizations and Lutheran Disaster Response, responded immediately and have continued to minister to the congregations, communities and rostered people (clergy and professional lay ministers) affected by the hurricanes," he said.
"The response from congregations and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to this disaster has been powerful and overwhelming," said Hanson.
"Lutheran volunteers, including 1,100 students from our colleges, universities and campus ministries, have endured grueling, hot work to help repair the homes and communities of Gulf Coast neighbors they might never meet. The need is great, and so I am grateful that many have signed up to volunteer not only in the past year but for years to come," he said.
In the letter Hanson thanked members of the ELCA for their financial gifts, totaling more than $25 million to date. "Your gifts have sufficiently funded a multi-year response plan in the Gulf Coast, which includes bringing help and hope through grants to families and individuals, establishing emergency relief centers, supporting volunteers, and providing spiritual and emotional care for disaster survivors and caregivers," he said.
"Yet even while rejoicing at the abundant generosity of this church, many of us struggle with the painful knowledge that poverty and inequality exacerbated the storms' impact. In addition to the strong winds and rain, the hurricanes shocked many with a glimpse of poverty close to home and underscored the need for a heightened commitment to fighting the 'silent disaster' of chronic hunger and poverty," Hanson said. - - -
Information about Lutheran Disaster Response is at http://www.ldr.org on the Web. The full text of Bishop Hanson's letter is at http://www.ELCA.org/bishop/m_060816letter.html on the ELCA Web site.
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include: ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764 Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522 Credit card gifts via Internet: http://www.ELCA.org/disaster
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog