Title: Brethren Disaster Response opens fourth Katrina recovery project Feb. 1, 2007 Church of the Brethren News Service Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
BRETHREN DISASTER RESPONSE OPENS FOURTH KATRINA RECOVERY PROJECT
(Feb. 1, 2007) Elgin, IL -- Brethren Disaster Response has announced the opening of a fourth active Hurricane Katrina recovery project as of Feb. 11. This project will be based in Chalmette, La., in St. Bernard Parish.
Brethren Disaster Response is a ministry of the Church of the Brethren General Board. The program's three other Katrina recovery projects are located in Pearl River, La.; Lucedale, Miss.; and McComb, Miss. Disaster Child Care, another disaster-focused Church of the Brethren ministry, also is working at a FEMA "Welcome Home Center" in New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina caused levee failures that inundated homes throughout St. Bernard Parish with six to twenty feet of water for more than two weeks, reported Brethren Disaster Response coordinator Jane Yount. More than 200 parish residents lost their lives, and 100 percent of the homes were officially declared uninhabitable. Nearly 50 percent of the residents were senior citizens.
Brethren Disaster Response is coordinating efforts with the St. Bernard Project, a local all-volunteer organization. The city has taken care of demolishing houses and clearing debris. Volunteers will do major repair work including insulation, drywall, laminate flooring, plumbing, electric repairs, and roofing, to allow residents to get back into their homes.
The St. Bernard Project has obtained seven trailers on loan from FEMA for housing for the Brethren volunteers and project directors; trailers are located in a trailer community of Katrina survivors. Project directors who will open the project are Ken and LouElla Imhoff, with Phil and Joan Taylor assisting. The work crew for the first week will come from Mid-Atlantic District of the Church of the Brethren, along with members of the Executive Committee of the Church of the Brethren General Board.
For more about Brethren Disaster Response go to www.brethren.org/genbd/ersm/DisasterResponse.htm.
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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