wfn.org | Lutheran Social Services Gets $24.3 Million to Help Hurricane Survivors

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

Title: Lutheran Social Services Gets $24.3 Million to Help Hurricane Survivors
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>May 28, 2009  

Lutheran Social Services Gets $24.3 Million to Help Hurricane Survivors
09-124-MRC/KK*

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The disaster response program of Lutheran
Social Services of the South, Inc. (LSS), Austin, Texas, received
a $24.3 million grant to provide case management services to more
than 13,000 survivors of Hurricane Ike.  The survivors live in 16
counties of the state devastated by the hurricane in the fall of
2008.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency
Management Agency, administered by the Texas Health and Human
Services Commission, awarded the grant in May to Lutheran Social
Services Disaster Response.  It also awarded a separate grant of
$331,000 to LSS Disaster Response for training case workers in 34
counties.

"We are humbled by the opportunity to once again provide
much needed services to disaster victims, especially those who
have the least resources as they work toward rebuilding their
lives," said Kurt M. Senske, LSS president and CEO.

"This is an excellent opportunity to take the lessons
learned after Hurricane Katrina to work shoulder-to-shoulder with
survivors and help them get back on their feet as quickly as
possible," Senske said.

Case management services for hurricane survivors will begin
in June.  Case managers and representatives from local partner
agencies work together with hurricane survivors to assess needs
and to develop realistic, concrete recovery plans for affected
families, according to an LSS news release.

The LSS Disaster Response case management program, called
"Recovery for Ike Survivors Enterprise (RISE)," is designed to
support and advocate for more than 13,000 survivors of the
hurricane.

Case management services through RISE are available from a
network of nine local agencies in 16 counties of southeast Texas.
LSS Disaster Response and its partner agencies will work closely
with local government officials, community organizations and
others involved in hurricane relief efforts to match families in
need with goods and services.

"Case managers provide assistance in navigating the complex
bureaucracy in disaster response and, at the same, they offer
emotional support and a listening ear," said the Rev. Kevin A.
Massey, director, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR).  LDR is a
collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  LSS is an
affiliate of LDR.

"LSS has really distinguished itself in providing the
highest quality disaster case management services," Massey said.
LSS was "a valued partner in the Katrina Aid Today Case
Management Consortium, in which Lutheran Disaster Response took
part.  We are really proud that the Lutheran social ministry
expertise in providing human service ministry in disaster
response is being recognized in this way."

Following Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf
Coast in 2005, LSS Disaster Response worked with more than 10,600
families in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi to develop recovery
plans and access more than $6.8 million in resources.
- - -

Information about Lutheran Social Services of the South is
at http://www.LSSS.org on the Web.

Katherine Kerr is vice president for public relations at Lutheran
Social Services of the South.

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