Newsline: EDF announces grants, new disaster project to start in Alabama

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

EDF announces grants, new disaster project to start in Alabama

(Nov. 17, 2011) Elgin, IL - The Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) of the Church of 
the Brethren has announced a number of grants. One is funding start-up of a new 
Brethren Disaster Ministries project site in northeast Alabama, in the area of 
Arab.

An EDF allocation of $30,000 provides funding to start a disaster rebuilding 
site in Arab, struck by a tornado during the "2011 Super Outbreak." The largest 
and most destructive tornado outbreak ever recorded on April 25-28 spawned 336 
tornadoes in 21 states, claiming 346 lives. The tornado in the Arab area was an 
EF4 (winds up to 200 miles per hour) and was on the ground for 50 miles. 
Numerous homes were affected.

Brethren Disaster Ministries has been invited to serve in Arab by repairing and 
rebuilding homes, working closely with a local long-term recovery group. The 
Brethren Disaster Ministries caseload includes 12 roof repairs and the building 
of two new homes, with more cases likely to be identified as work begins. The 
project site is expected to be active at the end of November. 

An EDF grant of $30.000 continues support for a Tennessee flood recovery 
project of Brethren Disaster Ministries in Cheatham County and surrounding 
areas. A $19,000 grant continues support for a related project site in 
Brentwood, Tenn. 

In May 2010, devastating floods caused widespread damage to Nashville and 
surrounding counties. Thousands were left homeless as dozens of trailer home 
parks were completely destroyed, and neighborhoods of traditional homes flooded 
up to the roofline. Many were not in identified flood plains and, as a 
consequence, flood insurance coverage was minimal. 

In January, Brethren Disaster Ministries established a project in Ashland City, 
Tenn., to serve flood-affected residents in Cheatham County. This project is 
expected to continue through early spring 2012. Working closely with the county 
longterm recovery committee, Brethren have completed building two new homes, 
are in process of a third, and have worked on 14 other homes with varied 
degrees of repair or reconstruction. This project will take on two new 
buildings started by the Brentwood, Tenn., site as that project closes later 
this fall. To date more than 3,500 volunteer work days have been given serving 
the needs in Cheatham County.

Brethren Disaster Ministries established the Brentwood project outside of 
Nashville in June. Working closely with local long-term recovery organizations, 
volunteers have been doing mostly repair work in the Bellevue area, mainly for 
families still in need of permanent housing more than a year after the floods. 
Plans are to close this project before the end of the year. Volunteers giving 
at least 1,000 workdays have completed 26 repair jobs so far. 

An EDF grant of $25,000 has been given following heavy rains, flooding, and 
landslides in Central America. The grant supports partners in El Salvador and 
Honduras who are providing emergency aid and helping with long-term recovery 
for the most vulnerable displaced families. The amount of $10,000 is going to 
Proyecto Aldea Global in Honduras, and $6,000 to Emmanuel Baptist Church in El 
Salvador. The remaining $9,000 will be transferred based on effectiveness of 
each partner's relief work and program focused on long-term recovery.

An EDF grant of $3,000 completes funding for the work of Children's Disaster 
Services in Joplin following the EF 5 tornado that devastated the town on May 
22. The CDS response in Joplin, where teams of volunteers worked in FEMA 
Disaster Recovery Centers as well as with the American Red Cross, over-spent 
its initial grant.

For more about the work of the Emergency Disaster Fund go to 
www.brethren.org/edf. 

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 celebrated its 300th anniversary in 
2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, 
and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican 
Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org