wfn.org | United Methodists to help rebuild flooded homes in Georgia

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 30, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York    {266}

By Bob Blair*

ALBANY, Ga. (UMNS) - United Methodists are taking up hammers and saws
the weekend of May 2 in a million-dollar recovery project to rebuild
some 60 area homes damaged by February floods.

Work teams will start arriving May 1, according to Kaye Voth, director
of United Methodist flood recovery. They will come from Albany,
Americus, Columbus and Savannah in Georgia, as well as the Western North
Carolina Annual (regional) Conference.

"We have firm commitments from various United Methodist disaster teams
to help rebuild houses on a schedule that takes us into the summer,"
Voth said. "By the time we are finished, which may take two years, we
expect that more than 2,500 volunteers will have participated.

"For generations, Americans have helped their neighbors build houses and
raise barns," she added. "This recovery effort is simply an extension of
our tradition of helping people."

Both the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the South
Georgia United Methodist Annual Conference have been raising funds to
pay for building materials.

The effort will help people who are not getting assistance from the
federal government or elsewhere.

"Basically, we are finding that those needing help are the elderly and
handicapped because they do not have the capability of repaying the
federal loans," Voth explained.

A work team of four to 10 people will be assigned to do the necessary
repairs at each house. That work often will include building new
flooring and walls, she said.

An estimated 51 homes will be rebuilt at an average value of  $20,000
each. Another 10 homeowners, who are able to perform their own labor,
will each receive building materials valued at $2,200.

Previously, United Methodists provided free cleanup supplies to
residents of 739 flooded dwellings and dispensed tons of supplies
through 12 organizations. Some supplies were donated and the rest were
purchased, at a cost of $36,000.

Most volunteer teams will work in Albany only on weekends, but groups
from North Carolina and Michigan have committed teams for two-week
cycles, according to Voth.

For information on volunteering, call Voth, at 1-800-806-6631. 

Donations for the relief work, earmarked for Advance No. 982328-6, South
Georgia Floods, can be given through local churches or mailed directly
to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. 

# # # 

*Blair, of  Woodstock, Va., is a volunteer with UMCOR.
	

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