wfn.org | UMCOR plans projects for Turkey earthquake victims

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

Jan. 6, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-71B{008}

NEW YORK (UMNS) -- The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is
undertaking three new rehabilitation projects to assist earthquake victims
in Turkey.

Agency directors are expected to allot $900,000 for the Turkey projects,
said UMCOR executive Wendy Whiteside on Jan. 5.

United Methodists have been working with Action by Churches Together (ACT)
in the area around Izmit, the city at the epicenter of the Aug. 17
earthquake that killed more than 17,000 people. Lianna Vanoyan, a senior
program officer in UMCOR's Washington office, said work is beginning to move
from the emergency relief to rehabilitation phase.

An emergency mobile shelter project in the municipality of Adapazari is
under way, according to Vanoyan. The program will provide 192 winterized
housing units, serving about 960 people.

The second project involves renovation of the Karamursel School for the
Deaf, a government-supported school in Yalova Province. The school's
population includes 80 students, ages 7 to 18. "We're also equipping the
school and doing a disaster preparedness program," Vanoyan said.

A social rehabilitation project, based in Golcuk, will assist about 1,200
women and 360 children and youth. Four centers for women and three centers
for children and youth will provide counseling, training, vocational
support, recreational opportunities and other services.

Financial contributions to UMCOR's work in Turkey can be designated to UMCOR
Advance No. 675205-6 and dropped in church collection plates or mailed
directly to 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card
donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.

# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns