wfn.org | Lutheran Compass Center Struggles in Earthquake Aftermath

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 18, 2001

LUTHERAN COMPASS CENTER STRUGGLES IN EARTHQUAKE AFTERMATH
01-093-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since 1920 the Lutheran Compass Center in
Seattle's historic Pioneer Square district has provided for the basic
needs and emergency care of transients and people without homes.  A
Feb. 28 earthquake did more than $2.5 million worth of damage to the
center and made it unusable as a community service facility.
     The brick building is more than 100 years old, said Rick
Friedhoff, the center's executive director.  The five-story building
plus basement is "twisted" and has "good-sized cracks" around the
north side of the building, he said.  "You can see daylight through
these cracks."  The chapel is the only part of the building that
hasn't seen some form of damage, he said.
     The Compass Center provided long-term shelter -- up to 6 months
-- for 76 men at the time of the earthquake, said Friedhoff.  The men
have been displaced to area Lutheran churches, the Salvation Army and
Bread of Life mission.
     The center provided a number of services which have been
suspended, he said. "This building has been a tremendous service."
The center provided nine free meals each week, with 250 people at
each meal.
     A hygiene center in the basement -- bathrooms, showers and
laundry -- received 5,000 visits per month.  Friedhoff said the
basement was always full to capacity while it was open -- 12 hours
per day, Monday through Saturday, and 6 hours on Sunday.
     The center operated a bank "set up just to serve poor people,"
said Friedhoff.  It managed 1,200 savings accounts and served as
"representative payee" for 125 people with permanent disabilities.
     The bank would receive social security disability payments and
pay the recipient's rent and utility bills.  The balance would be
given to the recipient on a daily basis as "walking around money," he
said, otherwise the recipient would be an easy target for robbery.
     "The cost to repair and the cost to rebuild are about the
same," said Friedhoff.
     Since the building is in a historic district, the city
government wants the building to be repaired, he said.  Because the
building is more than a century old and in a historic district, built
on loose soil, earthquake insurance premiums were too expensive for
the Compass Center, he said.
     Friedhoff said he hopes that the Federal Emergency Management
Agency will provide 75 percent of the money needed for repairs, and
the city is backing the center in seeking those funds.  "We have
tremendous support from the Seattle community and from the faith
community in particular," he said.
     A capital campaign will raise the other 25 percent, said
Friedhoff.  The $750,000 will be used to repair and refurnish the
center, he said.  Several grant applications have been submitted, he
said.  "All those systems are in the works."
     Contributions from Seattle businesses and from Lutheran
Brotherhood, a fraternal benefits society based in Minneapolis,
helped the Compass Center "shore up" the building, said Friedhoff.
It took $138,000 to reinforce the building with plywood, timbers and
cable "to keep it from falling down while we figure out how to fix
it," he said.
     "The center sustained substantial damage from the Ash Wednesday
earthquake," said Norene N. Goplen, disaster advisor in Idaho, Oregon
and Washington for Lutheran Disaster Response, Portland, Ore.  "It
was necessary to make emergency repairs to stabilize the building and
to make it safe for traffic, future construction and restoration.
     Staff of Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), is assessing the earthquake's damage
through Lutheran Family Service of Oregon and Southwest Washington
and Lutheran Social Services of Washington and Idaho.
     "The earthquake was the strongest to hit the area since 1949.
Thousands were evacuated during the earthquake, which lasted less
than a minute," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director for Lutheran
Disaster Response, Chicago.
     "There is recognition that new needs will continue to arise as
assessments continue," Furst said.
     The Lutheran Compass Center is affiliated with the ELCA and is
a member of Lutheran Services in America (LSA).  The center's work is
supported by many of the Lutheran congregations in Seattle, said Ruth
A. Reko, LSA director for leadership development, ELCA Division for
Church in Society, Chicago.
     Based in St. Paul, Minn., LSA is an alliance of the ELCA, the
LCMS and their 280 social ministry organizations.  It forms a
national network of social service and long-term care programs
serving people, regardless of their religion.

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or
the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL  60694-1764
800-638-3522

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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