wfn.org | United Methodists launch long-term 9/11 response

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 19, 2002       News media contact: Linda Bloom7  (212) 870-38037New
York    10-21-71B{174}

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - Using nearly $20 million raised in donations, the
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is launching a long-term plan
to address the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Specific proposals - ranging from the creation of a New York-based program
to assist the secondary victims of the World Trade Center attacks to the
establishment of a field office in Kabul, Afghanistan - were approved by
UMCOR directors during the April 15-18 meeting of the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries, its parent body.

Bishop Lindsey Davis of the Atlanta Area, UMCOR's president, told board
directors that $19.8 million had been raised to date through UMCOR's "Love
in the Midst of Tragedy" Fund. He said he has been "excited and humbled" by
the generosity of United Methodists in the aftermath of the attacks.

"We are committed to long-term recovery," he added. "We have chosen to focus
our attention on those who sometimes fall through the cracks."

John Scibilia, director of the Sept. 11 response for Lutheran Disaster
Relief in the New York area, told Board of Global Ministries directors that,
in general, various organization and funds have continued to assist those
who experienced a loss of life or permanent injury, loss of their residence,
use of their residence or who had mental health needs. 

The gaping hole, Scibilia said, is the "unmet needs of those who have been
economically impacted." For example, at least 75,000 jobs have been lost in
the New York area since September. In addition to lower wage earners, those
seeking help include middle-class workers whose unemployment insurance and
savings have been depleted, he added.

He urged United Methodists to play an active role in local recovery. That is
a key element of UMCOR's plan. But in its response, the relief agency also
is working at the national level, through projects promoting interfaith
dialogue and trauma-response training for those working with children, and
internationally with a focus on the people of Afghanistan.

UMCOR's openness to a global response to the Sept. 11 tragedies impressed
Thomas Kemper, an UMCOR director who lives in Germany. He helped initiate
contact with Diakonie Werk, the main Protestant relief agency in Germany,
which is currently cooperating with a Swiss organization and Turkish agency
to provide emergency relief along the Afghan-Iran border and in Kandahar.
The United Methodist Church in Germany was a founding partner of Diakonie
Werk and UMCOR has committed a total of $500,000 so far for its Afghanistan
project.

Davis told directors that, combined with grants used for the more immediate
response last fall, the adoption of UMCOR's long-term plan brings the total
designated amount to just over $16 million. Remaining funds will be
designated later. Although fine-tuning is expected, "this plan is our
discernment of the direction God would have us go," he said.

UMCOR directors allotted $5 million for the three-year New York program,
"People Centered Long Term Recovery," which the agency considers to be one
of its strengths. The focus is on secondary victims of Sept. 11. 

"Traditionally, it is the role of the faith community to reach out to
special populations, which are more vulnerable to disaster," the project
proposal stated. "These include the elderly, disabled, poor,
non-English-speaking, undocumented, children, single parents or caregivers
and other non-mainstream groups." 

UMCOR's case management program will operate out of a separate office in New
York, rather than at the agency's headquarters at 475 Riverside Dr., and
include a program director, finance director and four social workers as case
managers. To help maintain its relationship with the United Methodist New
York Annual Conference, two conference representatives will be part of the
program's executive committee, along with two UMCOR representatives and one
community member.

Case management also is part of the five-year disaster recovery plan of the
United Methodist Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. With a $4.4 million
grant from UMCOR, the conference will continue to provide pastoral care and
counseling, develop "family coping seminars" and work in coordination with
the New Jersey Interfaith Partnership.

Immigrants and refugees in the United States have faced new problems with
increased restrictions after the terrorist attacks and some have turned to
"Justice For Our Neighbors," an UMCOR immigration project, for assistance. A
$600,000 grant will allow the project to expand its national network of
immigration clinics over the next three years.

On an international level, UMCOR is continuing its efforts to assist
vulnerable and displaced people in Afghanistan and Afghan refugees outside
the country. The largest financial commitment, $1.5 million, will be used to
start a field office in Kabul, Afghanistan. That office will oversee the
agency's programs for returning Afghans to their villages, including housing
and social development projects.

UMCOR has considerable experience with such work in other countries. Current
field offices are located in Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Projects in Turkey and Tajikistan have
just concluded and the offices there are being closed.

Besides cooperating with Diakonie Werk, UMCOR's other ecumenical partner in
the region has been Church World Service. Directors approved another
$400,000 to Church World Service for its work with Afghan refugees in
Pakistan and internally displaced people in Afghanistan. The ecumenical
agency previously had received $150,000 from UMCOR for those programs.

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