wfn.org | Lutheran Social Ministry Groups Discuss Post-Sept. 11 Responses

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 24, 2002

LUTHERAN SOCIAL MINISTRY GROUPS DISCUSS POST-SEPTEMBER 11 RESPONSES
02-098-KK/JB

     WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Representatives from social ministry
organizations in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., met in an
open forum to discuss how Lutheran social ministry organizations have
been involved in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The session was part of the Lutheran Services in America (LSA) annual
conference here April 10-12.
     LSA is an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and affiliated human service
organizations offering social services to children and families, older
people, and people with disabilities.  Together the organizations
provide $6.9 billion in services in nearly 3,000 communities each year.
     The conference theme was "Joined at the Heart: Lifting Our Voices
for Hope and Change." About 400 people attended.
     "Stories are told as though today was Sept.11 in the New York
area," said John Scibilia, Lutheran Disaster Response/New York
coordinator.  Social service providers there are facing increased demand
on existing services and are pulling together resources and expertise to
address needs.  For example, Lutheran Social Services of Metro New York
has 22 food sites which have been inundated with an increase in demand
since Sept.11, he said.
     "Pastors in churches are getting calls from people who have been
unable to maneuver through the system," said Christine Connell, Project
Life.  The project is operated by Lutheran Family and Community Services
in New York and offers case management services to individuals needing
access to resources since Sept. 11.
     "Project Life began small, but now we carry 100 cases with a
waiting list of 800, "she said.  A team of volunteers calls people on
the waiting list on a weekly basis to assure individuals that they are
not forgotten.
     "People say, 'I just want my life to be normal,' but that's not
going to happen.  We try to help them find some level of comfort, safety
and security where they can function and redirect their energies to be
proactive," said Connell.
     Connell anticipates another chapter in the experience of social
ministry providers in metropolitan New York in the near future.  "The
proposed close of the World Trade Center site is scheduled for June, but
many have not done a closure process," Connell said.  "I think we'll see
a huge upheaval in the community, as the site goes from a recovery
operation to a burial ground."
     Also in the works are "New Ground" day camps, being planned in
several locations in the metropolitan New York and New Jersey areas to
help children reestablish a sense of security.  Adapting a model
currently used by the "Camp Noah" program of Lutheran Disaster Response,
the New Ground camps will help children process their feelings and fears
following the disaster, and give them an emotional break from the
strains of recovery through play and recreation.
     "As you go further out of the city, Sept. 11 is more 'past tense.'
It is like concentric circles," said Doug Oberreit, vice president of
community services, Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey (LSM/NJ).
He noted that new tensions are surfacing as the long-term impact of lost
jobs and lost homes are realized.
     "We're starting to see acting-out behaviors in school," Oberreit
said. "This has affected people who are not used to using a social
services system.  Many have no idea how to reach out.  There's a lot of
denial and avoidance.  But they're not able to handle it alone."  LSM/NJ
is also attentive to caring for caregivers, offering services to
overworked pastors, he said.
     The issues in the capital area are different following the
terrorist attack against the Pentagon.
     "The military takes care of their own.  By Sept. 11 this year,
they will move into the Pentagon as if that hadn't happened," said the
Rev. D. Mark Cooper, executive director, Lutheran Social Services of the
National Capital Area (LSS/NCA).   "There was a real sense of
frustration in this city of wanting but not being able to be involved.
The infrastructure was not in place."
     The work of LSS/NCA is responding to the economic impact of Sept.
11 in the region.  "Tourism has been tremendously impacted.  We've gone
from a full house to no house," said Cooper.  "Those are the folks we
work with   the working poor, the immigrants."
-- -- --
     * Karen S. Krueger is communication coordinator for the ELCA
Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod

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