wfn.org | [ENS] Hurricane relief strategy outlined as Executive Council meeting

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Hurricane relief strategy outlined as Executive Council meeting opens

By Mary Frances Schjonberg

ENS 100805-1

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church is committed to
accompanying
the people of the Gulf Coast over the coming years as they recover from
hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

That was the message Church Center staff members involved in the relief
efforts told the Executive Council as it began its fall meeting in Las
Vegas
October 7.

"That's really the operative word today: long term," said Robert Radtke,
president of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD).

The staff members reported on the church's efforts up until now. They
also
explained the goals of "We Will Stand With You," the new name for an
effort
that began immediately after Hurricane Katrina to assess the needs of
those
hit by the storms and to coordinate ways of meeting those needs.

Those efforts began with simply fielding all the offers of help. The
dioceses on the Gulf Coast, staffers said, initially felt overwhelmed
with
the offers of help.

"When people want to help, they want to help right now," said Episcopal
Migration Ministries (EMM) director C. Richard Parkins.

"The heart of this church is huge and people really wanted to help,"
said
the Rev. Jan Nunley, deputy for communication, one of the departments
involved in the coordinating effort.

Church Center staff members acknowledged that some people and
organizations
have felt frustrated in past weeks as their offers of help were met with
requests that they put those offers on hold. Gulf Coast dioceses were
asking
that people put their desires to help "in escrow," Nunley said, while
they
assessed what they needed next.

Many of the offers of help came from congregations and dioceses that
already
had relationships with their counterparts on the Gulf Coast. Those
offers
are wonderful, Nunley said, but they need to be augmented with
deliberate
coordination so that all areas receive aid and not just those with such
previous relationships.

The Rt. Rev. George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, who
proposed
the title for the coordinating effort, has called for the effort to be
an
"enduring" and "relational" one, centered in Christ and grounded in
prayer,
Nunley explained.

Packard is concerned that congregations and individuals keep their own
dioceses apprised of their efforts to help the affected dioceses, as a
way
of building "an accurate inventory of help."

"We Will Stand With You" has four phases, Nunley said. The first
involves
determining who needs help and who is offering help. That phase is
currently
underway. The second phase will involve matching those two groups. The
actual work of those matches will begin in the third phase. Evaluation
every
10 days and improvement is the last phase.

Church agencies have already responded to the destruction and
dislocation
caused by the storms, and some matching of needs with assistance have
already happened.

EMM's Parkins told the council that his office is in the midst of that
work.
EMM staff members have talked with people in 56 dioceses and 166
parishes
about their offers of help. They are talking both to dislocated people
and
parishes offering to house people in an effort to help everyone
understand
what sort of relationship and time commitment is involved.

ERD's Radtke said the disaster on the Gulf Coast is an "open situation;
it's
an ongoing crisis." He outlined four stages of disaster response. The
first
happens in the first three months following the disaster. It involves
meeting basic needs such as food, housing and pastoral care.
This is the current phase, he said, and ERD is helping dioceses to meet
those needs while it helps the dioceses improve their capacities to
help.
That effort included finding local experts and, in some cases, helping
the
dioceses hire them to begin their response to the disaster.

The widespread destruction caused by the hurricanes created some
unprecedented challenges. In the case of the Diocese of Louisiana, one
of
the challenges was the sheer destruction the diocese suffered. Radtke
told
the council that when he walked into Louisiana Bishop Charles Jenkins'
temporary office in Baton Rouge days after Katrina, the bishop told him
he
felt like "a deer caught in the headlights."

"I said I am here to stand with you in the headlights," he said.

Parkins, during his presentation, spoke of EMM's offer of a relationship
to
those in need, rather than material assistance only. That relationship
promises to help people through red tape and more. It is a promise "to
enter
into your suffering with you," he said.

The second stage of relief work, Radtke said, is a time of supplying
technical support to the affected area. For instance, water in New
Orleans
is still unsafe to drink, so ERD has helped the diocese of Louisiana set
up
a water-purification plant at Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans,
according to Radtke.

The cathedral also announced October 7 that it has opened its doors as a
distribution center for personal hygiene products, bottled water,
household
cleaning supplies and rubber gloves.

During this time, the church's relief efforts also try to address the
future. "We are trying to plant the seeds so that the diocese has a seat
at
the table" as decisions are made about rebuilding New Orleans, Radtke
told
the council.

Six to eight months after the disaster is the third stage of relief,
during
which, Radtke said, victims of the storms will face the end of much of
their
initial aid and will come back to religious groups for more help. They
will
need case managers who can help them navigate through the next stage of
government and private-agency relief programs.

The last stage of relief efforts can last as long as five years after a
disaster, Radtke said. He predicted health issues will arise among
survivors
and aid workers. Some businesses will need what he called
"micro-financing"
to resume their work.

All of this requires funding and "it's not in any of our budgets to do
relief work" on this scale, Nunley reminded the council.

Parkins said after his council briefing that EMM and other faith-based
agencies are pushing to have the federal government use its expertise
and
release money to pay for the work.

"The Episcopal Church was there first and I know if the federal
government
doesn't come through, the Episcopal Church will still do this," he said.

He said that it is a matter of scale. It would take about $1 billion to
do
the work the agencies envision.

-- Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for Episcopal News
Service.

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