HOTLINE - week of September 12, 2005

As the nation begins to understand the true scope of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Church World Service is helping to address the hurricane's damage to both lives and communities across the Gulf Coast.

To date, CWS has provided more than $300,000 in donated material assistance to shelters in the affected areas. Included are 18,100 CWS Blankets; 14,335 "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits; 1,000 "Gift of the Heart" School Kits; and 500 CWS Heart-to-Heart Kids Kits. CWS is also providing 20 Interchurch Medical Assistance Medicine Boxes to Louisiana, that combined contain essential medicines and antibiotics to treat some 20,000 people for up to three months. UNICEF is providing CWS with school and recreation supplies for distribution as well – a sign of the international community’s commitment to help the U.S. rebound from this tragedy. Additional CWS shipments are currently being planned.

Church World Service Disaster Response and Recovery Liaisons are actively working in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas to support and help formulate the long-term responses to this extraordinary disaster. They and senior CWS staff will work closely with the leadership of state councils/conferences of churches in their efforts, particularly in relation to anticipated relocation activities. CWS estimates that as many as 25 recovery organizations may be developed in response to Katrina’s devastation.

CWS will also utilize several of its resettlement affiliate offices across the United States to support the relocation of some 500 displaced people, roughly 165 families, over an initial period of three months.

Spiritual and emotional care will be another primary concern in the coming months and years. CWS will be offering local faith leaders: 1) Interfaith Trauma Response Training that helps equip them for care within their communities and self care for themselves; and 2) trauma care through its Spiritual and Emotional Care Response via a team of specially-trained counselors. Both programs were developed after the September 11 disaster.

Please visit our website at www.churchworldservice.org for answers to frequently asked questions about CWS Katrina response.

The best way to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina is cash donations. CWS is urgently seeking additional funds to assist families devastated by Hurricane Katrina – contributions may be made online or by calling 800-297-1516. "Gift of the Heart" Kits – especially School Kits and Health Kits – are also needed.

As of this writing (9/9), the forecasted possibility of Tropical Storm Ophelia hitting the U.S. coast appears to be receding, but some National Hurricane Center forecast models still show Ophelia returning to make landfall as a hurricane sometime next week. CWS will respond to possible future emergency needs caused by Ophelia as the storm’s path and strength continue to unfold.

STAR (Strategies on Trauma Awareness and Resilience), a joint program begun by Church World Service in cooperation with Eastern Mennonite University’s Conflict and Transformation Program in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, will hold a day of remembrance on Saturday, September 10, in New York City. The event will include workshops and activities focusing on healing after tragedy and disaster.

"Through STAR NYC trainings, leaders and caregivers can develop a deeper understanding of what trauma is and how it affects individuals, groups, and communities," says CWS's Executive Director Rev. John L. McCullough. "They can … recognize and address compassion fatigue within themselves, and build skills to find healing paths after traumatic events."

STAR trainings are now also held internationally. Similar trauma recovery trainings will be offered as part of the CWS Hurricane Katrina recovery response.

September 16 has been declared a national day of prayer in remembrance of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Please join Church World Service and people of faith across the U.S. in prayerful remembrance of those the storm took, and in a looking toward the future with trust in God’s mercy and love to help the survivors rebuild and heal.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

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