Emergency Response News Briefs

October 12, 2006 • Archive

Roundup of Disaster Response and Recovery Liaison (DRRL) Activities

DRRL Joann Hale and UCC Wider Church Ministries Domestic Emergency Response Director Florence Coppola were in New Orleans from October 2-5 meeting with agencies regarding various aspects of the environmental issues in the 2005 hurricane-impacted areas of Louisiana.
Of note were meetings with the newly organizing Peoples Environmental Center that will do soil testing for lead and arsenic in family yards; a Loyola University project that will establish a law clinic; and with Louisiana Environmental Action Network which is helping coordinate a coalition of agencies and individuals to focus on toxicity and landfill issues which affect the rebuilding of communities.
DRRL Heriberto Martinez is presenting a workshop session at the Texas Governor's Volunteer Leadership Conference being held Oct. 11-12 in Houston. The workshop is entitled "Disaster Preparedness in Rural Areas."

Roundup of Current CWS Shipments

CWS has shipped 5,000 lightweight blankets, with a value of $25,000, to the Mississippi Presbytery, Presbyterian Church (USA), for use by the presbytery and local distribution centers to families who remain in trailers because their homes are still not rebuilt or repaired following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. The presbytery, which covers the lower two-thirds of the state of Mississippi, is based in an area of the state that also has an estimated homeless population of at least 5,000 persons. The blankets will also be used to assist some of the local homeless, as well.
CWS has shipped 2,000 CWS logo blankets, 5,750 lightweight blankets and 1,035 CWS Health Kits to Christian Care, a partner in Zimbabwe, to assist in responding to Zimbabwe’s ongoing humanitarian problems.

Upcoming ITRT Trainings Announced

A reminder that Church World Service's Interfaith Trauma Response Training (ITRT) program is holding workshops in Selma, Ala., Oct. 23-24 and in Gautier and Gulfport, Miss., Oct. 26 and 27, respectively.

Balkans - Shelter Construction Agreement Finalized

During a recent visit to Bosnia and Serbia, CWS Emergency Response Program Director Donna Derr and CWS-Balkans staff members Vitali Vorona and Teo Jakic participated in a meeting with representatives from the Croatian Government and the Bosnia-Herzegovina Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, where an agreement was finalized for a partnership that will allow for the construction of 88 homes for returnee families. This will be an $1,553,000 project which begins immediately.