[StBernard] Newsline: Brethren Executive Committee visits disaster relief in the Gulf

[Westley Annis]

Newsline: Brethren Executive Committee visits disaster relief in the Gulf

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>From "COBNews Newsline" <cobnews at brethren.org>

Date Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:52:08 -0600


Title: Brethren Executive Committee visits disaster relief in the Gulf March
2, 2007 Church of the Brethren News Service Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News
Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews at brethren.org

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VISITS DISASTER RELIEF SITES IN
GULF COAST

(March 2, 2007) Elgin, IL -- The Executive Committee of the Church of the
Brethren General Board, and three staff members visited projects related to
the denomination's Emergency Response ministries in the Gulf Coast region on
Feb. 15-17.

Committee members included chair Jeff Neuman-Lee, vice-chair Tim Harvey,
Dale Minnich, Vickie Whitacre Samland, Ken Wenger, and Angela Lahman Yoder;
staff members included Emergency Response director Roy Winter and associate
director Zach Wolgemuth, as well as Becky Ullom, director of Identity and
Relations, who provided this report.

In New Orleans, the group visited a Disaster Child Care project located at
FEMA's Welcome Home Center. The center provides citizens with access to many
types of storm-related aid in one location. While parents complete
paperwork, apply for loans, or receive counseling, their children can safely
play under the care of certified Disaster Child Care volunteers. Disaster
Child Care is a Church of the Brethren ministry.

The group also travelled through the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, where
the flood following Hurricane Katrina left few buildings standing. Of those
left, many had floated off their foundations and settled askew. Several
brick churches remained, but doors and windows were chained shut. One pastor
had spray painted his cell phone number on the building so that his
congregants could reach him. There were few signs of recovery.

The tour continued in Pearl River, La., where a modular home will soon be
placed on its foundation by Brethren Disaster Response. In earlier planning,
following the widespread destruction of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, staff
had hoped to be able to expand the program by building modular homes in
other parts of the country and then transporting them to the Gulf. But
strict building codes and other legalities have rendered that concept
unworkable at this time, the Executive Committee learned.

That evening, the group fellowshiped with Brethren Disaster Response
volunteers before spending the night in FEMA trailers. "For one night, it
was adequate, but for a longterm location for a family, it just wouldn't cut
it," reflected Lahman Yoder. "The rebuilding projects have to go faster so
that people can get back into their homes and start to live again," she
said.

In Chalmette, La., the church leaders gained a glimpse into another Brethren
Disaster Response rebuilding project. Currently, a team of volunteers is
rebuilding the home of Ron Richardson. His home is located in St. Bernard
Parish, and is one of 27,000 homes destroyed in the area.

Before the storm, St. Bernard Parish had a population of 66,000; only
6,000-12,000 people have returned since the disaster. "It's shocking because
these are people who had 'done it right,'" said Liz McCartney, co-founder of
the St. Bernard Project, a partner organization. "They worked hard, they
owned their homes, and many had insurance. Fifty percent of the population
was retired. The median household income was $30,000 before the storm, and
the crime rate was low."

Later in the same day, the Executive Committee celebrated hope and recovery
at a house dedication in Lucedale, Miss. Brethren volunteers, in cooperation
with numerous ecumenical volunteers, completed a house for Mrs. Gloria
Bradley, who had survived not only the loss of a house but also two heart
attacks and as many strokes.

On the final day of the trip, participants traveled to Florida to visit with
staff from Rebuild Northwest Florida, the longterm recovery committee in the
Pensacola area.

"The destruction is just so widespread," said Dale Minnich, who volunteered
with the response project in Chalmette for a few days prior to the Executive
Committee's visit. "It makes me think about how this compares to something
like the devastation after World War II in Europe, where so much response
was required. It seems like to reclaim this area, a huge response is
required."

Harvey, who pastors Central Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, Va.,
reflected on the situation in the Gulf Coast at the congregation's Ash
Wednesday service. "We must be disciples who use their talents to help
rebuild homes, lives, communities, not just in New Orleans, but everywhere,"
he commented. "We must make disciples who will do the same. The central
issue, we must use our voice and position and circumstances to advocate for
those who cannot."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist
faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It
celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members
across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister
churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

# # # 

For more information contact: 

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren
General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260
cobnews at brethren.org