August 29, 2006
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Bells tolled in New Orleans this morning, marking the moment one year ago when New Orleans' levees buckled and unleashed a torrent of water that ripped homes from their foundations and sent the city into an uncertain future. The horrific images of human suffering and the overwhelming destruction along the Gulf Coast remain with us a year later.
In the days following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I watched our Lutheran Disaster Response network respond with compassion and grace, offering help and hope to survivors as well as to their caregivers. The scale and scope of this disaster challenged even the most experienced of disaster responders. Circumstances drove our response in ways not foreseen. We made mistakes along the way, but through our mistakes we learned about ourselves and what we are capable of in the future. Tens of thousands have been helped while thousands more are waiting for assistance. We will continue to accompany those still in need * this is what long-term recovery is all about.
Our national network demonstrated an amazing agility. Twenty of our LDR affiliates responded to the call to assist survivors as they were displaced to cities and towns unfamiliar to them. Many persons responded by reaching out to their new neighbors in need, and we all became witnesses to a foot-washing on a scale never seen before!
Volunteers are essential in our response work. College students, retirees, skilled laborers, medical personnel, retired military and many who have never volunteered before have traveled to the Gulf Coast. Survivors share with me regularly, “I had no idea that someone I don’t know would travel hundreds of miles just to help me. I am hopeful that we will make it through this!”
Case management is also a crucial component of our response work. Our affiliates are well-trained in offering a case management program where survivors decide what they need rather than having to follow a set of rules in order to receive services. Our case managers are advocates * assisting individuals and families in identifying their needs and helping them to navigate paperwork and various systems.
LDR is privileged to be one of nine national organizations participating in the Katrina Aid Today (KAT) program, a case management consortium administered by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Our 158 KAT case manager’s help survivors wade through the system and avail themselves of federal and local resources. Trained on the FEMA sequence of delivery, case mangers assess if all available federal dollars have been granted and present additional options in assisting survivors to achieve their goals.
As our response work continues, a main priority is to coordinate a legislative effort to keep the needs and concerns of the poor and vulnerable in the forefront of our legislators and our society. People around the world experience disasters daily, both natural and human-caused. Today as we remember our continued work and commitment to the recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast, let us also remember the rest of humanity impacted by tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria.
My thanks to the thousands of donors who make our response possible and allow us to maintain a Lutheran presence on the Gulf Coast. In addition, I want to thank the thousands of volunteers who have traveled to the Gulf Coast, bringing help and hope to those communities as they rebuild their lives. Hope is being re-birthed and healing is taking place. These are the signs of God’s blessings in every day recovery.
Thanks be to God for all of you!
Heather L. Feltman
Executive Director, Lutheran Disaster Response
Director, ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
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