ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 23, 2006  

Lutheran Volunteers Continue to Make a Difference One Year After Hurricanes
06-128-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma
struck the U.S. Gulf Coast nearly one year ago 15,000 volunteers
have logged 600,000 hours of service, worth an estimated $10.5
million of rebuilding work.  These volunteers worked on behalf of
Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) to rebuild homes and communities
in hurricane-devastated areas.  LDR is a ministry of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-
Missouri Synod.
     The 2005 hurricane season included 26 named storms, 13 of
which were hurricanes that caused an insured loss of more than
$47 billion, according to LDR.  The most powerful of these storms
were Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which caused widespread
damage throughout Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and
Texas.
     A year later ELCA Domestic Disaster Response and LDR remain
in the recovery phase, said Heather L. Feltman, director of LDR
and ELCA Domestic Disaster Response.  Coordinating long-term
responses with other faith-based and community disaster partners,
LDR continues to provide spiritual and emotional care to
survivors and caregivers, coordinate volunteer efforts, and
secure long-term case management for survivors who have lost
their homes and livelihoods, she said.  LDR distributed hardship
grants to survivors in need of financial assistance following the
hurricanes.
     "LDR is providing housing for hundreds of volunteers
weekly," said Feltman.  It has organized a volunteer site in
Texas, six volunteer sites in Louisiana, three in Mississippi and
two in Alabama.
     As LDR continues its commitment to long-term disaster
response, LDR must be able to sustain its volunteer efforts, said
Feltman.  "That means our work is not completed in the 12 months
after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The church will remain
committed to accompanying those impacted by these storms for
years to come," she said.
     Hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged or destroyed 34,000
units of rental housing along the Mississippi coast, representing
80 percent of the total rental housing stock pre-Hurricane
Katrina, Feltman said.  In Louisiana, 84,000 rental units were
destroyed or suffered major damage.  Of the 84,000 units, 88
percent were affordable to low-income homes, she said.
     "Our volunteers rebuild thousands of houses, providing
skilled labor and building materials.  However, these efforts are
not necessarily impacting the replacement of rental stock along
the devastated coast.  We are working closely with our LDR
affiliate agency, Lutheran Social Services of the South, and
other (entities) to explore how we might work with landowners and
landlords to create affordable rental stock and housing," Feltman
said.
     "LDR has assisted thousands of individuals and families left
devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Help and hope is
being restored," Feltman said.  "Many people have shared with me,
'I had no idea that people who I've never met would come from
hundreds of miles away to help us.  It gives me hope when I see
so many people working in our communities.  Thank you.'"
     In other work "LDR has sent chaplains to some of the most
devastated communities to address many of the spiritual and
emotional care issues that arise after such devastating
disasters," said Feltman.  Lutherans have also volunteered in
Camp Noah, a week-long day camp for children recovering from
natural disasters.  More than 65 camps were held across the
church in summer 2006.
     LDR's participation in Katrina Aid Today -- a national
consortium of social service and volunteer organizations -- has
allowed LDR affiliates to hire 158 paid case managers across the
Gulf Coast.  Case managers advocate for individuals and families
in locating additional resources to rebuild lives, she said.
     "Please remember those volunteering and those rebuilding
their lives after these destructive storms in your prayers,"
Feltman said.  "Many still struggle day to day just to meet their
basic needs and the needs of their children," she said.
     Worship resources following a natural disaster and resources
to acknowledge the one year anniversary of the Gulf Coast
hurricanes are available at
http://www.ELCA.org/worship/liturgies/Natural%20Disaster.html on
the ELCA Web site.

ELCA presiding bishop offers words of thanksgiving for
assistance, gifts
     "I have witnessed the resilience of ELCA congregations in
affected communities, which have confronted the losses in their
personal lives while also responding to the outpouring of offers
for assistance," the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the
ELCA, said in an Aug. 16 letter to congregations and pastors of
the ELCA.
     The two of the ELCA's 65 synods most affected by the
hurricanes, ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston, and
ELCA Southeastern Synod, Atlanta, "have, in collaboration with
social ministry organizations and Lutheran Disaster Response,
responded immediately and have continued to minister to the
congregations, communities and rostered people (clergy and
professional lay ministers) affected by the hurricanes," he said.
     "The response from congregations and members of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to this disaster has been
powerful and overwhelming," said Hanson.
     "Lutheran volunteers, including 1,100 students from our
colleges, universities and campus ministries, have endured
grueling, hot work to help repair the homes and communities of
Gulf Coast neighbors they might never meet.  The need is great,
and so I am grateful that many have signed up to volunteer not
only in the past year but for years to come," he said.
     In the letter Hanson thanked members of the ELCA for their
financial gifts, totaling more than $25 million to date.  "Your
gifts have sufficiently funded a multi-year response plan in the
Gulf Coast, which includes bringing help and hope through grants
to families and individuals, establishing emergency relief
centers, supporting volunteers, and providing spiritual and
emotional care for disaster survivors and caregivers," he said.
     "Yet even while rejoicing at the abundant generosity of this
church, many of us struggle with the painful knowledge that
poverty and inequality exacerbated the storms' impact.  In
addition to the strong winds and rain, the hurricanes shocked
many with a glimpse of poverty close to home and underscored the
need for a heightened commitment to fighting the 'silent
disaster' of chronic hunger and poverty," Hanson said.
- - -
     Information about Lutheran Disaster Response is at
http://www.ldr.org on the Web.  The full text of Bishop Hanson's
letter is at http://www.ELCA.org/bishop/m_060816letter.html on
the ELCA Web site.

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid
survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto
Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago,
Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet:  http://www.ELCA.org/disaster

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