September 13, 2005 (Baltimore, MD) - Hurricane Katrina Update: Lutheran Disaster Response Moves Into High Gear

Update

When disaster strikes, as it did along the Gulf Coast nearly two weeks ago, some voluntary organizations are the designated "first responders". These organizations, including the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, are designed to move into the area immediately to provide food, supplies, and emergency shelter. Other voluntary organizations get busy right away assessing the near term and longer term needs and preparing for the massive relief and recovery process that will go on for months, and even years. Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is one of those organizations that is designed to respond quickly, but to remain for the long haul.

LDR works through local partners, typically Lutheran social ministry organizations, to coordinate efforts on the ground and quickly implement a longer term strategy for recovery. The strategy typically includes utilizing small hardship grants to assist individuals and families, providing spiritual and emotional care for victims and care givers, and coordinating the work of volunteer teams who will perform reconstruction tasks. Following its usual process, LDR has been working with Lutheran Social Services of the South to implement an activity plan and a budget plan for the work in Louisiana and Texas. In similar fashion, Lutheran social ministry organizations, congregations, and other church partners are working with LDR to implement recovery plans in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Now that conditions have improved enough to begin working on the scene in these areas of devastation, these plans have moved into high gear.

At the same time there has been a flurry of activity and conversation in Washington, D.C. as Congress, the White House, Cabinet level departments, and federal agencies have been proposing a wide array of possible solutions to the problems that are emerging. Clearly, there will be new challenges in getting information about benefits to a group of people that is more dispersed throughout the country. It will also be a challenge to meld all of the emerging proposals into a set of good solutions.

As federal and state governments and others decide next steps:

• Individuals and families displaced by the hurricane should be given as much choice as possible. Ideally, this means assessing people and reviewing options with them rather than randomly assigning them to locations in other cities and states.



• The process of getting people back on their feet would be well-served by a temporary liberalization of government funding and regulations that might impede forward movement. It will be important, especially in situations of secondary migration, that the dollars follow the person until they are “home”. This will also require good information tracking across organizations.



• Special care needs to be exercised to ensure that the needs of individuals who are elderly, developmentally disabled, mentally or physically ill, or separated from family members are recognized and met.



• Communities of welcome need to be well-prepared to receive people from the Gulf Coast in order to achieve positive outcomes for the newcomers and for the local citizens, regardless of the length of stay.

• Lutheran Social Services of the South continues to be the point agency for immediate response in Texas and Louisiana, coordinating local support for people temporarily sheltered and making plans for clean-up and recovery work. They are putting forth extraordinary effort and welcome your prayers.



• Relief work continues in Mississippi, Alabama and other areas of the Gulf Coast, led by capable Lutheran partners.



• The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society has begun receiving displaced Americans at its facility in Alamogordo, NM, and has facilities in Wisconsin that will be receiving people soon.



• California Lutheran Homes/Front Porch has a retirement community in Alexandria, LA that was spared the brunt of the damage. It is reserving all available beds in this facility for persons displaced by the storm.



• Lutherans and Episcopalians have jointly committed to providing meals in the Houston Astrodome during the last week of September.

ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
Phone (with credit card) 800-638-3522
www.elca.org

OR

LCMS World Relief and Human Care
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7295
Credit Card Gift Line: 888-930-4438
www.lcms.org