Joanne Hale is tired but resolute. She is one of five Church World Service Disaster Resource Consultants who have been working almost-around-the-clock in New York City and Washington, DC, since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Their work, made possible in part by your gifts to Week of Compassion, is to coordinate the faith-based response - especially the provision of emotional and spiritual care - with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and to respond to the most economically vulnerable persons affected by this tragedy.
In the immediate aftermath, Church World Service provided blankets for use in emergency shelters and at the recovery site. "Now the team is focusing on helping marginalized communities who are facing a tough time dealing with the official process to receive immediate assistance... such as undocumented workers, who are afraid to seek assistance for themselves and their families," says Hale. "Now" is the operative word, as Hale foresees a long-term recovery effort, remembering the 4 1/2-year response in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing - and the scope of this attack is much greater.
Week of Compassion gifts are also helping to provide CWS Interfaith Crisis Counseling Teams - professional trauma counselors who have worked in areas such as Kosovo and Oklahoma City - who are giving emotional and spiritual care to survivors and training in trauma and grief counseling to clergy caregivers.
Some 300 children of the families and victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center have been receiving care and counseling from specially-trained Disaster Child Care teams trained by Church of the Brethren, and supported in part by CWS and gifts to WOC.
In response to the needs of people in NYC and across the country, Church World Service is sponsoring a series of webcasts to provide spiritual support and professional resources to clergy and spiritual leaders as they attempt to meet the needs of their congregants and communities. Visit www.faithandvalues.com to tap into these resources, made possible in part by gifts to Week of Compassion.
