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Stories

Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance

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Special Offering 2023: Mission Moment

1/31/2023

Sunny Day Camp

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On a dark night in early December 2021, entirely out of season, tornadoes tore across eight states, killing more than 80 people and devastating many communities. Just eight months later, on a warm Saturday in July, two Disciples churches and several community organizations made sure that dozens of children impacted by those winter storms in western Kentucky spent time outside with friends and caregivers, reveling in a bright and sunny day. ​


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Culture Brokers & Disaster Response

1/18/2023

long-term hurricane response & the First Peoples Conservation Council

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On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall over Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes in coastal Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and peak gusts as high as 172 mph. Tied for the title of the strongest storm to strike Louisiana, Ida brought catastrophic damage to the Indigenous Nations of the First Peoples Conservation Council -- demolishing homes, uprooting and toppling trees, and leaving the vast majority of families in its path in need of temporary and permanent housing assistance.
 
It also affected Louisiana’s Coastal Tribes by destroying their collective gathering spaces, important for Tribal governance, rituals, the maintenance of cultural traditions, and the preservation of the French-Choctaw patois dialect (français de la Louisiane) that is unique to these communities and is considered a national treasure. These collective meeting sites are also where Native American residents of these unique Bayou regions come together to develop place-based climate change adaptation strategies that will allow them to continue to live in their ancestral homelands.
 
Week of Compassion is grateful to partner with the Lowlander Center to support the Indigenous Resilience Disaster Case Management Program (IR-DCMP), which was launched on Sept. 6, 2022, to serve the members of five Tribes hard-hit by Ida in South Louisiana. 


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Out of Destruction, New Possibility

12/13/2022

how Dayton's tornado recovery brings
​innovative housing opportunity

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When Associate Director Caroline Hamilton-Arnold was in Dayton, OH earlier this year, she rented a truck large enough to move a 14’ trailer. The Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ was outfitting the trailer with a full set of tools and supplies for volunteer teams to use for disaster recovery, and its inaugural use was at a collaborative recovery site coordinated with Week of Compassion and the Pathway to Homeownership Project (PTHO) in response to the 2019 Memorial Day tornado outbreak. 

When Caroline picked up the truck, the staff behind the counter asked why she was in town.


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Hurricane Fiona and Puerto Rico

9/20/2022

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Two days after Hurricane Fiona (September 18) made landfall in Puerto Rico, updates are beginning to come in, especially from the south and west of the island, with reports of damage to homes, some damage to churches, and many roads still unpassable. Week of Compassion is in conversation with Iglesia Cristiana (Discipulos de Cristo) and with Puerto Rico VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) for a coordinated response.


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Caring for Children

4/19/2022

After Trauma: Children's Disaster Services & the local church

Any tragic event - war, famine, natural disaster, community violence - seems to tear at us a little bit more when it affects a child. Our church nursery and Bible school walls are adorned with drawings and scripted verses: Let the little children come to me … for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14) We are tender-hearted for society’s youngest members.

Since 1980 Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), a program of Brethren Disaster Ministries, has been meeting the needs of children by setting up child care spaces in shelters and disaster assistance centers across the nation. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, volunteers provide a calm, safe and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos created by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural or human-caused disasters.

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Behind the Scenes

4/5/2022

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Between winter’s severe weather, the Special Offering in February, and the crisis continuing to unfold in Ukraine, you have heard a lot from and about Week of Compassion. We’re grateful for every chance to stay connected - through these emails, at our website, in social media, and with your congregations. 

Sometimes we talk about things as if everyone knows what we mean. From time to time, alongside stories of Week of Compassion working with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world, we want to tell you a little about the ‘behind the scenes’ commitments that make that ministry happen.​


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Willing to Respond

3/22/2022

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We are excited to be part of the launch of a new tool for networking congregations for disaster preparedness and response: Willing to Respond!

As a registry of willing congregations and a library of vetted resources, this tool will help us connect with you and introduce you to other congregations and organizations in your area. It also provides your congregation with training, tips, and tools to reduce your risk and be ready to help your neighbors when disaster strikes.


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Week of Compassion 
P.O. Box 1986 
Indianapolis, IN 46206
Week of Compassion is the relief, refugee and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.
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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • Staff
    • Board of Stewards
    • From The Executive Director
  • Action
    • Domestic Disaster Response & Preparedness >
      • How To Prepare For A Disaster
    • International Disaster Response
    • Refugee and Immigrant Response
    • Sustainable Development
    • COVID-19 Response
  • Stories
  • Resources
    • Special Offering >
      • Special Offering 2023
    • Worship Material
    • Media
    • Logos
    • Special Offering Archives
  • Get Involved
    • Ways to Give >
      • Circle of Compassion
      • Endowments
    • Invite Us to Your Church
    • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact Us