STORIES
Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
news from Maui10/13/2023 steps toward restoration and recoveryWeek of Compassion remains in contact with a wide variety of ecumenical partners and local community leaders as the restoration and recovery continues in Lahaina and other areas of west Maui in the wake of August wildfires. Maui County has divided the burn area into zones, slowly opening these zones for limited resident access, with a system in place, led by Hawai’i VOAD, where trained volunteers accompany residents on their first day of reentry. These skilled partners help ensure residents have and know how to use proper Personal Protective Equipment, provide emotional and spiritual support, and help connect survivors to additional assistance as it is needed. While access remains quite restricted due to concerns of exposure to toxins, several organizations are assisting with ash-sifting, to recover any personal property that may have survived, and with cleanup efforts, which are complicated by the environmental concerns about ash and debris flowing into the ocean. Local officials, the Environmental Protection Agency, and others are working to balance access for residents with critical mitigation efforts. Making Progress!9/28/2023 foundation poured in Mayfield KYRemember the house you built in the Exhibit Hall at General Assembly? The concrete block foundation is in place and ready for the next steps!
We are grateful to Leah Eubanks and the faithful at First Christian Paducah for keeping up with the progress, for sharing photos, and for hosting groups serving in the community to keep moving forward with rebuilt and restored housing, part of the recovery work since the winter 2021 tornadoes. To volunteer with them, or any of our other disaster response teams, go to weekofcompassion.org/group-volunteers Week of Compassion + Be the Neighbor9/26/2023 expanding ministry & partnershipAt the beginning of the summer, Week of Compassion partnered with Be The Neighbor, a justice-based service-learning trip ministry empowering youth and adults to put faith into action through service and justice in ways that are relational, sustainable, and dignity-affirming. Be the Neighbor missions include direct service, relational ministry, immersion experiences, and education. The key question they ask: What would the world look like if we all took seriously the idea of being a good neighbor? helping churches think ahead for disaster readinessWeek of Compassion is part of the Willing to Respond network, providing a registry of willing congregations and a library of vetted resources, to connect churches and organizations for disaster preparedness and response. To mark National Preparedness Month (September), Week of Compassion is sharing the current issue of the Willing to Respond newsletter, sent every other month to registered Disciples congregations. WTR also provides churches with training, tips, and tools to reduce risk and be ready to assist neighbors when disaster strikes. For information and to register as a WTR congregation, go to WillingToRespond.org Hawai'i Fires8/15/2023 responding with partners on MauiOn Tuesday, August 8, gale-force winds rushed along the mountains of Maui, bringing down power lines, igniting grasslands, and contributing to what has become “America’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century”. An extremely dry summer, and winds as a result of Hurricane Dora, exacerbated the flames and the toll on land and people continues to mount. Special Offering 2023: Mission Moment1/31/2023 Sunny Day CampOn 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. Culture Brokers & Disaster Response1/18/2023 long-term hurricane response & the First Peoples Conservation CouncilOn 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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