STORIES
Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh // photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance
early update - Hurricane Helene9/30/2024  As we follow the 600 mile path of Hurricane Helene and the massive devastation across six states, Week of Compassion is in contract with Regional staff, congregational leaders and ecumenical partners to respond now and over the long-term. Here are THE BEST WAYS to be of true help right now: PRAY : For more than 100 lives lost. For unimaginable impact. For emergency response teams. For compassion, mercy, hope.
GIVE : Gifts marked Hurricane 2024 will be directed to emergent and long-term response. STAY : The first days of a response are for highly skilled and professionally trained responders. There will be many ways to help later, and we are grateful for all who will serve together. * There is an urgent need right now for virtual volunteers to staff help lines. Simple training provided, phone & computer with internet required. Email [email protected] Praying with you and for you, Disciples. Hurricane Helene makes landfall9/28/2024  The needs are and will be great. The compassion of Christ's people is greater still.
Be part of the Hurricane Helene response - *PRAY* for those impacted and all who respond. *GIVE* to Week of Compassion, designating 'Hurricane 2024'. *STAY* until plans are in place for you to safely volunteer in person. Virtual volunteers are urgently needed right now through our partner Crisis CleanUp. Help respond to survivor help lines, serving from home, with simple training and phone/computer access. Contact [email protected] We remain grateful for our Disciples community and hold those impacted and those responding close in our prayers. anticipating Hurricane Helene9/26/2024  Hurricane Helene is gaining intensity, expected to make landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast today, bringing flooding rains, massive storm surge, and significant wind. Week of Compassion is monitoring closely and is in contact with Regions and partners in the path of the storm, ready to respond as we learn of impact and needs.
Gifts to WeekOfCompassion.org/give, marked ‘Hurricane 2024‘, will be directed to relief and response, and to the long-term recovery efforts that will follow. We are praying with you and for you, Disciples. What a Difference a Year Makes9/29/2023 working with partners after Hurricane Ian One year ago this week, Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic damage across the state of Florida. While the Gulf Coast dealt primarily with wind impact, counties in central and eastern Florida were pelted with massive rainfall. In Volusia County, some areas saw more than 20” of rain, which caused devastating flooding. In response, Week of Compassion is working with Volusia Interfaiths/Agencies Networking in Disaster (VIND) and the United Church of Christ Disaster Ministries to repair damaged homes.  The collaboration - deepened by a history of cooperative responses to Hurricanes Matthew and Irma in previous years - includes disaster case managers and a volunteer coordinator, volunteer housing, financial support, and referral of volunteer teams contributing thousands of hours of labor across this long-term recovery.
While some homes require roof repairs, the majority of damage is from flooding, so repairs include replacement of drywall, flooring, cabinets, and some electrical. Priority is given to clients who are most vulnerable, including low-income, veterans, and those elderly and/or disabled. Ready to GET INVOLVED with the long-term recovery in Volusia County? Find Volunteer info on our website: https://www.weekofcompassion.org/group-volunteers/florida Culture Brokers & Disaster Response1/18/2023 long-term hurricane response & the First Peoples Conservation Council 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. The Power of Presence11/29/2022 watching, listening, and praying as relief work At the end of October in Orlando, faint signs of Hurricane Ian remained: blue tarps on roofs, trees that broke through fences and walls, swamps and lakes with high water, debris that needed to be removed. For the most part, though, the damage was hidden - there were few washed out or blocked roads, most water had receded, and destruction seemed surprisingly minor. But then, there were the stories of the people. "They brought us hope."11/10/2022 Week of Compassion Board of Stewards meets in Puerto Rico Last week, at the first in-person meeting since fall 2019, the Board of Stewards and staff of Week of Compassion gathered in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, tending to the business of Week of Compassion while bearing witness to the fruitful partnership with Iglesia Cristiana (Discipulos de Cristo) de Puerto Rico, especially in the years since Hurricane Maria, and more recently Hurricane Fiona.
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