August 30, 2005

NEW YORK – Responding to what it anticipates may be the largest U.S. relief and recovery effort in its history, humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) says its Executive Director and CEO Rev. John L. McCullough will travel to Hurricane Katrina-devastated New Orleans Louisiana , arriving in Baton Rouge tomorrow evening (Wed Aug 31 – Sat. Sept 3), to personally assess emergency and long-term recovery needs and to meet with area faith leaders.

"Church World Service is particularly concerned about the plight of what we anticipate to be a high percentage of poor people, the elderly and other vulnerable populations throughout the affected Gulf Coast area and beyond," he says. "Stories of individuals who had to stay in New Orleans their homes because they couldn't afford to evacuate personify that crisis.

Yesterday (Mon Aug 29) CWS issued a national fundraising appeal for survivors of Katrina and has directed an initial shipment of emergency supplies it hopes will reach Baton Rouge tomorrow (Wed. August 31) for distribution.

While in New Orleans the region, McCullough hopes to connect with area faith leaders "to offer immediate support, solidarity and hope."

This week, CWS's disaster response specialists are meeting with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials via telephone conferences, along with partners in the faith community and state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) to identify material resource needs and storm-affected areas where CWS will concentrate its efforts.

In addition to providing emergency aid following domestic disasters, CWS specializes in assisting in the development of community-based, long-term, recovery organizations that are established in impacted areas to help vulnerable populations and those with unmet needs.

CWS Associate Director for Domestic Emergency Response Linda Reed Brown says, "We anticipate deploying at least 11 of our disaster recovery liaisons just in Mississippi and Louisiana, where greatest need is seen. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi will be the first to get our attention next week, when it is safe to go there. At that point," she says, "we'll be performing extensive assessments and can begin organizing local long term support systems."

"With such catastrophic damage," says McCullough. "It will be awhile before we know the full extent of lives lost and material destruction, but we can be sure that recovery will take a very, very long time.

"There is no question that the area's faith leaders will shoulder a massive amount of responsibility in caring for those populations and helping them find resources," said McCullough, "at a time when the church leaders themselves may have suffered great personal losses."

One of the first agencies called by FEMA along with the Red Cross in times of national disaster, New York-headquartered CWS responds to natural and human-caused disasters internationally and domestically.

Brown says, based on its work in disasters affecting a comparable geographic area and knowledge of disaster experience in an affected area, CWS estimates as many as 20 recovery organizations may be organized and supported in Louisiana, Mississippi, northwest Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

CWS may also deploy its specialists to Tennessee and Kentucky, Brown says, where the agency will closely monitor Katrina's impact as a potentially serious tropical storm.

The global agency will also respond on request in other states affected by Katrina, including Florida where its domestic disaster recovery liaisons helped more than 40 communities develop capacity in long-term recovery during the 2004 hurricane season, CWS will respond on request.

Individuals and groups wanting to help Katrina's survivors are urged to contribute cash rather than material goods.

Check the CWS Web Site – http://www.churchworldservice.org/ – for the latest information on the response to Katrina or to make a donation online.

Church World Service