November 11, 2005

CHICAGO – Lutheran Disaster Response is organizing spiritual care teams and volunteers to help repair and rebuild homes in Evansville and Newburgh, Ind., after a Nov. 6 tornado killed more than 22 people and destroyed property and land there. Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), also continues its hurricane-recovery work in Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

"The tornado is described as the deadliest to hit Indiana in three decades," said Heather L. Feltman, director of Lutheran Disaster Response and director of ELCA Domestic Disaster Response.

There was no damage to six churches of the ELCA or seven LCMS churches in Evansville, Feltman reported.

"Lutheran Disaster Response will be coordinating its response work with its partner organization, Grace Lutheran Retreat Ministries, Inc., St. Louis, and Church World Service," said Feltman. Church World Service is the relief, development and refugee assistance ministry of 36 U.S. Protestant and Orthodox churches, including the ELCA.

Lutherans Continue Hurricane-Relief Work in Florida, U.S. Gulf Coast

Lutheran congregations in Florida are providing food, health kits and clean-up kits for survivors of Hurricane Wilma, which struck the southwestern coast of Florida on Oct. 24. The hurricane killed six people and caused billions of dollars of property damage there.

Lutheran Disaster Response "is coordinating volunteer efforts through its partner organization," Lutheran Services of Florida, Tampa, Feltman reported.

According to Stew Gaylord, volunteer coordinator, Lutheran Disaster Response in Florida, "We are looking for more volunteers. Youth groups (seeking to help) must be 14 years old (and older) and have one adult for every five youth." Volunteers with experience using chainsaws are needed, as well as clean-up and cooking volunteer crews, he said.

In the U.S. Gulf Coast, "a large Lutheran Disaster Response team continues to organize response efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita," said Feltman. She said more than $1 million to date has been distributed in hardship grants for Lutherans and others who need assistance for expenses such as housing, child care and any health-related needs not covered under insurance or FEMA grants.

Lutheran congregations are setting up "tent cities" to house volunteers, who came from across the country to help clean up the Gulf Coast, said Feltman. Lutheran Disaster Response is "assisting congregations" in this effort, she said.

Kurt Senske, president and CEO, Lutheran Social Services of the South, Austin, Texas, told Feltman, "Everyday we receive dozens of new requests for disaster assistance from people who have lost everything (from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita). We are responding as quickly as we can in whatever way we can through grants, prayer and sometimes just being there to hear their stories. We pray that the help and support that we, as Lutherans, can offer provides some measure of relief and comfort during this difficult time for so many."

Lutheran Disaster Response is investing about $5 million with its partner organizations that are assisting Americans displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Feltman.

"This commitment of resources will assist persons in accessing affordable housing, vocational assistance and many other needs that exist for hundreds of thousands of displaced families. To date, funds have been distributed to survivors of the hurricanes now living in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington," she said. "Additional states will be receiving funds in December."

"Together as a church our congregations, social ministry organizations and all (other) expressions, we've come together as Lutheran Disaster Response to bring help, healing and hope to (people) affected by disasters. Thank you for your partnership in this ministry. Thanks be to God for the gifts of our church and our partners," Feltman said.

ELCA News Service