August 31, 2012

ELGIN, IL – Children's Disaster Services (CDS) recently completed a response to families and children affected by wildfires in Oklahoma, even as some 250 CDS volunteers are on standby awaiting a call to help out following Hurricane Isaac.

Children's Disaster Services is a Church of the Brethren ministry that works cooperatively with the American Red Cross and FEMA, providing trained and certified volunteers to set up child care centers in shelters and disaster assistance centers. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, CDS volunteers provide a calm, safe, and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos that follows disasters.

Children's Disaster Service associate director Judy Bezon reports that the program has been put on alert by the Red Cross, and that volunteers are prepared to set up child care centers in shelters for those displaced by Isaac. "We are in waiting mode with volunteers ready to go," Bezon said.

Earlier this month, in Oklahoma where fires destroyed over 600 homes, CDS worked for a total of nine days caring for children from Aug. 9-16. Eleven CDS volunteers – 6 local volunteers from Oklahoma, 3 volunteers from Kansas, and 2 from Missouri – saw a total of 69 children.

Myrna Jones, the Children's Disaster Services (CDS) representative to Oklahoma VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster), participated in daily conference calls that reviewed the disaster, the response, and unmet needs of survivors. Some of those unmet needs could be met at the American Red Cross Multi Agency Resource Centers (MARC) where nine different agencies were offering aid. Each agency had a different application and interview process. CDS volunteers cared for children in the busiest MARC in Mannford, Okla.

"Reports were that as many as 85 percent of the homes affected there were uninsured," commented Judy Bezon, associate director of Children's Disaster Services. "Imagine being a survivor who has just lost a home – numb, in shock, upset, anxious about where to live, what to eat, how to get clothes to wear. There is help available, but you just have to find out what you need, fill out forms, have an interview, and more. You must take your children with you, as your typical day care is unavailable. Imagine having children with you while you take up to two hours for the application process."

CDS volunteers are specially trained and certified to care for children affected by disasters, and to understand the emotional and physical toll that disasters take on children and their families. CDS offers workshops on a regular basis to train prospective volunteers. Upcoming workshops follow:

– Johnson City, Texas, on Sept. 7-8

– Modesto (Calif.) Church of the Brethren on Oct. 5-6

– Oklahoma City, Okla., on Oct. 5-6

– Camp Brethren Heights in Rodney, Mich., on Oct. 12-13

– Camp Ithiel near Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 27-28

– Denver, Colo., on Nov. 2-3

For information about attending a workshop including fee, requirements for participation, contact information, and online registration go to http://www.brethren.org/cds/training/dates.html . To find out more about Children's Disaster Services visit http://www.childrensdisasterservices.org or call 800 451-4407 option 5.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Newsline: Church of the Brethren New Service