Map - National

South East Jurisdiction tornado, flood relief efforts

The South Eastern Jurisdiction UMVIM office has an updated contact list for all of the affected conferences if you would like to schedule long term recovery teams to help with those disasters. Click here to see the list.

Free online webinars about disaster response coming from CWS

Church World Service Emergency Response Program continues to hold a series of free webinars on various aspects of long term recovery. Details and registration information can be found at www.cwserp.org.

The schedule for the next several webinars:

• March 6: Long Term Recovery Success Stories
  Long Term Recovery Groups are recognized as the best practice for communities recovering from a disaster. This webinar will highlight success stories from several current or recent Long Term Recovery Groups in their own words.
• April 3: Who Does What in Disaster Recovery?
  This webinar will introduce long term recovery groups to faith based, community based, and other partners and the resources they bring to a disaster affected community.
• May 1 and 2: Long Term Recovery Basics
  This series of 50 minute webinars over two days will introduce the concepts and best practices that communities employ for effective long term recovery.

Additional information about the domestic disaster ministry of Church World Service may be found here.

Children’s Disaster Services is about nurturing children

Since 1980, Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has been meeting the needs of children by setting up child care centers in shelters and disaster assistance centers across the nation. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, volunteers provide calm, safe and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos created by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires any natural or human caused disasters.

Volunteers from across the country:

• Participate in specialized experiential training,
• undergo a rigorous screening process,
• learn to work with children after a disaster and
• are capable of mobilizing rapidly and responding both locally and nationally.

Volunteers arrive to a disaster location with a “Kit of Comfort” containing carefully selected toys that promote imaginative play. Volunteers give children individualized attention and encourage them to express themselves, thereby starting the healing process. Although many volunteers are motivated by faith, CDS’ training is open to anyone over 18 years old. CDS provides respite, education and individualized consultation for parents about their child’s unique emotional needs after a disaster. Through consultation or workshops specifically tailored to each situation, CDS also works with parents, community agencies, schools or others to help them understand and meet the special needs of children during or after a disaster.

Judy Bezon (jbezon@brethren.org) is Associate Director, Children’s Disaster Services, Church of the Brethren, 601 Main Street/P.O. Box 188, New Windsor, MD 21776 or phone 410-635-8734 (office). View the program information on the CDS website. Read a story about volunteering through this avenue.

Children’s Disaster Services is one of the classes offered at the upcoming NCJ Disaster Response Academy in March to be held at the Koinonia Retreat Center near South Haven, Minnesota. Information on the whole Academy and registration can be found on here.

UMCOR Disaster Preparedness Academy

We never know when the next round of disasters, whatever they may be and whenever they may hit our conferences. To be prepared, a United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Disaster Preparedness Academy for the North Central Jurisdiction will be held March 14-17, 2012, at the Minnesota Conference Koinoina Retreat Center in North Haven, Minn. The event invitation and registration information is posted on the UMVIM-NCJ website at www.gbgm-umc.org/northcentralvim/NCVIM/Disaster_Response.html.

Preliminary plans call for novice, training and experienced class tracks. Besides courses open to ALL, there will be classes for Conference Disaster Response Coordinators, District Disaster Response Coordinators and Conference UMVIM Coordinators, plus a class where they all meet together to discuss their respective roles and how to interact during a disaster. A special course on working with Children in Disaster is being brought to the event by Children's Disaster Services, Church of the Brethren. If you have never thought your skills could be used during a disaster, this might be your special place.

Heather Klason, Minnesota Disaster Response coordinator, will host the event. A minimum of 30 people must attend in order to hold this event. UMCOR consultants lead most of the classes.

For more information, contact Lorna Jost at umvim-ncj@brookings.net or call her at 605-692-3390. This opportunity is provided in part through your Indiana Conference tithe. For more information, click here.

Free online webinar about disaster response coming from CWS

Church World Service Emergency Response Program continues to hold a series of free webinars on various aspects of long term recovery. Details and registration information can be found at www.cwserp.org.

The schedule for the next several webinars:

• May 1 and 2: Long Term Recovery Basics
  This series of 50 minute webinars over two days will introduce the concepts and best practices that communities employ for effective long term recovery.

Additional information about the domestic disaster ministry of Church World Service may be found here.

NCJ Rx Consultation to be held near Detroit May 4-6

The North Central Jurisdiction Volunteers in Mission announces the 2012 Rx Consultation to be held at Highland United Methodist Church in the Detroit Conference. Dates are Friday to Sunday, May 4 to 6. Please include this event on your calendar. Information on speakers, workshops and registration will be available within a month. Thanks to Highland UMC, the staff and Karie Saunders, mission coordinator, for agreeing to host the event. Highland UMC is located at 680 W. Livingston Road in Highland, Mich. (45 miles northwest from downtown Detroit or 32 miles northeast of Ann Arbor, Mich.).

Looking for a mission trip this summer?

Why not Minot, North Dakota in the Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church? More than 4,000 homes were flooded, many filled to the rafters with water that stood for weeks. Can you imagine how overwhelming the flood repair work must be to an individual or family? Imagine trying to do the repair work on your house, perhaps a couple of hours each evening or maybe on the weekends. And while you are trying to repair your home (which you probably are not able to live in), you continue working at your job, caring for your family and/or spouse or parents. You continue to attend your children's school, community and church activities. And we think we are overwhelmed or discouraged? The strength and courage of the people in Minot is a real testimony to their faith. And yet in the middle of their courage and resilience, the people of Minot need our help. Recovery from the flood will take years. There will be more information on this summer’s work mission trip that is still in the early planning stages that coming out in the next several weeks. Please be in prayer concerning this mission trip and ask God what he wants you to do. For more information, contact the Dearborn Hills UMC Mission Team leader Harry Lyness at hlyness@aol.com.

Northern Illinois Conference needs flood clean-up assistance

On behalf and at the request of Northern Illinois Conference Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, this is an invitation to assist in clean up from recent flooding. Seven Illinois counties have been declared disaster areas, with the south-side of Chicago especially hard hit. There is a process in place to identify homes most in need of help, those of the elderly and others unable to clean up for themselves. The primary work is 'mucking out' basements, many of which have belongings from more than 20 years of residency. This has resulted in each home taking more clean-up time than had been originally anticipated. Hundreds of Cook County residents still need help. If your church has Early Response Teams available and willing to give a few days to ministry on the south side of Chicago, please contact the Rev. Christina Vosteen (office@umcplano.org). We will help to coordinate time and efforts here.

Iowa Disaster Response team needs ERT help

The severe flooding of the Skunk River in Iowa has caused havoc in the community of Ames and is progressing southward thru Colfax and parts of Des Moines. Trish Burkett, Disaster Response coordinator for the Iowa Conference UMC says they may be needing ERT teams within the next week or two. If you could mobilize your teams for this possibility it would be helpful. For more information, contact Trish Burkett, 808 King St., Bedford, IA 50833, call 712-427-9014 or e-mail Disaster.Response@iaumc.org.

Urgent help needed in flood relief in Colfax, Iowa

Pastor Cindy Finn of First UMC in Colfax, Iowa, says the town needs URGENT HELP to muck and gut homes. The fire station in Colfax is ready to accept volunteers. Please call Wendy at the EMS Office at 515-674-9113 if you are able to help. For more information, call Becky Wood, Director of Recovery and Volunteer Coordinator for the Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church, 2200 Heritage Green Drive, Hiawatha, IA 52233 or phone 515-238-5346.