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Week of Compassion is the relief, refugee, and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
in the United States and Canada.
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October 2, 2024
Disciples Respond to Hurricane Helene
EMERGENCY APPEAL
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On Thursday September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend of the Florida Gulf Coast, landing as a category 4 storm with wind impacts of 140mph, bringing a 20-foot storm surge, incredible rainfall and flooding, and sparking tornadoes. The storm tracked across six states, and remnant rainfall reached into several more. Destruction is estimated at $160 billion, one of the costliest storms in US history.
While the magnitude of Hurricane Helene carries an historic price tag, it also reveals the increasing impact of climate change on weather patterns and meteorological events. This hurricane roared more than 600 miles from its Florida landfall, bringing massive flooding and destruction to communities that do not have experience with or much protection from these kinds of weather events, and that had already endured days of unrelenting rainfall before Helene arrived. Streamflows were at record highs and mountain soil was saturated by the time Helene brought an additional foot of rain, causing mudslides and widespread destruction.
Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri, co-minister of Green Chalice (the Disciples’ ministry of creation justice, care, and advocacy) lives with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. With a few minutes of mobile access available, he noted:
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A seismic series of catastrophic events has impacted the beautiful people, rivers, forests and creatures of this unique place.
Many of our favorite places (forests, retreat centers, river walks, taco shops, climbing gyms, soccer fields, music venues, art studios) are gone or severely impacted and we do not fully know the whole picture. We are trying to find ways to help or stay out of the way. …
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More than 160 people have died in the wake of Helene’s force, with hundreds more unaccounted for, and more than 1.6 million homes and businesses remain without power, phone service, or cell connection. While local cleanup is underway, many roads remain impassable or have been entirely destroyed, bridges are collapsed or compromised, and building foundations shifted from the force of water now continue to shift as waters push past and begin to slowly recede. | |
HOW WE'VE RESPONDED SO FAR | | |
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Week of Compassion’s mission – to work with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world – is rooted in core values of connection, integrity, and accompaniment. We coordinate closely with long-standing ecumenical partners to establish trusted plans for long-term response and implement recovery that is rooted in local community leadership and opportunity.
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The constancy of news and images makes it easy to forget this storm is less than one week past. Since then, Week of Compassion has been in close conversation with Regional Ministers in all affected regions, responding with grants and informational support to Disciples whose church buildings and/or members’ homes were affected in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, and to Disciples serving their neighbors. In addition, there has been considerable impact at Christmount, the Disciples’ national conference center in Black Mountain NC. Several communities where Week of Compassion has been supporting recovery from past storms were affected again by Helene. | |
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Week of Compassion is collaborating with colleagues at Disciples Church Extension Fund to provide support for Christmount and congregations that sustained building damage from Hurricane Helene, and is engaging ecumenical partners to assess needs, determine immediate responses, and prepare for what will surely be a significant long-term recovery. Children’s Disaster Services has deployed a team to North Carolina; and in partnership with Crisis CleanUp, virtual volunteers are staffing call centers to connect storm survivors and resources.
We anticipate learning of additional needs as communities are assessed and power and utilities are restored in the days ahead. In this tremendous crisis moment, Week of Compassion is immensely grateful for the generous and faithful response of the whole church, the body of Christ tending to the needs of its members.
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photos: Christmount, via Facebook | |
WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW | |
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Disciples are responding together and can connect right now in incredibly meaningful ways:
~ PRAY ~
The prayers of the faithful are powerful and effective. - James 5:17
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~ GIVE ~
The greatest need is for financial contributions. Monetary gifts are the most critical, useful, and flexible way to be present in the immediate relief effort AND to provide a foundation for the inevitable years-long recovery of affected communities.
A financial gift right now can be shared with partners on the ground, who are closest to the impact, know what is most needed in a community, and where it can be found. It also means support for long-term plans as they come into place. As ecumenical partners and local response teams strategize together, having financial support already in place makes us a more engaged and nimble partner, ready to get to work when and how we are needed.
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100% of all contributions designated 'Hurricane 2024' will go directly to these responses. Gifts can be made online or mailed to Week of Compassion, PO Box 1986, Indianapolis IN 46206.
~ STAY ~
Our deeply felt instinct is to help. We are eager to load up supplies, put on work gloves, and show up. In the first days of disaster response, especially this significant and widespread – with many affected areas still inaccessible, and damage reports hampered by safety concerns and communications outages – it is not yet helpful to have volunteers arrive, and in fact can strain already stretched local resources, complicating the work of the professional rescue and response teams that are so critical in these early moments. Local authorities across these states are asking for strictly limited travel in areas impacted by Helene, particularly while roads are not yet cleared or safe, and search and recovery is still ongoing.
While we are preparing for next steps in this very long-term recovery, there are a few very hands on and practical ways to serve Helene survivors right now:
>>> There is an urgent need for virtual volunteers. Through our partners at Crisis CleanUp, volunteers can serve from home, helping staff the crisis call center that connects affected households with cleanup assistance. With 1000+ calls in the queue, even while most impacted areas are still without power and phone service, this is a massive effort and volunteers are urgently needed, and will be for at least a month or more. You can find more information here.
>>> Week of Compassion’s Disciples and ecumenical partners have a very location-specific way to help. The Florida and North Carolina regional offices are both collecting CWS CleanUp Buckets. If you are in a location near a CWS Drop-Off Depot (search by state or zip code), CWS is putting thousands of buckets to use, and replenishing depleted stock. ** Please note: This request is specific to the Regions named. Please contact the Regional Office or the CWS Depot before delivering cleanup kits, and please provide only the items as directed in the CWS CleanUp Bucket instructions.
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>>> While Week of Compassion is not yet coordinating in-person volunteer options, there will be a significant need for volunteers in the months and even years to come, in many locations. Taking the time now to complete a volunteer profile will add you to our records to receive information and updates when in-person opportunities become available.
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THANK YOU for your care and compassion for the people affected by this storm, for asking questions, sharing information, and offering gifts of stewardship and generosity time after time. We continue to pray with and for everyone affected by Hurricane Helene, for those responding in ways great and small, and for the days, months, and years to come when Disciples will continue to ‘be the church we say we are’. We are grateful to serve together. | |
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MISSION : to work with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world
VISION : a world where God's people transform suffering into hope
CORE VALUES : connection - integrity - accompaniment
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