Steve Elliott, the Conference Disaster Response Coordinator (CDRC) for the California-Nevada Conference, has heard many people describe what living through a fire was like and the deep anguish that stabs at the soul when all that is left of a home are smoldering piles of ash.
“It seems so overwhelming when you lose your home,” he wrote in one of his conference updates, “traumatizing in so many ways.” His conference disaster response team participated in six long-term fire recoveries last year, with most of the recovery programs continuing into this year.
“Our conference helped with 50 survivor long-term recoveries totaling $307,000, funded by UMCOR, an American Red Cross grant and our Conference Disaster Response fund. This funding primarily assisted survivors with establishing new living situations.”
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One of the ways the conference participates in fire recovery is to join other churches, NGOs and government agencies at local assistance centers. They work with different long-term recovery groups depending on the path of the fires. The groups will often set up in spaces like local schools or churches to reach the affected populations.
The Cal-Nev team offers a ministry of presence, listening to people describe what happened to them and giving out gift cards, hygiene kits, cleaning supplies and other kinds of assistance to survivors.
In response to the Oak Fire, which burned nearly 20,000 acres in Mariposa County before it was brought under control, the conference spent three days at the local assistance center at the high school in Mariposa. They assisted 200 households at the center with volunteers from seven different churches of the conference.
“Sherry*” came to the table to talk with volunteer Susan Hunn. She asked about tools she would need to sift through the ash that was her home. Cal-Nev Early Response Teams (ERTs) are trained in this task and could send a team, but that wasn’t what Sherry asked for. She wanted to do it herself.
“When we offered what she needed – a sifting box, shovel, rake, protective clothing, gloves, masks and hand tools, she beamed with confidence,” Hunn noted. “Amid her losses was an antique teapot collection. She wanted to see if she could find just one teapot in the rubble. She believed she would. We helped her out with tools of hope.”
Across the United Methodist connection, funds are being collected, partnerships are forming, local and state responders are working, and a recovery plan is carefully being formed. The Lahaina community will not face the ashes alone. Partners will be with them, working alongside.
* Name has been changed.
excerpt from a story by Christie R. House, a consultant writer and editor with Global Ministries and UMCOR.
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