Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have requested the following grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF): $10,000 for a rebuilding project in York County, Pa., following Tropical Storm Ida; $15,000 to support training models and resource development by Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) partner Child Life Disaster Relief; and $5,000 to support families connected with the Maui (Hawaii) Economic Opportunity, Inc.’s Head Start center.
Support these EDF grants and the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries by giving online at https://churchofthebrethren.givingfuel.com/bdm.
York County recovery
This $10,000 grant enables Brethren Disaster Ministries volunteers to purchase materials and complete work on four homes that sustained damage in early September 2021 from Tropical Storm Ida. The storm made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the US on Aug. 29, 2021, as a category 4 hurricane and the second most damaging and intense hurricane to hit Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Its remnants caused flooding and tornadoes in the northeast US including York County.
The Pennsylvania Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (Pennsylvania VOAD) and community leaders formed the York County Long-Term Recovery Group to identify families and individuals who were not able to meet their needs alone. The group has included representatives of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Church of the Brethren’s Southern Pennsylvania District.
Now that a two-year FEMA Disaster Case Management Program Grant has ended, the group’s construction management and disaster case management been turned over to partner organization The Elevated Studio, which is working to close out the final cases for a number of vulnerable households still struggling to complete their recovery. A previous grant of $7,500 was sent to TES in June.
TES reports that six homes still need work including two larger jobs that will deplete the remaining funds, and four smaller jobs that volunteers can complete with additional funds to pay for the construction materials. Brethren Disaster Ministries has been facilitating Zoom calls with disaster coordinators and project leaders in the Church of the Brethren districts of Southern Pennsylvania, Middle Pennsylvania, and Atlantic Northeast to work at coordinating volunteers.
Child Life Disaster Relief
This $15,000 grant will aid Child Life Disaster Relief, which is a partner organization for the Church of the Brethren’s Children’s Disaster Services, to increase its capacity with training models and resource development.
Child Life Disaster Relief has been a close partner of CDS since it was formed in 2016. Its volunteers are trained Child Life Specialists whose education and experience has prepared them well to work with children affected by disasters. Many of its volunteers are also trained as CDS volunteers and deploy with CDS, and the partnership has increased the ability of CDS to expand its impact.
A previous grant in 2023 supported Child Life Disaster Relief’s program to increase capacity to train and equip local teams of volunteers across the country, improving their response time. The organization requested this additional grant to invest more time and resources to ensure that the information, training, and expertise it provides is evidenced-based, high-quality, and tangible, and to help groups serving underserved communities.
Maui Head Start
This $5,000 grant supports families connected with the Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc.’s Head Start center in Lahaina, who were affected by last year’s devastating wildfire that began on Aug. 8, 2023. Thousands of survivors including many families with young children are still living in shelters, temporary housing, short-term rentals, and hotels. There is a great need to secure access to basic needs and care for young children so parents can work or seek employment.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) responded in Lahaina with two teams of volunteers serving over six weeks. Later in the year, CDS received a donation of $4,646.28 from the Church of the Brethren’s Virlina District specifically designated for CDS programing in Maui. As CDS had already completed its work there, it informed the district that it would identify a trusted organization on the island, that serves the children of Lahaina, with which to partner.
CDS has identified a new partner in Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc., through contacts in Brethren Disaster Ministries with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). After discussions with the chief executive officer Debbie Cabebe, it was determined that the donated funds would be granted for use in the Head Start program, which focuses on the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable young children and their families from income-eligible homes. The program interviewed those families and determined that the best way to assist them at this time is through gift cards for $50 or $100 each, for basic needs including food, clothing, child car seats, school supplies, gas, and other essentials. The families receiving the cards include 20 current Lahaina Head Start families and up to 10 families who were enrolled during the wildfire.
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