Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has deployed a team to work with children along the US/Mexico border in Texas. This CDS team will be on location for two weeks, providing creative play opportunities for the children and much needed rest for their parents before the next leg of their journey. Since arriving in Texas, the team has been averaging 40 to 45 children per day in the CDS center.
Churches are being asked to help support COVID-19 vaccination efforts across the United States. A COVID-19 Community Corps has been launched, inviting churches among other community groups to help build vaccine confidence in their communities. Also, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is collecting a list of churches and other community organizations that can help support the national vaccination effort.
Brethren Disaster Ministries is one of the organizations working with the Miami Valley Long Term Recovery Operations Group to build homes for tornado survivors in Trotwood, Ohio. A groundbreaking took place April 14 on the first two Trotwood homes as part of the Tornado Survivors Pathway to Homeownership Project (Pathways Project).
This year, with the entire Conference online, we are encouraging everyone in the Church of the Brethren–regardless of whether registering for or attending the Conference–to join the Virtual Blood Drive and to donate locally between June 15 and July 15.
Staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries and Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) are monitoring the situation at the southern border of the United States as numbers of migrants increase, in particular the conditions for families with children and unaccompanied minors.
The peace program of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) held a Trauma Healing Workshop on Feb. 21-24. Forty-two Sunday school teachers from 15 districts attended.
A plan to expand Church of the Brethren agriculture and trauma recovery programing in South Sudan is receiving support from Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Global Food Initiative. A joint allocation directs $29,500 to the work in South Sudan, including $24,500 from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) and $5,000 from the Global Food Initiative (GFI).
An allocation of $37,850 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) supports the coastal North Carolina rebuilding site of Brethren Disaster Ministries. The project in Pamlico County, N.C., is rebuilding and repairing homes affected by Hurricane Florence, which hit the area in September 2018. Partner agency Pamlico County Disaster Relief Coalition reports that around 200 families have not completely recovered, almost two and a half years later.
A GFI allocation of $20,000 is divided between four church-related international partners of the Global Food Initiative. Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed an EDF grant of $11,000 to the COVID-19 response of Haitian congregations of Iglesia de los Hermanos in the DR. An EDF grant of $10,000 supports hurricane relief by the Christian Solidarity Program (CSP) in Honduras. Two GFI grants support community gardens related to Church of the Brethren congregations.
Both of the current Brethren Disaster Ministries rebuilding project sites will be closed after this week for a holiday break. In 2021, the Brethren Disaster Ministry program will be down to one rebuilding site at a time throughout the year. The North Carolina site is scheduled to reopen Jan. 10 and close at the end of March. The Ohio site will reopen after Easter to continue for the rest of 2021.
