respond to Hurricane Ida and to provide care for children of Afghan evacuees, after a busy few weeks monitoring several deployment possibilities as well as preparing for multiple trainings to continue to prepare volunteers to respond to the special needs of children in disaster and trauma-related situations.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) is announcing its first volunteer training workshops since pandemic restrictions started last year. At this time, three events have been announced:
The Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) team serving at the Surfside building collapse in Florida returned home after a six-day deployment, due to low numbers of children in the facilities.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has deployed a Critical Response Childcare team to Surfside, Fla., to serve families affected by the heartbreaking building collapse that occurred in the early morning hours of June 24. More than 150 people are still missing and the current official death toll is 11.
In updates from Brethren Disaster Ministries and Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), the rebuilding project site in North Carolina has been closed, with the prospect of reopening the site this fall. CDS has sent a second volunteer team to Texas to work with migrant children and families at the border
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren Emergency Disaster Fund to COVID-19 response in Nigeria through Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and the worldwide COVID response by Church World Service (CWS). Another grant supports CWS relief work in Indonesia and Timor-Leste following flooding. A grant also has been given to support a humanitarian response at the southern US border by Children’s Disaster Services (CDS).
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.
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.
Children and families continue to face isolation, and challenges abound with the pandemic continuing. Mental health for all ages has been impacted on some level. As we approach the one‐year anniversary of “flattening the curve” to slow the virus down, some may be feeling like this will never end. So, how can we face this year with hope and a plan to keep our families moving in the right direction?
