CWS Launches National Katrina Evacuee Relocation Program
Church World Service (CWS), a global humanitarian agency, recently announced details of a national program to assist those who have been relocated.
The number of confirmed deaths in Louisiana rose to 832, bringing the death toll from Hurricane Katrina to 1,069.
As more bodies are being discovered amidst the receding waters, the thousands who have been uprooted from their homes and families are trying to find back the normal rhythm of their lives.
Church World Service (CWS), a global humanitarian agency, recently announced details of a national program to assist those who have been relocated.
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Providing services in nine states, including Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, the Katrina evacuee relocation program works through its network of local refugee resettlement affiliate agencies to connect the displaced to resources.
Through such agencies as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), HUD (Housing and Urban Development) and the Red Cross, the Katrina evacuees are able to find affordable housing, jobs and health care, enroll their children in school and get oriented to their new communities.
Serving dually with an in-house domestic emergency response unit and a refugee resettlement program, CWS applies its professionalism to meet the needs of the relocated people.
"The people we serve are not and will not be left to fend for themselves as they navigate their new surroundings," said Erol Kekic, acting director of the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program, in a statement released Wednesday. "We are committed to serving people professionally and in a uniform, not ad hoc, way."
CWS works with national, state and local governments and community organizations in collaboration with eight participating denominations and their congregations, and 42 local refugee resettlement agencies in 25 states. It serves as one of nine voluntary agencies through which the U.S. State Department resettles refugees.
"The U.S. government has asked CWS and other resettlement agencies to consider using its expertise to help Katrina evacuees," stated Kekic. "Our network feels privileged to be able to lend a hand in responding to Katrina survivors' needs and give something back."
With CWS's public appeal for $9.5 million, supporting member denominations have been funding the relocation assistance program to Katrina survivors.
While agencies are responding to the disaster of Katrina, the roar of Hurricane Rita has hindered the work of the aid groups and threatened the depletion of supplies.
Volunteer workers are withdrawing and relocating along with the thousands of evacuees. Monetary contributions are being spent faster than they are coming in.
Nevertheless, volunteers said they are in it for the long haul.
"It's a marathon and people all know it's a marathon," said Salvation Army spokeswoman Melissa Temme to Knight Ridder Newspapers.
