Update #14
Monday, November 12, 2012
9:00am
Good morning -
As we move into the third week of recovery from Hurricane Sandy, I thought it worthwhile to provide some perspective on the life cycle of disasters. Every disaster has the same stages of recovery that it goes through, the variable is the length of each stage, determined by the scale and scope of the disaster. The model moves clockwise from the point of impact.
As you can see, even though we've done a great deal, we are in the very early stages of recovery. In the Diocese, I think that the Mid-Hudson area is in the long-term recovery stage, Region II and parts of Manhattan are in the short-term recovery stage, and that Staten Island is moving from aftermath to short-term recovery.
Our neighbors in Long Island are not as fortunate, as parts of Brooklyn and Queens are still in the aftermath (the Rockaways, in particular), and that as a region, we have much to do.
But, as St Paul says, 'we do not lose heart.' We have a plan for our Diocese, and the means to accomplish it, and I am confident that with your help, we will achieve our goal, which is to support the Episcopal parishes in Staten Island and the wider Staten Island community, and to support our neighbors in Long Island, Newark, and New Jersey over the long term.
The big thing you can do today is to bring any donated items to your local food pantry and to begin to work on developing a parish volunteer response team to help in Staten Island or Long Island.
Thank you for all that you are doing.
God bless you.
Stephen+