Update #15
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
9:00am
Good morning -
Even though power is back or coming back, I continue to hear stories of places where the power is not back on in Manhattan, Staten Island, the Rockaways, New Jersey. Yesterday's article in the New York Times, "Cold, Dark and Damp, Pockets of Misery Persist 2 Weeks Later"[1] gives insight as to what it means to live without power for the last two weeks.
The Church of St Marks-in-the-Bowery has been providing meals and outreach to their neighbors in that area. The Rev'd Winnie Varghese reports that the need is still great and that the structure for a coordinated response to Knickerbocker Village and its neighbors is still emerging.
On Staten Island, according to an article in the Staten Island Advance and posted on the SIlive.com website, a new Family Assistance Center will open today at 1976 Hylan Boulevard; plans are in the works to close down the Miller Field site and transition it into the site for the Mayor's Rapid Repair Program over the next two weeks. (http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/11/new_disaster_recovery_center_o.html#incart_m-rpt-1 )
These two situations exemplify where we are as a diocese; part still very much in the aftermath stage of no power, water, or heat; part moving into short-term recovery with the opening of the new center on Staten Island.
The point of including the model of the life cycle of a disaster yesterday was to provide perspective on where we are in our recovery. We will not be completely out of the aftermath stage until everyone has power and heat.
As a diocese we have done exceptionally well in these first two weeks in terms of responding and caring for those still in need. Now the task will be to support and serve our communities as we address the short-term recovery needs of cleaning, restoring, and rebuilding in a landscape that is different than it was before, and to settle in for the long haul.
This week, ways we can support and serve our communities are to follow through on our food collections; to continue to organize parish-based teams to volunteer - and then volunteer; and to assess the needs of your local community to see where the gaps are and if your congregation can fill one or more of them. If your local congregation and community seem fine, please consider serving the wider diocese or region by volunteering to help in Staten Island or the Diocese of Long Island.
Food Collections: Thank you to those who collected food this past Sunday. Our goal this week was to restock the food pantries throughout the diocese. If you can get your donated food to your local food pantry, please do; if you are in Manhattan or the Bronx and need assistance, please call me at 917 301-0267 or email me at [email protected].
Parish-based volunteers program: This model was very successful last Saturday and allows parishes to help in a specific way on a specific date - and two parishes can commit to go together.
In this model members of a congregation organize themselves to commit to volunteer on a certain day and for a set number of hours and go as a group that represents their parish. This parish volunteer system needs a leader - someone in the congregation who organizes other members to go and then coordinates with the recipient organization. (Note that the leader does not have to be clergy). The group needs to commit to a date, the number of volunteers and the length of time to volunteer. The leader then contacts the recipient organization to schedule the parish group's volunteer date, time, location, and, if possible, learn in advance what the group will be doing. (Note: what's needed may change from day to day without notice. Please be understanding and flexible in your approach.)
We are closer to having a structure in place to coordinate and deploy parish-based volunteer groups for Staten Island - for now, if your parish can organize such a group, please contact Fr Chuck Howell at 718 727-6100, Fr Roy Cole at 718 447-1605, or me at 917 301-0267 to schedule your time on Staten Island.
Please also consider using this model to help our neighbors in the Diocese of Long Island: the Rockaways, Nassau and Suffolk counties have been hit hard and there are many people without homes there; they can use our help.
Parishes or groups who can help should organize themselves according to the Parish-based volunteer model above. The leader is asked to complete their on-line Parish Volunteer Registration Form at http://dioceseli.org/newsDetail.php?Register-your-Parish-Volunteer-Team-Today-590 and call The Rev'd Stephanie Spellers at 617 312-5218 to confirm date, time, and number of volunteers. Cars will be needed to get to the volunteer sites.
Your generosity is truly inspiring. Thank you for all that you are doing.
God bless you.
Stephen+
[1] Michael Wilson, "Cold, Dark and Damp, Pockets of Misery Persist 2 Weeks Later", New York Tmes, November 12, 2012, downloaded from