Update #20
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
9:00am
Good Morning -
Update: I went to Staten Island yesterday to see how things were and to check out the service hub at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Margaret Mary in the Midland Beach section. I met Tommy Sullivan, who has been overseeing the cooking operation, John Cochran, who has been overseeing the feeding program, and various members of Occupy Sandy, who have been organizing volunteers to go to various sites in the community and filling requests for supplies through their open store.
The area these groups are covering goes from Hylan Boulevard to Seaview Hospital to Father Cappadano Boulevard to Miller Field, or about 2,000 people. During the week, they are feeding 500 people a day; over 1,000 on the weekends. The people they're feeding are community residents, workers, and volunteers. Driving down Midland Avenue, I saw several condemned homes, piles of belongings in front of others, and people working on their houses in the rain.
There is much we can do to help.
Later, I went to a meeting of the Staten Island Nonprofits. This was comprised of faith communities, relief agencies, local social service agencies, and not-for profit agencies. Housing was the number one concern.
The Nonprofit group will meet again in two weeks, and there will be a public forum with the Staten Island Borough President and other elected officials at the New Dorp High School this Thursday, November 29, at 7:00pm.
Occupy Sandy have set up additional hubs at Cedar Grove and New Dorp, in the basement of Goodfella's Pizza, and at Midland and Patterson.
Starting this Thursday, the Fire Department (FDNY) will implement and oversee a door-to-door assessment of needs (do you have heat, electricity, water damage...) and enter the particulars into a central system, and assess for health needs as well. The survey will be done by the National Guard and Americorps Volunteers. There is a contract with the Visiting Nurse Service: if there are health issues, a referral will be made to VNS for follow up. Appropriate supplies will be given to the residents: electric blankets if they have electricity but no heat; blankets if no electricity; masks if they are needed for mucking out...
Impact: The numbers from FEMA announced at the meeting give a sense of the impact on Staten Island. 18,500 people on Staten Island have registered with FEMA for disaster assistance. FEMA has conducted 12,600 housing inspections on Staten Island, from which one can infer the number of damaged homes; 6,000 people are eligible for transitional housing assistance; 7,000 households received emergency housing loans.
Assessment: Based on this snapshot, we (the people of the Diocese) can help now by continuing our program of parish-based response teams to help those on Staten Island, contributing to the Christmas gift card appeal (see below), and hosting volunteer teams from out of state in our parish halls.
Long-term recovery: Once the government agencies and relief agencies leave - and they will, once services have been restored - it will be up to the local faith communities and local service agencies to manage the long-term recovery. This is why we're working now to plan the diocesan structure which will best help us meet our needs on for our own parishioners and communities on Staten Island and the needs of our wider region.
Workshop for Caregivers: The Diocese is hosting the workshop Providing Care in the Aftermath/Including for You. These workshops are intended for anyone providing care in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, and will be co-led by Katie Mears, Program Director, US Disaster Program, Episcopal Relief and Development, and the Reverend Stephen Harding. The first one is tomorrow on Staten Island:
Thursday, November 29, 2012, 12:00-1:00pm
The Church of St Andrew, 40 Old Mill Road
Staten Island, NY 10306, 718 351-0900
These presentations are for a time to come together over lunch, hear a presentation on care in the aftermath and share in the conversation. Due to dietary considerations, everyone is asked to bring their own lunch. For more information, please call Stephen Harding at 917 301-0267; to RSVP, please call the Church in question. We look forward to seeing you there.
Christmas Gift Card Appeal: Rather than goods, we have decided to ask the people of the Diocese for $25.00 gift cards for the survivors of Sandy in lower Manhattan and Staten Island. Deacons Vonnie Hubbard and Lynn Wardell are coordinating this effort. As part of this Diocesan-wide effort, could you publicize the following in your congregations and in your bulletins:
Diocesan-Wide Christmas Appeal for Sandy Survivors
We are asking each congregation in the Diocese to consider purchasing $25.00 gift cards for the survivors of Superstorm Sandy as gift cards are a way for the recipients to purchase what they need to restore their homes and replace their possessions.
We are suggesting that the gift cards be purchased from the following stores that sell home repair items, clothes, bedding, and food: Home Depot, Lowes, Pathmark, Shop Rite, Stop-n-Shop, Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond, J.C. Penny's, Macy's and CVS Pharmacy.
We are asking all congregations to please have all cards collected by December 16th (3 Advent). Further particulars on getting the cards to Deacon Geri Swanson on Staten Island (Christ Church new Brighton) and distribution to residents will follow. In the meantime, thank you again for your generosity to those who have been impacted by Sandy.
Thank you for all that you are doing and for all your help.
God bless you.
Stephen+
