Greetings from the Director of Recovery!
Last week I attended the North Central Jurisdiction Disaster Academy. I gathered alot of useful information and connected with a lot of people of our Jurisdiction. The workshop that I found most beneficial was Conference Disaster Preparedness. As we have all learned, we, as the UMC, need to have a plan in place before the a disaster. Not only for our conference but for our local churches. Watch for further details on this!
Something I haven't mentioned in a long time - we're still along way from complete storm recovery! Your monetary donations are still needed. I was attending church at one of the local Cedar Rapids Churches and I was speaking to the congregation about how the United Methodist Conference was involved in storm recovery. The service was over and as I turned around a young woman gave me a huge hug and handed me a dollar. She said "it's all I have right now, but please take it - it might just help someone!" Every dollar we receive will definitely help someone!
Maybe your congregation would consider some sort of a summer fund drive for storm recovery - please give it prayerful consideration!
Notes from Pastor Melisa Bracht-Wagner
NEED!! We are in need of a few good people who can estimate a house for rebuild. Typically we have appointments in the afternoon. The estimator and the case manager meet with the home owner. The estimator measures, draws up the house, asks questions about windows, doors and develops the scope of work and materials needed for the project. We will provide training and materials. We need 3 estimators. One from our team has significant health issues and is no longer able to help. Please call Pastor Melisa at 319-480-4469 with the name of who might be able to help. This is a critical part of our process and very needed.
Thank you to all the churches who are excelling on the hospitality of teams. WOW, we are hearing some great comments, Many returning teams are requesting church facilities by name.
A shower trailer from Oakville will arrive at Cedar Hills Community Church in the near future via the work of Dan and Jean Houton. Like St. Paul's UMC, this church houses large teams.
HOSTING: Kudos to St. Paul for their exceptional sleeping of teams. Shueyville continues to provide sleeping, feeding of teams, RV parking and are adding SHOWERS!
Outlying towns: do you have a relationship with a pastor in another town affected by tornados or flooding? We would love you to invite them to join their area's rebuild efforts and host volunteers. This will enable us to shuffle some volunteers and still allow for flood rebuilds. Helps us use the connection to help our neighbors.
Thank you all for your continued support - have a wonderful weekend!
Becky Wood
Director of Recovery - Storms 2008
Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
2200 Heritage Green Dr.
Hiawatha, IA 52233
(319) 393-1607 (office)
(515) 238-5346 (cell)
email: becky.wood@iaumc.org
