Disaster recovery workshops to be held in Lisle, Chicago

Day-long workshops on long-term recovery from disaster will be held October 1 in Chicago, October 2 in Lisle and October 4 in Peoria. The focus will be on meeting unmet needs of survivors of storms and flooding in April and May whose impact was so severe that 49 Illinois counties received federal disaster declarations.

The free “Recovery Tools and Training” workshops are for faith-based groups, religious leaders, community leaders, social service organizations, disaster case managers and others with funds, goods, labor and expertise to contribute to the flood recovery.

Participants will gain an understanding of the long-term recovery process and of how to coordinate its many components. These include identifying disaster survivors most in need, disaster case management, construction management, fundraising, emotional and spiritual care, and management of financial, in-kind and volunteer resources.

Each workshop will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with check in from 8:30 to 9 a.m. Venues and dates:

• Oct. 1, 2013 – Pullman Presbyterian Church, 550 E 103rd St., Chicago
• Oct. 2, 2013 - Trinity Green Trails Church, 2701 Maple Ave., Lisle
• Oct. 4, 2013 - First Federated Church of Peoria, 3601 North Sheridan Rd., Peoria

For more information and/or to register for any of the trainings, please contact Jocelyn Perry, jocelyn.perry@redcross.org or 312-285-1940.

MORE ABOUT “RECOVERY TOOLS AND TRAINING”

“Recovery Tools and Training” is a program of the humanitarian agency Church World Service, and has been used across the country to assist local communities in their long-term recovery efforts. CWS is bringing the program to Illinois by invitation of the COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster) of Northeast Illinois and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional office. The American Red Cross is funding the three workshops.

“All indications are of many unmet needs in the wake of this year’s floods – the fourth major flooding in many of the same counties since 2007,” said Susanne Gilmore, a CWS emergency response specialist based in Manhattan, Kansas, who is organizing the training.

“Many homes still need cleaning out and repair,” she said. “Many need appliances replaced. A significant number of survivors live in basement apartments, are low income, and/or have a first language other than English, complicating their recovery.

“Our job is to make sure everyone has a chance to recover, regardless of their means. The workshops seek to strengthen local long-term recovery groups as they help rebuild homes and lives.”

Dave Roth of Lutheran Disaster Response Illinois (LDRI), River Forest, has been tapped by the COAD of Northeast Illinois to organize the area’s long-term recovery group, to serve Lake, McHenry, Cook, DuPage, Kane and Will counties. A similar group has formed for LaSalle County and, another is forming for Tazewell, Woodford and Peoria counties.

“CWS’s Susanne Gilmore has been our ‘go-to’ person from the moment we started educating local leaders about organizing long-term recovery groups,” said Roth, who is LDRI’s Church and Civic Engagement Co-Coordinator.

“The Recovery Tools and Training program is a terrific education and organizing tool to empower communities to do good recovery. The COAD of Northeast Illinois was thrilled to hear from CWS that a Recovery Tools and Training workshop was available for Illinois, and will do all we can to help it succeed. I’m very happy that CWS and the American Red Cross have partnered to bring this to Illinois.”

Church World Service, an ecumenical agency with 37 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican member communions, is a close working partner in the United States with the American Red Cross, National VOAD and FEMA in helping people put their lives back together after a disaster. The agency also is known for its work to combat hunger and poverty, including the CROP Hunger Walk, its U.S. refugee resettlement work, and its international humanitarian assistance program.