Churches unite to help evacuees

Group will focus on long-term assistance
By Elena Gaona
UNION-TRIBUNE
September 14, 2005

An interdenominational coalition of churches began organizing in earnest yesterday to continue helping hurricane evacuees in San Diego after county, Red Cross or private assistance ends.

"Love for your fellow man is not limited," said the Rev. Robert Ard of Christ Church of San Diego.

He spoke to about 40 church leaders in Encanto yesterday who represented scores of churches.

Faith-based groups – including the Nation of Islam, Jewish Family Services, Catholic Charities, the St. Stephens Interdenominational Alliance and many individual churches – formed the Faith Based Resettlement Project, with plans to help families long-term and promises to work with the Red Cross, county and city authorities while that help is available.

Though hundreds of groups have been working individually to help evacuees, the new effort aims to take every church's "little," Ard said, and turn it into "a lot of aid."
The assistance is needed as more and more hurricane survivors arrive here.

The American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties reported at least 1,087 hurricane evacuees in San Diego as of yesterday, representing about 520 families. Local church leaders said they need to organize a safety net for many of those families who will need, above all, a place to live.

The American Red Cross – which has spent $345,000 on the local relief effort – has provided most families here with two weeks of housing in hotels and debit cards with varying amounts of money for basic needs. For some families, the hotel housing will end in a matter of days.

San Diego County – which has spent at least $55,000 to help evacuees with medical checkups and other evaluations – is matching families with public housing. But the matches have been limited, in part because there are some 20,000 San Diego families waiting for housing assistance already. Evacuee families would get public housing assistance only if the federal Housing and Urban Development department releases emergency housing funds, which it hasn't done.

Many families have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for monetary aid and possible help with emergency housing, but most have not heard back.

Nonprofit and private groups have helped, too, including Carmel Valley businessman David Perez, who brought at least 122 evacuees here. He organized for 82 of them to be housed in a hotel for four nights and plans to give each family $1,000 this week, collected from private donations.

Despite the outpouring of assistance, said church leaders, many families are still without homes, jobs and transportation.

"Brothers and sisters, we have to realize maybe FEMA and the Red Cross are not meeting the needs of some of our brothers and sisters, so we must still be there," said Hugh Muhammad, a minister and local representative for Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Many said families need months, often years, to recover.

Under the faith-based plan, the social service group Catholic Charities will track available homes that individual San Diego families or nonprofit groups have offered for evacuees. Catholic Charities will find housing for those who need it by communicating with the Faith Based Resettlement Project members and other community groups.

In the resettlement model adopted, churches will help families with housing, furniture, food, clothing, transportation, school enrollment, employment and affordable family entertainment. Each family will be sponsored by a congregation.

Joyce Gibson of Encanto, a member of Pilgrim Progressive Baptist Church, said she has five families who each have donated a home for up to a year. Some of those families were selling their houses but took them off the market, she said.

The new model to help families was direly needed to organize all the San Diegans who want to help but don't know where to turn, she said.

"I've been so frustrated I can't sleep at night," she said, thinking she knows of five empty homes and many families who would be happy to live in them. "The survivors are getting frustrated and they're running out of time and they're getting scared."

To volunteer a home or any assistance, dial the public information line at 211, or call (858) 300-1211.