Affiliation: CWS ~ Church World Service available at LTRC, Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network

To assist hurricane survivors in rebuilding and renewing their lives after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina, Reformed Church World Service (RCWS) has formed a new partnership with Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network, which is based in McComb, Mississippi.

After the hurricane struck, FEMA received 35,000 registrations for assistance from residents in the five-county area now served by the Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network. Recognizing the tremendous number of unmet needs in the area, RCWS partner Church World Service sent one of its disaster response consultants, who is supported in part by RCWS, to the area to consult with local churches and community agencies. As a result, the Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network was officially launched in March 2006. St. Andrew's Mission, which is based in a Methodist church in McComb, serves as the fiscal agent and organizing body for the network.

RCWS has sent the network a grant of $100,000 and promised to send RCA volunteer teams. Half of the grant will cover the cost of two case workers who are helping between seven hundred and one thousand survivors complete the process to become eligible for assistance. The other half of the grant will help with building and repair costs for these families, most of whom are single parents, elderly people, or people who are disabled.

The network desperately needs volunteers to continue recovery work for the seventy aid applicants they have processed so far. Most of the applicants' homes received wind damage. Many trees fell on their homes, which are located primarily in rural areas, and black mold has become a big problem due to high humidity and unrepaired roof damage.

RCA volunteers, in groups of 18 to 22, will be provided with lodging at the Ferguson House (a repaired home that's being used to house volunteers) in McComb, Mississippi. Volunteers will assist with roof repair, plumbing, electrical work, and sheetrock installation.

For volunteer information, contact Nancy Ellens in the RCA Volunteer Services office at nellens@rca.org or by calling (616) 698-7071, ext. 243, or (800) 968-3943. RCWS will offer travel assistance when needed.

Please continue to remember in your prayers all of the hurricane survivors and those who are assisting them.

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