April 25, 2007

BEAUMONT, TEXAS - Some 475,000 families in Texas sought assistance following 2005's Hurricane Rita. A year and a half later more than 5,000 individuals and families are still waiting for help. With every rainstorm, leaky roofs and moldy walls remind them again of the catastrophe.

In response to what they're calling "the forgotten disaster," humanitarian agency Church World Service announced today that it is joining with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to co-sponsor a one-day Southeast Texas Long-term Recovery Summit, Thursday May 3, in Beaumont, Texas.

The conference is intended to marshal and equip new and existing regional recovery groups who are now, de facto, the prime facilitators left to help families address their unmet housing needs.

Although fatalities from Rita were minimal, home damage was severe. "There are homes in southeastern Texas that look the same today as they did on September 24, 2005, when Rita struck," says Linda Reed Brown, Associate Director for Church World Service's Emergency Response Program.

Many of those affected by Rita don't have insurance, have lost coverage, or simply don't have the funds to pay for repairs on their own. The Beaumont conference planners hope to rally the combined energy and support needed to help these families regain their homes and lives.

What

"Hurricane Rita - Texas' Forgotten Disaster" Southeast Texas Long-term Recovery Summit

When

Thursday May 3, 2007 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Where

The Montagne Center, Lamar University 4400 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway Beaumont, Texas Center phone number: (409) 880-1810

Who

Sponsored by Church World Service and The Federal Emergency Management Agency In collaboration with the Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization

The conference expects to draw participants from national voluntary agencies who conduct recovery programs; legislators; federal, state and local government agencies; and the 17 existing community-based recovery organizations already at work in Texas, as well as those interested in forming new recovery groups.

The recovery summit's planners say they intend to establish a working network of resources, collaborating agencies, and groups and will provide training in the skills needed to establish more community-based long-term recovery organizations.

"We also hope to unite national relief organizations who are interested in fostering the work of these local recovery groups," says CWS's Brown.

Background

FEMA and Church World Service say the 17 existing long-term recovery committees in Texas are reporting at least 5,000 cases of need still unassisted, as recently as March 1. "We are talking about 5,000 families, not just individuals," said Brown.

In recent years, Church World Service has been at the forefront in the movement to form community-based and regional long-term disaster recovery organizations dedicated to assisting vulnerable populations with unmet needs. Those committees are often drawn from the interfaith community. Church World Service partner the Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization (www.setio.org) is joining with CWS and FEMA in planning the Beaumont Rita summit.

Church World Service is a disaster relief, sustainable development, refugee assistance and human rights agency working in the U.S. and worldwide. The agency has continued to provide material assistance and long-term recovery support to those in need in the aftermath of both hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

For more information on the conference, contact the Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization at 409-984-9530.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net