WEEK OF COMPASSION UPDATE Nashville: The Recovery Is Just Beginning
It’s time to head to Nashville! Mission stations to help with flood recovery needs are being set up as you are reading this, and YOU are invited to help. Josh Baird of Disciples Volunteering offered us this exciting announcement:
In early May, several days of rain culminated in massive flooding across middle and western Tennessee. Waters across the state rose to record heights, causing more than half of the counties in Tennessee to be declared federal disaster areas. In Nashville alone, nearly 60,000 households registered for FEMA assistance following the flood. Neighbors and friends pulled together quickly to ensure that most flooded homes were mucked and gutted.
Over the next several months, people waded through the processes required by FEMA or their insurance companies; too many completed that journey only to find themselves without the resources to cover their needs.
Disciples Volunteering, in partnership with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Tennessee and supported by your Week of Compassion offerings, is now calling for volunteers and mission teams to help. For many people in the disaster-affected areas, long-term recovery can now begin. Disciples Volunteering is committed to work for the long haul in Nashville. We want to start by putting our best foot forward: volunteers are needed for 6 weeks this fall, between October 10 and November 20. We will also start scheduling mission teams for next spring and summer very soon. There is much work to do, and you are an important part of that work!
Our Nashville Mission Station can accommodate up to 15 people. We welcome volunteers who are at least 14 years old; youth groups must have at least one adult for every five youth.