Blessed are the flexible,
for they do not get bent out of shape.

Work team from Westerville
Community UCC at the end of a week
in Pineville, West Virginia, July 2003

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about organizing a team of volunteers to respond to a disaster.

1. Where do we start? 

Begin to organize your team either from your church or a cluster of churches. Determine the number of people who will go, their skill levels and experience, and identify a leader/contact person. The team leader will serve as the main contact for the disaster site coordinator. Optimal team sizes vary by disaster sites. Many can accommodate as few as 6 or as many as 15 members. 

2. What do we need to do to get ready?

To be in the best position to serve a community affected by disaster, a volunteer work group should spend time together. Get to know each other. Inventory skills and degree of expertise. Work out the responsibilities, communication issues and kinks in relationships ahead of time. It is important to work well together as a team on any trip. It is especially so in a disaster response situation. 

3. What are key factors for a successful disaster response team experience? 

The community affected by disaster has been subjected to sudden change, great loss and trauma, leaving their world in a state of upheaval. To be in the best position to serve, the team should: plan time for rest, devotions, and reflection at the disaster site.

Keep in mind that you are guests and servants under the authority of the community in which you serve. Take time to listen to and get to know the disaster survivors. Remain flexible!  If the work assignment is redirected, accept and affirm the change, pitch in, and do it! 

4. Who pays for the trip?

Each group (or church sending the group) bears the costs of their own transportation, lodging, food and incidentals. 

Most disaster sites make arrangements for lodging at a reduced cost. 

5. How much time should we plan?

Most sites like to have groups stay for a week or longer. 

6. What will we do? 

Responsibilities will vary from site to site; individual site coordinators will give you that information. In general, needs for services and skills will vary with each stage of disaster response. 

• The emergency stage (days or weeks following the disaster) involves meeting urgent needs such as helping to establish emergency shelters or feeding stations. 

• The relief phase includes clean up and temporary repairs. This phase can last from one to several months; longer when flooding is involved. 

• The recovery stage deals with permanent repairs and rebuilding. This stage can last from several months to several years. In this phase the biggest need is for skilled teams.  

Blessed are the flexible, for they do not get bent out of shape.

Organize your group, make your plans for transportation, lodging, meals and work to be done - then expect them to change, at least a little.  Flexibility is the key; be prepared for God to use you where and when you are most needed - even if it is not in the way that you expected.

The Ohio Conference, through the Disaster Response Team, coordinates groups wanting to help with disaster response by connecting them with projects appropriate to their skills.  Every effort will be made to provide comfortable housing and food service arrangements for your group.  Two to three weeks before a scheduled trip, Jim Ditzler will give group leaders all the details about housing, meals and the work you will be doing.

              
It is not possible to predict the details of housing, bathing, food service and work projects for all disaster sites, but here are some general guidelines:

Transportation

Groups arrange and pay for their own transportation.

Housing

In general, be prepared to sleep on the floor in a church social hall.  Many groups have found that packing air mattresses is a good idea.  Others are comfortable enough with sleeping bags or other bedding.  Try to take along what you will need to make yourself comfortable.

There is usually no cost for housing, except for a free will donation.

Meals

Some churches have kitchens available for the group to use.  Some do not.  In these cases, other arrangements will be made for feeding the group.  Many times, the homeowners or a church group will provide a few meals for the group.  If kitchen facilities are available where the group is sleeping, you should be prepared to provide and cook your own food for most meals.  Most groups pack lunches, store them in coolers and eat lunch at the work site.

Showers/Bathrooms

Showers will be available for your group close to where you are staying.  Bathroom facilities are usually available at work sites, either at the house where the group will be working or nearby.  On rare occasions, group members will need to drive to nearby public facilities if a home's bathroom is unusable.

Work Projects

The work to be done will vary, depending on the disaster and on the recovery stage.  After the emergency and relief stages - when you will be helping feed and house people, doing cleanup work and making temporary repairs - projects tend toward some degree of construction such as drywall, flooring, siding, decks or porches, perhaps electrical or plumbing.  Consequently, groups need to be either all adult and/or contain leadership skilled in construction work.  Job supervision is not provided locally.  Your group needs to be able to handle the job on your own once you arrive on site.

Tools

The tools needed will, of course, vary depending on the work that is needed.  The Disaster Response Team has a tool trailer that may be available.  You will need someone in your group with the vehicle and experience to pull it.  Many groups provide their own tools.  
    

Take the first step and organize a group for a memorable experience.  People who participate in these trips report that they come away with more benefits than the people who were helped.  

THIS IS WHAT MISSION IS ALL ABOUT!  

Contact Jim Ditzler at 330-262-3242 or jditzler@sssnet.com for information about where the Disaster Response Team is working now.
          

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