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UMCOR Slates Long Term Hurricane Recovery Operations in Haiti, Grenada

Posted: April 13, 2005

STAMFORD, CONN., April 12, 2005: A $2 million United Methodist relief investment will assist residents of Haiti and Grenada to rebuild and repair homes and revive economies after hurricanes devastated both islands in September 2004.

The board of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) meeting here, approved the project proposals. The new operations will augment $288,000 in emergency aid already dispatched to the island nations following Tropical Storm Jeanne and Hurricane Ivan.

In Haiti nearly 30,000 people remain homeless, nearly all in the Gonaives area. Post-hurricane floods destroyed livestock and farmlands. Rockslides and mud up to two feet thick have hampered rebuilding. UMCOR anticipates multiplying United Methodist contributions by applying for program support from other funding sources. UMCOR will team with the Committee on Development of the Methodist Church of Haiti to strengthen local capacity while the agency works to restore lost income and to repair homes for some 10,740 women, children, and men in Cap Haitien.

The organization of UMCOR's Haiti office received support from the island nation's highest officials, said the Rev. R. Randy Day, head of the United Methodist mission agency of which UMCOR is a part. Rev. Day met with Gerard La Tortue, Haiti's prime minister, to complete registration for UMCOR and secure the government's clearance to work there. "We are very grateful for the cooperation of the Methodist Church of Haiti, the government, and other local partners in Haiti," said Day, who is chief executive of the General Board of Global Ministries.

UMCOR's response in Grenada, where Hurricane Ivan's punishing winds destroyed 90 percent of the island's buildings and virtually all of the fruit, vegetable, and nutmeg crops, will focus on agricultural redevelopment. UMCOR will work with GRENCODA, a long-time partner in the region, to provide income generation, home repair, and food security.

In addition UMCOR is assisting with support of a local project director, who comes from the Methodist Church of Grenada. United Methodist Volunteers in Mission teams will work under the project director's guidance in repair of schools, churches, and parsonages.