“This has been an exceptional year. Let’s focus our efforts on people whose homes or jobs were affected a local disaster, specifically the Thomas Fire and the January 9th debris flow.” This was the sentiment shared by the entire Outreach Committee at our April meeting.
As of July, $39,000 has been distributed to four organizations whose focus is restoration of homes owned by residents that were either uninsured or underinsured. Two of these homes were near the church, just across North Jameson.
$15,000 – 805undocufund assists local undocumented individuals and families that have lost their homes or employment due to the recent disaster and who do not quality for FEMA or Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
$6,000 – 93108fund – while similar to the 805undocufund, this organization focuses on a smaller group of workers, mostly those who were employed in Montecito.
$10,000 – Christ Memorial Episcopal Church in Kilauea, Kauai. On April 14, and several days following, the small church on the island of Kauai in Hawaii suffered a flash flood and intense rainfall. It is with profound empathy that we strive to help them recover.
As we are trying to help others, we are being helped in return. In June, The Faith Lutheran Church in Dickinson, Texas gave us $1,804.65. This gift was from their parish as well as the local community. They suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. From their letter, ‘These funds were previously undesignated in our budget, waiting for a need beyond our own and we chose your community to assist.’ How’s that for paying it forward?
We will use this money to replenish the emergency supplies we used on January 9th and 10th in the triage center that sprung up in our sanctuary.
Thank you for your support of our Outreach ministry. The committee tried hard to go where God leads us. We pray, we listen, we research, we interview, we discuss, then we vote. We pray again. We thank you for your trust and your support.
