| Isabel recovery efforts bring praise and frustration By Melissa LauberUMConnection Staff 
As part of the next stage of Hurricane Isabel recovery, Volunteers in Mission teams are being sought to work on homes in Maryland that were affected by the September storm. The need is great, said Associate Council on Ministries Director Sandy Ferguson. In Maryland, the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened 17,837 cases related to damage caused by Isabel, reported Cheryl Brekke, FEMAs volunteer agency liaison at a VIM training Dec. 11 at Bethany UMC in Ellicott City. The United Methodist Church is right on target, their timing is perfect, Brekke said. People needed time to go through the proper sequences to receive the insurance and government loans and grants that they were entitled to. Thats the process. However, several pastors in the Baltimore-Harford District, which was dramatically affected by the flooding, have expressed frustration with the process. Some believe that the immediate needs of the dazed, devastated and bewildered residents of the Chesapeake shores of Baltimore County were ignored by the conference while necessary bureaucratic infrastructures were created. The lack of a detailed, well-publicized plan at the grassroots level of the disaster scene also created difficulties for those in need and those who were anxious to be of assistance, said the Baltimore-Harford District disaster response coordinator, the Rev. Jack Bussard. Everything seemed to run helter skelter, said Bussard, pastor of Cowenton UMC in White Marsh. He is hopeful this disaster will serve as inspiration to develop a more comprehensive plan for future disaster response. While some were disappointed with the response, state officials were so impressed with the United Methodist effort that the Maryland Department of Human Resources asked the Baltimore-Washington Conference to coordinate the case management of those still in need, Ferguson said. Training has been provided for case managers and efforts to create an extensive database are underway. However, once case management assessments are made, Volunteers in Mission teams will be called upon, said Sandy Rowland, who coordinates VIM efforts for the conference. Volunteers in Mission teams are small groups of people, often from the same church, who travel to a place to work in mission for several days. Most of the projects involve construction and rebuilding. But the real project is the people. Its about compassion. There is an important spiritual dimension to this, Rowland said. Rowland and FEMA officials predict VIM teams will be needed on a steady basis in this area for the next two or three years. The needs are just getting started, she said. The disaster is out of the news and has been forgotten. People have said to me, Isnt that fixed? Its not. Rowland anticipates receiving calls from out-of-state VIM teams who will want to combine the rebuilding work with sightseeing tours of Washington. This is also a good opportunity for teams from this conference, especially youth, to work in mission less than 100 miles from home, she said. In the days that followed Hurricane Isabel, Rowland coordinated the work of the conferences early response team. She and a handful of others worked in St. Marys County assessing needs, helping people with referrals and doing debris removal. The team removed more than 100 trees from the yard of a single mother with a new baby. Rowland has begun to compile a list of teams who are willing to serve in Volunteers in Mission and is eager to begin matching them with projects in the area. Individuals or churches interested in participating in the clean-up and rebuilding efforts can contact Rowland at (304) 725-5712 or
A training event for those interested in Volunteers in Mission efforts will be held March 26-28 at Camp Manidokan, near Harpers Ferry, W.Va. The United Methodist Committee on Relief, which is still seeking donations to replenish its depleted general disaster recovery assistance funds, recently gave the conference $15,000 toward its efforts. Those monies were divided among the three affected districts of Baltimore-Harford, Annapolis and Washington East. Our task, as United Methodists, is to continue to help others, said Bishop Felton Edwin May. Our neighbors are in need. I expect every United Methodist to reach out to people who need help, in the name of Jesus Christ. | 
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