CWS School Kits were delivered along with tips on disaster preparedness during a Jefferson County, Ala., “Community Awareness Day” Oct. 9 in Birmingham, the county seat. Most of the 100 kits were given to children from communities battered by tornados and severe storms in April and still struggling to recover. It was one of the largest tornado outbreaks in state …

“I can’t imagine leaving everything I had to go to someplace new where I had nothing” Vacation Bible School Student Every day in communities around the country, refugee kids are learning a new language, a new culture, and heading off to new schools – often without much understanding about what they should bring on the first day. Because refugees arrive …

NEW YORK — October 2012’s Superstorm Sandy was still very much on the minds of New York and New Jersey Puerto Rican and Latin American community leaders as they met recently for training by Church World Service and other experts in how to prepare for future disasters. Some 90 faith, consular and other community leaders came together in recognition that …

Church World Service will present a free webinar on disaster long-term recovery basics on Tuesday, October 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern time. Led by Susanne Gilmore, CWS Emergency Response Specialist, this two-hour webinar will cover a wide range of topics designed to help communities rebuild and recover after a disaster. It will be useful for clergy, lay leaders …

Seven inches of rain every day for four or five days left communities across northwest Iowa waterlogged in June.  Church World Service worked with local partners to get hundreds of CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets out quickly – and within easy driving distance – to homeowners who needed the supplies to clean up their flooded basements. CWS dropped off buckets with …

With what amounts to three full-time jobs—wife, mother of a 10-year-old-son, and full-time work as a nurse educator– it’s hard to imagine how Beth Simon, coordinator for the Pittsburgh East CROP Hunger Walk, could ever find the time to do what she does to help people in need. But indeed she has found time– for nearly a decade — and …

Three years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan CWS continues to support local partners participation in the international conferences on disaster risk reduction, which link experience from Japan to global policy dialogue. Following is a story of a local female leader in Fukushima who recently delivered a presentation at the Sixth Asian Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) …

“I couldn’t believe how fast the water rose. The damage it left was unbelievable; I really didn’t know what to do.”  This comment from a homeowner in greater Detroit was echoed by tens of thousands across eastern Michigan who suffered damage from flash floods on August 11. At 8 a.m., it started raining hard across most of the region.  All …

How prepared is your congregation or organization to respond effectively and with confidence when disaster strikes, whether it’s following a devastating tornado like Joplin, Mo.; a school shooting like Newtown, Conn.; a superstorm like Katrina or Sandy, or an individual member’s house fire? September is National Preparedness Month, and this free, one-hour webinar – Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, from 2-3 …

At first, it looked like the storm would go around Brookport, Ill.  But when the thunder and lightning came close and the wind picked up suddenly, Clark Blasdel took shelter in the laundry room of his mobile home.  “I lay down and put the recliner on top of me,” he recounted.  “The tornado hit within seconds.  It took the back …