Disaster Response

Catholic Charities USA, nationally and locally, continues its response to the devastating fires in southern California. Though the past few days have seen some progress in terms of controlling the fires and indeed some people have started to leave the temporary shelters, the significant work of recovering from this disaster is only just beginning.

Tens of thousands of people have been radically affected; many of them are people who were poor and vulnerable before the fires. As a key member of the Catholic Charities USA community, we want to make sure you are up to date on the situation.

CCUSA DISASTER RESPONSE OFFICE

Since the early days of this disaster, Kim Burgo, CCUSA’s senior director for disaster response, has been actively engaged with the affected agencies in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Bernardino, and San Diego. We have maintained contact to help assess needs and assist the local Catholic Charities agencies in any way possible, including making connection to key national partners.

We have maintained on-going communication with a wide range of partners, including FEMA, the American Red Cross, and National VOAD. We have also provided regular updates to the Catholic Charities network, USCCB, and the media so that they can pass along information to key audiences.

CCUSA DISASTER RESPONSE TEAM

On Thursday, CCUSA sent the following team of 3 people to the region to provide on-site assistance:
· Kim Burgo, Senior Director for Disaster Response
· Joe Mahoney, Disaster Response Program Officer
· Jennifer Dyer, Disaster Loaned Executive from Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Camden

After an initial assessment of the current and on-going needs, the following additional members were sent on Friday:
· Tamera Fontenot, CCUSA Katrina Aid Today Program Officer
· Shelley Borysiewicz, CCUSA Manager of Media Relations

GENERAL SITUATION REPORT

Here is a general situation report as of Friday, October 26 at 5:30pm (eastern):
· There are currently 9 active fires: Grass Valley (70% contained), Slide (15% contained), Witch (30% contained), Poomacha (35% contained), Rice (40% contained), Santiago (30% contained), Harris (20% contained), Ranch (87% contained), Pendleton (80% contained).
· There have been 61 injuries and 7 confirmed deaths due to the wildfires.
· 2,098 structures have been destroyed and 21,450 structures are threatened.
· 4,512 individuals are currently being sheltered in 41 shelters.
· The continued outbreak of smaller fires continues to cause severe disruption in terms of road closures and power outages as does the overall climate of smoke, haze and ash.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES SAN BERNARDINO/RIVERSIDE

Mr. Ken Sawa, Executive Director, and Ms. Beverly Earl are coordinating the efforts for Catholic Charities San Bernardino/Riverside. It appears as if San Bernardino will be a major activity center. The agency is working to ramp up services in four areas: Community and Emergency services, Outreach services, Counseling services and Refugee and Immigration services to meet the early and long term needs of families and individuals impacted by the wildfires. Discussions were held on Friday morning to determine the best way to assess the needs of the families and individuals as they begin to move out of shelters. The agency plans to concentrate on at risk populations such as immigrants and the elderly.

As of 4pm on Friday, the American Red Cross opened an additional 4 shelters to accommodate new residents. As new fires break out, additional evacuations are taking place. Catholic Charities staff traveled to Pasadena with CCUSA staff to meet with FEMA personnel and the Washington DC based Faith Based Initiatives liaison to discuss some concerns related to information sharing for the affected population, coordinate communications channels for when evacuees transition out of shelters, and identify possibilities for Catholic Charities to assist FEMA with application processes for the vulnerable clients serviced by Catholic Charities.

Over the weekend, the CCUSA team will be working with local Catholic Charities staff to develop and refine a working plan of action that will launch services for disaster victims beginning Monday. On Saturday, the CCUSA team and local Catholic Charities staff will travel to various shelters and the affected area in Riverside county, where an extremely large population of undocumented migrants are residing. Staff will additionally work throughout the weekend to establish the CAN network for disaster assistance client processing.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOS ANGELES

Msgr. Gregory Cox, Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Ron Lopez, Chief Operating Officer, continue to work closely with local disaster and community leaders to assess and mobilize their response. In consultation with parishes in the affected areas, the diocese has decided to continue to provide the normal level of emergency services assistance it has been providing to date. Catholic Charities of Los Angeles has 300 staff who have been monitoring the situation closely. With the closure of smaller shelters, and the merger into larger ones, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is well-positioned to respond to the ongoing needs.

In coordination with CCUSA staff, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is working to do outreach and collaboration with Catholic Charities San Bernardino/Riverside. This will include the establishment of a referral system for clients currently in San Bernardino shelters who will be traveling or are transferred to LA shelters or other transitional housing accommodations in the LA area. In addition, Catholic Charities is assessing its capacity to provide case management staff to assist San Bernardino with its upcoming case management needs for the days and weeks to come.

CCUSA staff will be traveling to Los Angeles on Monday to meet with the agency to further discuss needs in San Bernardino, coordinate any minor assistance that may be required by the end of the weekend, and discuss getting connected to the CAN network to process both regular and disaster clients.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES SAN DIEGO

Sr. RayMonda DuVall, Executive Director for Catholic Charities San Diego, continues to work with local partners in their response. The major shelter, at QualComm stadium, has been closed. As reported earlier, Sr. RayMonda and partners established a visible and active presence within the QualComm Stadium, offering hot meals to shelter residents. Additionally, Sr. RayMonda established a locator system whereby pastors and parishioners can connect with one another. She is organizing diocesan priests to visit the stadium to provide spiritual and emotional care. Sr. RayMonda and partners will assist clients in coordinating their transitional housing needs and assist them with completing their FEMA and other resource need applications. For more information, including photos, visit http://www.cc-sd.org/firerelief07/.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES ORANGE COUNTY

Ms. Terry Montminy, Executive Director, has reported that Catholic Charities is continuing to monitor the situation and has remained in contact with CCUSA Disaster Response Office staff in the event a response is required. More information will follow as the local situation develops.

CCUSA NETWORK RESPONSE

At this point, several Catholic Charities agencies from around the country have contacted CCUSA to offer additional assistance. At this point, financial contributions are the most helpful, so spreading the word about the continuing needs in the region is absolutely critical. This will be particularly true in the days and weeks ahead when the news media begins to move on to other stories. As always, people can support the recovery efforts by going to www.catholiccharitiesusa.org. The website also provides press releases and other information that can help you spread the word.

In terms of others forms of assistance like loaned staff, hygiene kits, etc. we anticipate that their may be some need for those in the days and weeks ahead, but at this point, no specific requests have been made by the affected agencies. If your agency is willing to provide such assistance, please e-mail Jean Beil and please put “2007 California Wildfires Agency Assistance” in the subject line.