United Methodists to help rebuild flooded homes in Georgia
4/30/1998 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York By Bob Blair* ALBANY, Ga. (UMNS) - United Methodists are taking up hammers and saws the weekend of May 2 in a million-dollar recovery project to rebuild some 60 area homes damaged by February floods.
Work teams will start arriving May 1, according to Kaye Voth, director of United Methodist flood recovery. They will come from Albany, Americus, Columbus and Savannah in Georgia, as well as the Western North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference.
"We have firm commitments from various United Methodist disaster teams to help rebuild houses on a schedule that takes us into the summer," Voth said. "By the time we are finished, which may take two years, we expect that more than 2,500 volunteers will have participated.
"For generations, Americans have helped their neighbors build houses and raise barns," she added. "This recovery effort is simply an extension of our tradition of helping people."
Both the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the South Georgia United Methodist Annual Conference have been raising funds to pay for building materials.
The effort will help people who are not getting assistance from the federal government or elsewhere.
"Basically, we are finding that those needing help are the elderly and handicapped because they do not have the capability of repaying the federal loans," Voth explained.
A work team of four to 10 people will be assigned to do the necessary repairs at each house. That work often will include building new flooring and walls, she said.
An estimated 51 homes will be rebuilt at an average value of $20,000 each. Another 10 homeowners, who are able to perform their own labor, will each receive building materials valued at $2,200.
Previously, United Methodists provided free cleanup supplies to residents of 739 flooded dwellings and dispensed tons of supplies through 12 organizations. Some supplies were donated and the rest were purchased, at a cost of $36,000.
Most volunteer teams will work in Albany only on weekends, but groups from North Carolina and Michigan have committed teams for two-week cycles, according to Voth.
For information on volunteering, call Voth, at 1-800-806-6631.
Donations for the relief work, earmarked for Advance No. 982328-6, South Georgia Floods, can be given through local churches or mailed directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
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*Blair, of Woodstock, Va., is a volunteer with UMCOR.
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