Faith help needed
Here's an urgent plea from the Rev. Mark Sills, executive director of FaithAction International House:
"We do not have the luxury of time. Refugees from the New Orleans area are already in our city, and more may be arriving at any moment. We need to mobilize the faith communities of our county to respond in a caring and effective manner. To that end, we will have a planning meeting to discuss how to recruit and train "Care Teams" that will be assigned refugee families to work with over a period of time. The Care Teams will seek to help families that have decided (or have no choice but) to stay in Guilford County for a significant period of time to make a successful adjustment to life in our neighborhoods. They will help with transportation, job contacts, navigating our various systems of services, etc. This will be so very important in helping these traumatized families begin to feel secure, comfortable, and cared for at this crucial time in their lives.
We will start developing a database of religious congregations and
individuals who wish to be part of the Care Teams today. If you wish to be on a Piedmont Neighbors Care Team please send your contact information including name, mailing address, email address, and phone numbers. If you represent a specific church/mosque/synagogue/temple please include that information. We also need to know what languages you speak and if you have any specific knowledge or skills that would be especially helpful. This information can be emailed to faithaction@earthlink.net or it can be phoned in at 379-0037.