Creativity shaped New Jersey 9/11 response by Methodists
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The Rev. Christopher Miller |
The Rev. Christopher Miller |
Sept. 13, 2006
By Linda Bloom*
NEW YORK (UMNS) — United Methodists in New Jersey used creativity and a
willingness to cross boundaries to assist residents in that state affected by
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Rev. Christopher Miller ?? who served as director of the Healing,
Encouragement and Advocacy in Response to Tragedy unit of the denomination’s
Greater New Jersey Annual (regional) Conference from July 1, 2002, to June
2005 ?? said flexibility was crucial to the fact that most of their
clients experienced financial recovery; some also experienced a spiritual and
emotional recovery.
Recovery is defined as regaining self-sufficiency. “From my point of
view, I thought it was extremely successful,” Miller said. “We
were definitely catching the people who fell through the cracks. We were supplying
resources to people who had very few options for resources, if any.”
The United Methodist Committee on Relief provided $4.5 million to the Greater
New Jersey Conference for its response. The HEART program handled 522 cases
and continued until June 30 of this year, making it one of the longest-running
9/11-related programs in the state.
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Photo courtesy of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference Members of the HEART Unit are recognized during the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
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Members
of the HEART (Encouragement and Advocacy in Response to Tragedy) Unit
are recognized during the 2006 Greater New Jersey Annual (regional)
Conference in June. From left are Nicola Mulligan; Catherine Earl,
director of the HEART Program; Tom Hazelwood, director of disaster
response in the United States for the United Methodist Committee on
Relief; Claire Chichester; Suzanne Sammon; and the Rev. Christopher
Miller, former HEART director. UMCOR provided $4.5 million to the
program, which assisted residents in the state affected by the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in nearby New York
City. A UMNS photo courtesy of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.
Photo # 061068. Accompanies UMNS story #544. 9/13/06 |
Cooperative efforts
Innovations included collaborating with groups
like the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Catholic Charities in ways that had
not occurred
before and using
church-related case managers as contract case managers for major agencies that
couldn’t get funding as quickly for a client. “We were able to
turn a check around, sometimes within hours,” Miller said.
An example of this collaboration can be found
in the HEART report for the period of July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005. It
stated that the
Salvation Army
in New Jersey “is particularly notable” for extending information,
training, resources and peer support to staff at the United Methodist program. “Additionally, the Salvation Army’s programs for eligible clients
and their willingness to collaborate on cases has minimized the risk of duplication
of financial assistance and allowed the program to make the most of its service
dollar,” the report said.
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The Rev. Ken Sloan |
Catherine Earl started with HEART as a supervisor
and case manager in 2002 and then succeeded Miller as director. Earl called
her service
a highlight
of her social work career. “The HEART unit was one of the most gratifying
experiences I’ve ever had because of the creativity that was permitted
case managers,” she said.
Case managers were allowed to create a recovery
plan “that targeted
that person,” rather than follow a set procedure, she explained.
Help for secondary victims
Many clients were not the visible victims of the
terrorist attacks, and some were undocumented, according to Earl. “They
were folks who were deployed in cleanup crews without protective equipment.
Our
clients who fall into that
category are suffering from medical illness and lung disease.”
Clients of the HEART program also included those
in the middle class before the attacks who lost jobs and had few new employment
opportunities. Trauma
could affect their ability to perform well in a job interview. “In large
part, there were really good resources for mental health in this area,” she
noted.
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Photo courtesy of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference Catherine Earl (center) and HEART staffers look at articles and photos on the Sept. 11 attacks and the aftermath.
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HEART
Director Catherine Earl (center) and staffers look at articles and
photos on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and their aftermath. The
United Methodist Committee on Relief provided $4.5 million to the
program, which assisted residents in the state affected by the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in nearby New York City. A
UMNS photo courtesy of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. Photo #
061069. Accompanies UMNS story #544. 9/13/06
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Miller, now pastor of First United Methodist Church
in Delran, N.J., said a few clients who earned more than $100,000 a year “had to make very
hard decisions” when they lost their jobs and couldn’t pay large
mortgages and private school tuitions.
He credited the United Methodist connectional
system with providing “resources
that other churches just didn’t have” for their work.
The Rev. Ken Sloane, who helped craft the proposal
that established the HEART program, said the Greater New Jersey Annual (regional)
Conference became involved
in outreach in a new way. HEART was always identified with the United Methodist
Church, Sloane pointed out, making it clear that in a disaster, “United
Methodists really have a commitment for the long-term recovery.” Sloane
recently joined the staff of United Methodist Communications.
The experience gained through the HEART program
has already paid benefits, according to Earl, who now works for Katrina Aid
Today, an
assistance group
led by UMCOR. She believes both the New York and New Jersey areas have responded
to Hurricane Katrina “in a highly organized way” because of that
experience.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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