disaster relief
On the ground in Cedar Rapids, love and disaster meet
By Jana Riess — August 24, 2020
(RNS) — Apart from the damage itself, what brought me to tears several times were the many instances of Iowans working together. There was a remarkable spirit of resilience.
In Iowa, hard-hit churches and faith-based organizations rally to help out in wake of derecho storm
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 20, 2020
(RNS) — In Iowa, churches are working together and partnering with faith-based organizations from across the country to offer aid after the unusual windstorm, called a derecho, that traveled from South Dakota to Ohio on Aug. 10.
As religious groups weigh virus response, Samaritan’s Purse donates a field hospital
By Yonat Shimron — March 17, 2020
(RNS) — The donation of the field hospital in Cremona, in northern Italy’s hardest-hit Lombardy region, represents one of the largest faith-based responses to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In tornado-stricken Nashville, will we rebuild or gentrify?
By Robyn Henderson-Espinoza — March 9, 2020
(RNS) — A Nashville activist theologian who has been dubbed ‘the tornado chaplain’ is adamant that the city’s most recent disaster doesn't benefit predatory developers.
In Northern California, churches step up to shelter fire evacuees
By Alejandra Molina — October 30, 2019
(RNS) — CrossWalk Community Church in Napa and Petaluma Valley Baptist Church in Petaluma are two houses of worship that have opened their spaces for evacuees of the Kincade fire in Northern California.
Unetanah Tokef with hyperlinks: Adapting a High Holiday prayer to today’s world
By Jan Zauzmer — September 27, 2019
(RNS) — The fearsome possibilities meditated in the High Holidays prayer Unetanah Tokef strike an elegant balance between predetermination and free will. Here, a version annotated for our times.
Faith-based disaster-relief teams on standby as Florence nears
By Yonat Shimron — September 12, 2018
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — The biggest of the volunteer groups ready to clean up from Hurricane Florence have the words ‘Baptist’ and ‘Methodist’ in their titles.
Analysis: Devastating fire changed the way Britain views Muslims
By Rosie Dawson — June 12, 2018
(RNS) — From the tragedy has perhaps come a growing awareness of the contribution Britain’s Muslims and other faith communities make to their neighbourhoods.
There’s room for compromise on FEMA helping houses of worship
By Mark Silk — January 15, 2018
(RNS) — And it can be found in pending federal legislation.
Bill that would allow churches to receive FEMA aid advances in Congress
By Chris Mathews — November 30, 2017
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Disaster Recovery Reform Act received strong support from both sides of the aisle despite concerns that using taxpayer funds to rebuild houses of worship would violate the separation of church and state.
Texas officials urge Trump to act on FEMA funding for houses of worship
By Adelle M. Banks — September 21, 2017
(RNS) — Their request follows a Sept. 4 lawsuit against FEMA filed by three churches in the state that were damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
Faith groups provide the bulk of disaster recovery, in coordination with FEMA
By Paul Singer — September 11, 2017
(USA Today) — If you donate bottles of water, diapers, clothing or any other materials to hurricane victims in Texas or Florida, your donation will likely pass through the hands of the Seventh-day Adventists before it gets to a storm victim.
In the South, a new helping hand: Muslim disaster relief teams
By Yonat Shimron — August 24, 2017
PRINCEVILLE, N.C. (RNS) — At a time when the far right often cites the inability of Muslims to assimilate, these young volunteers are providing emergency aid, labor and comfort to people suffering the effects of natural disasters.
Distributing aid in Haiti is a dangerous proposition
By Kit Doyle — October 26, 2016
JEREMIE, Haiti (RNS) Religion reporting doesn't usually put a journalist in harm's way. But that wasn't the case when an RNS photojournalist accompanied a relief convoy distributing aid in Haiti to victims of Hurricane Matthew.
After floods, black, white Baptist groups agree to work together
By Adelle M. Banks — October 6, 2016
(RNS) The groups aren't merging but hope to work on dismantling racism, alleviating poverty and fostering healthy congregations.