Learning how Episcopal Relief & Development is helping others

Volunteers from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Pearland, TX, put up greenhouse frames in April to replace structures destroyed by hurricanes and flooding at Little Cambodia Rosharon, a community of Cambodian and Laotian refugees who grow water spinach. (Photo shared on the St. Andrew's Pearland Facebook page)

The following article appeared in the June-July edition of Words of Grace, the monthly newsletter of Grace Church Cathedral. Clark Cromwell is Grace's parish coordinator for Episcopal Relief & Development. He recently attended a meeting sponsored by Episcopal Relief & Development in Houston, Texas.

In early May I attended an Episcopal Relief & Development meeting as the representative for Grace Church Cathedral. The meeting had an information-packed agenda but also time for us to focus on the passionate commitment of those responsible for the vital work that the organization does. They provide much needed relief after natural and manmade disasters but also help develop stronger and safer communities.

They focus on women, children, and climate. By partnering with community organizations, Episcopal Relief & Development is able to leverage aid and reach the most vulnerable. Those efforts include addressing violence toward women in Liberia and early childhood development in Zambia.

One particularly effective program provides training and aid for deaf, blind, and handicapped Syrian children in a refugee camp in Jordan. By partnering with Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, we are able to meet critical needs of challenged children.

On the final day we took a field trip that began at St. Paul’s Church on the south side of Houston, an area that was hit hard by Hurricane Maria and sustained further damage from flooding. The threat of unemployment and eviction intensified that stress, precipitating domestic abuse and safety issues for many. St Paul’s stepped in with food, clothing, and housing assistance programs that provided immediate relief. Counselors remain available to deal with the ongoing social, spiritual, and domestic issues.

Our last stop was a community of Cambodian and Laotian refugees from the Vietnam war era. They grow water spinach, but their homes and greenhouses were destroyed by hurricanes. Mosaic, the outreach campus of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Pearland, Tex., and Episcopal Relief & Development are hard at work rebuilding stronger and safer structures that should survive future floods and storms. I was impressed by the leaders and volunteers who were so dedicated to these otherwise forgotten victims of the changing climate.

After attending the meeting, I feel more strongly than ever that we are doing the right thing by supporting Episcopal Relief & Development with our Fifth Sunday contributions, and I am proud to be your representative.

Peace,
Clark Cromwell

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Episcopal Relief & Development is the international humanitarian and relief organization of The Episcopal Church. Learn more and offer your support at episcopalrelief.org.

For information on Grace's "Fifth Sunday" support for Episcopal Relief & Development, contact Clark Cromwell at [email protected].