Gracia Szczech/FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer

FEMA only begins the recovery process. 

It���s not to make a person completely whole 

but it���s to provide them a safe and sanitary 

and secure place. Whether it���s rebuilding 

their homes, repairing their homes. 

But that���s not enough as we all know 

and that���s where you all come in for 

the long-term recovery efforts. 

I just want to thank you, I want 

to welcome you here to Georgia. 

(clapping)

Lura Cayton/Church World Service

What we���re doing today is helping to train 

local, community people to work in their 

communities to help those folks that have 

been impacted by the severe flooding.

Ken Skalitzky/FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison

The Church World Service organization has 

sponsored a recovery tools and training 

workshop in which we���ve brought representatives 

from a number of the counties together 

in the formation of long-term recovery groups. 

A long-term recovery committee is a group 

of local organizations that have come 

together in an interest to the area. 

Usually it���s faith-based and community 

organizations who organized to help 

with bringing volunteers, donations and 

materials to assist people who are affected

 by a disaster. Some ways that long-term 

recovery committees actually help people 

can range anywhere from just a case manager 

who sits down with a family and listens 

to them, to working with that family 

to identify what their resources are, 

what there needs are, and then helping 

them to meet that need. So if it���s a 

family who was in a home that was 

completely destroyed, it might be 

putting together the financial resources 

and the volunteers to help rebuild a home.

FEMA has been a really good partner 

with Church World Service; we���ve worked 

together for many years.

What we���re trying to do is support 

the group. We certainly are using 

the facility to do that. We also 

try to provide education so we were 

able to put together the CDs that 

have a lot of material that���s been 

developed by both FEMA and the 

voluntary agencies. We try to 

educate them by attending meetings, 

going out and reaching out to the 

local emergency managers, other 

local officials and the voluntary 

agencies to help them understand 

what the process is. A lot of 

people see an event on TV and feel

the need to help. We want to do 

that in an organized fashion so 

that it doesn���t duplicate efforts 

and that it doesn���t get in the 

way of recovery. FEMA.gov