370 Families and Counting

By mid-June, Southern Mutual Help Association, a Rural LISC partner CDC, had already helped 370 families, a dozen businesses and several churches in the Gulf region rebuild and re-open. Knowing where to go, who to contact and what to request made a big difference. So did timely and flexible financial support.

Days after Katrina struck, Rural LISC spoke with Lorna Bourg, Southern Mutual’s executive director, and offered to provide immediate grants and to organize a technical assistance team of CDC leaders with hurricane recovery experience. Through a contact provided by team member Steve Mainster (director of Florida’s Centro Campesino Farmworker Center), Southern Mutual was able to persuade the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS, the disaster-relief agency of Mennonite churches in the United States and Canada) to provide at least two years of rebuilding assistance. This is great news because the Mennonites are skilled workers whose services are eagerly sought. Through a Rural LISC grant, Southern Mutual is housing 34 Mennonite volunteers in a trailer. The benefits of this partnership are important and growing. More homes are being repaired and rebuilt every day.