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Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-faith_bd_01jun01,0,3685005.story
Plan for crisis aid, churches urged
By Lolly Bowean | Tribune reporter
7:33 PM CDT, May 31, 2008
In times of emergencies and major disasters, the neediest and most vulnerable don't necessarily turn to the government for help.
Instead they look to their churches, mosques, synagogues and religious leaders for guidance and access to resources, Damon Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, told religious leaders at a meeting on emergency preparedness Friday.
"You are the people that lift people's souls out of nothingness and uplift them," Arnold said. "You must be part of the message . . . in times of disaster."
Hoping to encourage faith-based organizations to develop crisis-response plans and work more closely with health-care workers, the public health department on Friday held a town hall meeting as part of its Illinois Faith-Based Emergency Preparedness Initiative. The focus is to bring together leaders in the ministry with community health workers, who also attended the event at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the government has put more emphasis on disaster and crisis readiness, officials said. But even with plans in place, government agencies and health-care providers are concerned they won't be able to reach those most affected when disaster strikes.
Instead, churches and other religious institutions can reach people, offer room for shelter, distribute goods and identify individuals in need, they said.
At the meeting, health representatives said that, in preparing for a pandemic or worse, many moral and ethical questions come up: What should be done with the infected, how are health-care resources rationed, when do organizations close their doors to the needy and who is qualified to give care?
"These are real decisions that will be made that we should all think about," said David Ozar, a professor of philosophy at Loyola University Chicago who studies health care ethics.
Religious organizations have to be realistic when advising worshipers on preparing for emergencies, said Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association. Telling poor people to stockpile food and water is ineffective if they barely have enough to make it from day to day, he said.
lbowean@tribune.com
Plan for crisis aid, churches urged
By Lolly Bowean | Tribune reporter
7:33 PM CDT, May 31, 2008
In times of emergencies and major disasters, the neediest and most vulnerable don't necessarily turn to the government for help.
Instead they look to their churches, mosques, synagogues and religious leaders for guidance and access to resources, Damon Arnold, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, told religious leaders at a meeting on emergency preparedness Friday.
"You are the people that lift people's souls out of nothingness and uplift them," Arnold said. "You must be part of the message . . . in times of disaster."
Hoping to encourage faith-based organizations to develop crisis-response plans and work more closely with health-care workers, the public health department on Friday held a town hall meeting as part of its Illinois Faith-Based Emergency Preparedness Initiative. The focus is to bring together leaders in the ministry with community health workers, who also attended the event at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the government has put more emphasis on disaster and crisis readiness, officials said. But even with plans in place, government agencies and health-care providers are concerned they won't be able to reach those most affected when disaster strikes.
Instead, churches and other religious institutions can reach people, offer room for shelter, distribute goods and identify individuals in need, they said.
At the meeting, health representatives said that, in preparing for a pandemic or worse, many moral and ethical questions come up: What should be done with the infected, how are health-care resources rationed, when do organizations close their doors to the needy and who is qualified to give care?
"These are real decisions that will be made that we should all think about," said David Ozar, a professor of philosophy at Loyola University Chicago who studies health care ethics.
Religious organizations have to be realistic when advising worshipers on preparing for emergencies, said Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association. Telling poor people to stockpile food and water is ineffective if they barely have enough to make it from day to day, he said.
lbowean@tribune.com