Resources for addressing disasters

People in the Baltimore-Washington Conference are dealing with power outages, fallen trees and other storm-related damage following Superstorm Sandy, which hit 10 states and the District of Columbia Oct. 29.

As the damage assessments and clean-up efforts begin, the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Volunteer in Mission teams will be playing a signficant role, said Director of Connectional Ministries Sandy Ferguson.

Ferguson has high praise for the Baltimore-Washington Conference's disaster response team leaders and anticipates the  300 people in this area who have received Early Response Training will be putting theirs skills to work in the near future.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference Disaster Response team has a number of resources available for local churches. Chief among them is an informational resource, the Local Church Disaster Response Preparedness Manual, which provides guidelines for dealing with disaster from its earliest stages onward..

In addition, Briton Weber, the conference disaster response coordinator, and the regional disaster response coordinators can provide assistance and information. There contact information is listed below.

Conference Coordinator
Mr. Briton A. Weber
Phone: Home 410-833-7473
Cell 443-324-3825
E-mail weber.briton@comcast.net

Baltimore Region Coordinator
Rev. James DeMent
Phone: Office 410-592-2543
Cell Phone 410-790-8935
E-mail pastorjaychris@yahoo.com

Western Region Coordinator
Mrs. Becky Hein
Phone: Cell Phone 301-988-8003
E-mail becky4lit@msn.com

Washington Region Coordinator
Rev. Gerard Green
Phone: Cell 301-318-4630
E-mail therevjr@msn.com

Annapolis Southern Region Coordinator
Rev. Stephen Ricketts
Phone: Office 301-292-2323
Cell 240-308-2148
E-mail sr.ricketts@verizon.net

Conference Staff
Sandy Ferguson
Director of Connectional Ministries
Office 410-309-3431
E-mail sferguson@bwcumc.org