ADRN’s national division, United Disaster Relief Network (UDRN), has been working hard to share our disaster response model with other cities nationwide. Since January, UDRN has hosted 17 spiritual leaders through its monthly Info Sessions introducing them to the ADRN model. Team members also took Critical Incident Stress Management Plus (CISM+) training on the road to Lafayette, LA, training 34 volunteers to provide trauma debriefing and emotional support to disaster survivors.
Lake Charles residents are still feeling the impact of four FEMA-declared disasters in the last two years, beginning with Hurricane Laura in 2020, so UDRN has invested $445,000 into rebuilding efforts in the community through the Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) Responds Disaster Relief Network. SWLA’s network of more than 30 churches will use those funds to help 100 families repair their homes and fix the roofs of nine local churches by this December. In June, UDRN trained two cities to launch Disaster Relief Networks (DRNs) of their own through the National Training Academy’s 4-Day Intensive Course. To date, UDRN has impacted six cities this year, equipping them with disaster support and training that will prepare them to meet the needs of survivors when disaster strikes.
With the increase in size, scope, and frequency of disasters, it is no longer a question of “if” but “when” a disaster will strike. UDRN must be ready to launch and train many new church disaster relief networks in 2023.
To achieve this, UDRN has three primary goals:
• Equip a minimum of two mobile strike teams to respond to major disasters
in the U.S to help launch new DRNs in times of disaster;
• Equip 12 cities to form DRNs through the National Training Academy programs; and
• Host a national conference for DRNs.
Your donations to ADRN go directly toward developing the Greater Austin Area network of churches, the model UDRN references to strengthen other cities. For more information on UDRN and to check out UDRN’s exciting new video, visit udrn.org.
