Pastor Kork Moyer, whose Still Waters ministry in Pottstown, Pa., is heavily involved with community shelters and services to the homeless, says, “Last year, we were anticipating a Schuylkill River flood, only one month prior to beginning the shelter season-dismantling the entire intake center and moving to higher ground, only to have dodged those difficulties. We simply put the Intake Center (located in St John Lutheran’s Parish House basement) back together, and opened on our November 1st start date a little more tired than usual.
“This year we will not escape that easily. We have moved the entire Intake Center and Shelter supplies to higher ground, hoping that the first level (where we moved this stuff too), will not flood. Current projections provided by The National Weather Service have us facing the same flooding that we experienced in 2006, and possibly higher, which would affect the first floor of the Parish House.
“We have also offered all of our expertise and supplies to North Coventry Township to resource their emergency shelter, caring for our neighbors (and us) who will now experience the helplessness of being homeless-although temporarily.
“Cleanup from this kind of flood is very difficult. It involves a lot of coordination, and time. Things like sanitizing drying things out, electrical work, plumbing, replacing heating systems, services returning to a safe condition, insurance company and governmental interactions, and money, only to name a few, make returning to normal slow and difficult.
“Reopening the shelter on schedule for the start of the 2011/2012 Season is now jeopardized, placing our homeless community at fall/winter risk.
Please pray for us…!
- That the waters would not be to overwhelming;
- That the rain would stop;
- That we would suffer minimal damage;
- That we can begin cleanup fairly quickly;
- That recovery would happen rapidly;
- That working together would actually become a blessing to the neighborhood;
- That people would see want and need from a different perspective now;
- That our homeless friends would not be placed at risk due to this setback; and
- That North Coventry Township officials would recognize the current difficulties due to their own obstruction.
“We truly Thank You! It seems that we go through some major difficulties every year that we prepare to shelter our homeless friends in anticipation of the new season.”
Kork, Pastor