Austin—A new report by the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Time & Treasure: Faith-Based Response to Hurricane Harvey, finds that faith-based organizations are playing a key role in the ongoing Hurricane Harvey recovery—and that state emergency management leaders should bring more faith-based disaster response organizations into the state’s emergency planning process before the next disaster strikes.
- More than 30 state, national, and international faith-based organizations have been involved in Hurricane Harvey response.
- Faith-based organizations have contributed more than $211 million to Hurricane Harvey recovery.
- Faith-based organizations have logged more than 526,000 volunteer hours on Harvey recovery.
According to the report, Texas does not maintain any system to tally financial or human resource contributions of faith-based organizations to disaster response, nor are there are any standard formats used across faith-based organizations to record their own efforts. Lack of comprehensive data lead to gaps and duplication in services, as well as increasing the likelihood that public funds are being spent to advance sectarian causes.
The report recommends that policymakers integrate faith-based disaster response systems into the state’s emergency planning structure. Doing so would strengthen the state’s disaster mitigation and emergency management systems, and improve stewardship of public and private resources.
Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi has filed House Bill 3616 to implement the report’s recommendations. HB3616 would establish an interfaith task force to help state emergency managers strengthen communication and coordination between public emergency management systems and faith-based disaster response organizations.
Bee Moorhead, Executive Director of the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, said, “Too often, public officials lump all faith communities together and characterize them as local charity. In reality, many denominations and faith traditions maintain professional disaster response networks across the globe, and those networks have their own systems and areas of expertise just like state agencies. Public sector emergency response leaders should include disaster response organizations from a range of faith traditions in the emergency response planning process.”
Mission Presbytery Disaster Recovery Coordinator Ed Sackett said, “When local, regional and national faith organizations come together and coordinate, it becomes a coalition of good. Yet in local and state planning, the faith communities are often overlooked when it comes to the organizational strategy.”
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