When a Disaster Hits, Your First Thought May be How can I Help

INDIANAPOLIS - If you invest in United Way, your help is already on the way.

As a United Way investor, you are already supporting disaster relief efforts both locally and nationally. We hope you will continue and increase your United Way investment to support local services and disaster relief.

Because you gave to United Way last year, you made it possible for trained and prepared American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis disaster workers and an Emergency Response Vehicle to help directly in Florida and Gulf Coast operations.

Your support of a prepared and responsive disaster system enabled our local Red Cross Call Center (for which UWCI's Capital Projects Fund investment of more than $2 million last year helped to update communications, transportation and training) to immediately refer victims for food and shelter in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, as well as help separated families reunite.

Your support of United Way enabled our local Salvation Army to send Disaster Response teams down to the Gulf Coast to assist with the Army's massive relief efforts already in place. When they return home, two more Indiana teams will take their place.

Because you believe in and support an infrastructure of human care year-round through United Way, our community had the capacity to welcome more than 1,000 evacuees, and provide them with shelter, food, medical care, clothing and other life-sustaining relief. To put that in context, Red Cross says it is the equivalent of responding to a big tornado.

Because you gave to United Way last year, HELPLINE 2-1-1 (operated by Information and Referral Network, UWCI's partner) has been answering the phone from day one to give callers information about how to get help or give it, and been able to track and analyze the needs of our community and record volunteer offers. The level of calls is 6-7 times the normal volume, with most callers - 88 percent - wanting to help in some way.

Because you gave to United Way in the past, we have an effective network for evacuees that is working together to coordinate social services for relocated survivors to mange their longer-term needs.

Because you gave to United Way last year, we have a Volunteer Center that is collecting and channeling offers to connect people with meaningful opportunities to help Katrina evacuees acclimate to our community, using our our Web-based Volunteer Solutions service.

A gift to the local United Way campaign helps ensure: that relief is available for those directly affected by the hurricane; to strengthen the capacity of our working poor neighbors to improve their own lives; and, that we'll be ready for disasters such as fire and tornadoes when they strike here.

You have helped provide for the longer-term needs of the evacuees beyond emergency food and shelter. You have invested in helping survivors return to self-sufficiency and toward rebuilding our larger "community" and human infrastructure. Hurricane evacuees in Indianapolis have moved from temporary shelter into apartments and houses arranged by the Mayor's office. Five community centers who are UWCI partners, have stepped up to provide case managers to facilitate that adjustment. Those professionals are now working with families and individuals in their neighborhoods to address the longer-term needs of rebuilding their lives. Those centers are:

• Concord Neighborhood Center, 1310 S. Meridian Street;
• Crooked Creek Multi-Service Center, 2990 West 71 st Street;
• Forest Manor Multi-Service Center, 5603 East 38 th Street;
• Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Service Center, 40 West 40 th Street; and,
• Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, 1920 West Morris.

If you make an undesignated investment in our community through United Way, a portion of your gift goes to support programs delivered by each of those community centers.

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